Supporting UK aquaculture innovation with new marine R&D facility

10th May 2023

Watch as Agri-Epi revisit the Marine Aquaculture Innovation Center (MAIC) on the east coast of Loch Fyne Otter Ferry Seafish, one year after its establishment.

This unique facility provides a controlled environment for rearing Atlantic salmon from post-hatchery to near-market size. In partnership with Cooke Aquaculture Scotland, MAIC is currently conducting a salmon feed validation study, enabling Cooke to gain reliable insights into feed efficacy.

In this video, we give you an exclusive look at the continuous upgrades in environmental control, welfare, and monitoring systems at the centre.

Learn how the facility is helping companies like Cooke Aquaculture validate and optimize their salmon grower diets and why this data is invaluable for the future of the Scottish salmon farming sector.

19th April 2021/in Agri-tech, Aquaculture, News

New multi-species, marine aquaculture trials facility in Argyll, Scotland

Agri-EPI, in conjunction with Otter Ferry Seafish, is establishing a new industry-led R&D facility in Scotland.

The new facility, co-funded by Innovate UK, provides much-needed capacity for developing innovative production technologies for diverse marine aquaculture species, including salmon to near market size. The facility is configured to undertake a wide range of studies, such as evaluating feeds and pharmaceuticals, instrumentation testing and validation of operational welfare indicators.

Technical set-up

The trials facility comprises six 20m3 and twelve 2m3 aquaculture rearing tanks, equipped with programmable lighting, automatic feeding, and oxygen & pH monitoring systems. All tanks are supplied with filtered, UV-disinfected seawater, with waste feed collectors fitted to the outflows. The facility is suitable for rearing diverse species including fin fish and non-fin fish such as cleaner fish, microalgae, shellfish & seaweed.

Sustainable aquaculture

In this joint venture between Otter Ferry Seafish and Agri-EPI, both partners will drive the business development. As operational lead, Otter Ferry Seafish brings in extensive industry experience and technical knowledge; Agri-EPI will lead on the industry engagement and project management.

Otter Ferry Seafish is one of the longest established aquaculture businesses in the UK. Starting out as a pioneering trout and salmon farm more than five decades ago, the company currently farms, halibut, lumpfish and wrasse commercially, and is actively involved in collaborative aquaculture R&D programmes. The new R&D facility is in a strategically important aquaculture producing region: Loch Fyne in Argyll, Scotland.

Approved at the end of last year, the R&D facility is now being built and will be open for business before the end of this summer.

To watch the video in full click here.