Innovasea Delivers Real-Time Environmental Monitoring to Grieg’s Salmon Farming Site in Newfoundland

BOSTON and HALIFAX, Nova Scotia – Innovasea, a global leader in technologically advanced aquatic solutions for aquaculture and fish tracking, announced today that it has begun installing a complete real-time environmental monitoring system at Grieg Seafood’s new Red Island farm site in Newfoundland on Canada’s Placentia Bay.

The system will provide baseline data on dissolved oxygen, salinity, chlorophyll, blue-green algae and turbidity levels at the site as well as information on currents and weather before the 10 pens are stocked with Atlantic Salmon later this year.

“Real-time data is a necessity for today’s aquaculture operators because it helps them protect fish stocks, optimize production and operate in a safe, sustainable manner,” said Tim Stone, Innovasea’s vice president of product development. “We’re excited to provide Grieg with the best environmental monitoring tools in the industry so it can successfully open up this new area to salmon farming over the next decade.”

The deployment is part of a $27 million initiative with Canada’s Ocean Supercluster that aims to improve data-driven decision making in aquaculture. Grieg is leading the Supercluster’s Integrated Operations and Real-Time Analytics Project in partnership with Innovasea and SubC Imaging.

“We are thrilled to see the work of the Integrated Operations and Real-Time Analytics Project team continue to advance, and celebrate this important milestone along with them,” said Kendra MacDonald, CEO of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster. “The collaborative efforts of the Ocean Supercluster and the project partners will deliver a transformative global operations capability in aquaculture and provide important environmental, safety and economic benefits.”

The environmental monitoring system at the remote site includes wireless aquaMeasure sensors and an aquaHub that uploads data to the cloud via cellular network. Setting up the real-time system in advance will enable Grieg to deliver on its promise to carefully introduce sustainable salmon farming to Placentia Bay.

“Our technology delivers real-time data to farm operators 24/7 no matter where they are so they can make objective, analytical decisions well in advance or at a moment’s notice,” said Stone. “A lot of aquaculture sites are in rugged, far-off locations, but Innovasea’s solutions ensure the data is always available when you need it.”

This year Grieg will transfer 3 million salmon smolts from its hatchery in Marystown, Newfoundland to the pens in Placentia Bay. The fish will be harvested starting in 2023, with the company planning to harvest 15,000 tonnes of salmon in the region by 2025.

Eventually Grieg will be raising salmon across 11 sites in Placentia Bay, harvesting up to 45,000 tonnes of salmon per year.

 

About Innovasea
Fueled by leading-edge technology and a passion for research and development, Innovasea is revolutionizing aquaculture and advancing the science of fish tracking to make our oceans and freshwater ecosystems sustainable for future generations. With 250 employees worldwide, we provide full end-to-end solutions for fish farming and aquatic species research – including quality equipment that’s efficient and built to last, expert consulting services, and innovative platforms and products that deliver unrivaled data, information and insights.

Learn more at Innovasea.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

 

About Grieg Seafood
Grieg Seafood is one of the world’s leading salmon farming companies, targeting 80,000 tonnes of harvest in 2021 (excluding Shetland) and 130,000 tonnes in 2025. Our farms are in Finnmark and Rogaland in Norway, British Columbia and Newfoundland in Canada, and Shetland in the UK. Our headquarters is located in Bergen, Norway. More than 1,000 people work in the company throughout our regions. Sustainable farming practices are the foundation of our operations. The lowest possible environmental impact and the best possible fish welfare is both an ethical responsibility and drive economic profitability.