MAGAZINEBlueFrontier

The racefor space

Lara Barazi-Yeroulanos:

- One of thebottlenecks toaquaculturedevelopmentwill be compe-tition for themarine coastalzone.

No. 1 - 2013

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Nofima AS - Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture ResearchP. O. Box 210, NO-1431 Ås, Norway, Tel: +47 64 97 01 00, www.nofima.no, post@nofima.no

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CONTACT:

MarelifeGaustadalléen 21

N­0349 OSLO, NORWAYEmail:

oystein.lie@marelife.orgMobile: +47 91 7 48 240

E­mail: Oystein.Lie@forskningsparken.nohttp://www.marelife.org

Oslo Innovation CenterGaustadalléen 21

N­0349 OSLO, NORWAYTel: +47 22 95 85 00Fax: +47 22 60 44 27

Email: post@forskningsparken.nohttp://www.forskningsparken.no

ContentMAGAZINEBlueFrontier

Published byMareLifewww.marelife.org

Chairman: Carl Seip HanevoldExcecutive Manager: Øystein Lie

A MAGAZINE PRODUCED BY

WWW.OSLOBUSINESSMEMO.NO

COVER PHOTO:

COVER PHOTO: Lara Barazi-Yeroulanos isCEO at Kefalonia Fisheries S.A. with 1 00employees, producing and selling 8 mil-lion fry and over 3 000 tons of Bass andBream, with annual sales of over EUR 20million. Read: Pages 1 2-1 3.

PRINTED IN BERGENBY A7 Print AS

The racefor space

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1 - Anders Fjellvang and Christopher Cabot at Beck Engineering testing thelaser that is going to kill myriads of sea lice on salmon. Read: Pages 8-1 1Photo: Gorm K. Gaare.2 - Maria Damanaki, Lisbeth Berg Hansen and several fisheries ministersaround the world reviews the future marine challenges. Read: Pages 1 8-213 - Millions of Europeans don't know how to treat & eat the fish, reports DagYngland from Berlin. Read: Page 22.Photo: Gorm K. Gaare.4 - Rita Westvik with a clear message to the industry: Dear to share andexplore new frontiers. Read: Last Page.5 - Radisson Blu Royal Hotel Bryggen, Bergen Harbour, a venue for globalmarine dialogue and innovation, March 5-7. Read: Page 5-7Photo: Finn Eirik Larsen

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Knowledge is the major base to al l progress. This is increas-ingly being the case along with the development of aknowledge intensive and versati le sector l ike aquaculture.

Being mankind’s prime candidate to expand long term global foodsupply, aquaculture is accompanied with enhanced demands forcost efficient and sustainable solutions on a continous basis. Weare talking knowledge and dialogue at al l levels in the innovationecosystem: commercial value chain, capital , R&D entities, publ icsector and state authorities, consumer, the socioeconomics land-scape. In the blue food supply domain there are two major issueswhich in particular need our increased attention as of necessaryknowledge gains: l iving wild resource managements and their sus-tainable exploitation together with predictabi l ity of our, in captiv-ity, farming and production systems.

Nevertheless, without actions and not the least concertedactions, which always wil l be more robust, we do not move.Hence, knowledge based moves is the best way to ad-

vance the sector. Combining entrepreneurial spirit, incentives toindustry and capital to develop sustainable solutions, private publ icpartnership, release of the enabl ing power of biotechnology andleaving room for both propritetary rights and open innovation,everything in good dialogue with the people, wi l l represent a goodtool box for taking us to the next paradigm shift.

Our NASF Marine Innovation Day, Bergen, March 5- 2013, re-flects the above spirit. We have gathered al l possiblestakeholders and the agenda is set by high esteem ambas-

sadors to paint the scenarios and point at tracks to fol low. This isfol lowed up by Think Tanks (focused workshops) covering zoningand ecofriendly site selection, legislations and framework, scienceand tech, engineering & gears, existing and new bio resources, hu-man health and marine products and not least, the need of humancapital , smart capital and cluster development. Our classic successformula with exposure of innovative cases is on and vital as everand new initiative this year is our vision paper for global aquacul-ture solutions, edited by prime people responsible for the event.

We are excited to have such an impressive mobi l ization ofparticipants to our event and honored to have the bestambassadors aboard to form the day; dedicated to ad-

vancing environmental ly and social ly responsible aquaculture,which is the only way to expand the sector.

Prof. Øystein Lie,Executive Manager, Marel ifeProject Manager, Oslo Innovation Centeroystein.l ie@marel ife.org

From the Editor

Knowledge solutions

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There is a highly innovative, global dialogue goingon right now. It's not about combating terrorism,nuclear disarmament or financial crisis. It's aboutthe very basic question for every single human bee-ing: How to secure food supply, not only for today'sneed, but when the global population passes 9 –nine – billions within the next 37 years.

Intrigued by the chal lenges, King Harald of Norway ac-companied by The Minister of Education and ResearchKristin Halvorsen and a crowd of top-level representat-ives for academia, science and industry gathered in Janu-ary 2013 at The Norwegian Academy of Science andLetters to l isten to lectures and engage in debate onhow marine innovation wil l help global food supply in theyears to come.

Such efforts to point out directions for the coming 40years have become a great global rally advancing activitiesto find blue food solutions: International conferences andmeetings adressing these questions with key players gathering toshare their thoughts, visions, new innovations and initating newbusinesses and investments.

THE RACE FOR SPACE: The enormous growth potential inaquaculture has ignited a race for space and eco-friendly site se-lection both in freshwater and offshore. New areas for expansionof fish farming is needed, and farming of macro algae, new fish

species and shel lfish wil l demand even more space.- There is a lack of clear methodology to locate and verify the

most procductive areas and sites for different cultures of algae andshellfish, according to Ola Einem, Nofima.The race for space to feed the world is one of the important topicsworked on in MareLife's Vision Paper, initiated in the run-up toNASF Marine Innovation Day. Kjel l Maroni of FHF optimisticlymanages seven think tanks concentrating on different aspects ofmarine innovation. The think tank-conclusions wil l be

Thinkingglobal

blue food

Apprending marine knowledge:HM King Harald in The Norwegian Academy of Science

and Letters, where newmarine knowledge waspresented and shared in January, 201 3.

Photo: Gorm K. Gaare.

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- We mustfocus highup og andlong forwardbeyond thechallengesof today.Kjell Maroni (picture below), directorFHF, Chair Vision Paper Group.

incorporated in a Vision Paper; Visions forMajor Innovations in Global AquacultureProduction. Maroni 's ambitions are that thevision paper shal l have a major impact onthe efforts to real ize the most importantinnovations necessary in the years tocome.- Such discussions as we initiate in thesethink tanks, the participants have to focushigh up og and long forward beyond thechal lenges of today: To have visions onwhat would be necessary major innovativebreakthroughs to advance the globalaquaculture to a level global ly so that itmay substantial ly help to feed the earth'spopulation in the future, says Maroni .

Karl A. Almås, head of SINTEF Fishery &Aquaculture, chairing the NASF Marine In-novation Day, has worked extensively on re-ports with scenarios for the future of foodfrom the sea. The increased need for sea-food from the sea in general will , accordingto Almås become even more expanded in or-der to meet the health challenges of theworld.

- Marine products can do a difference incombating unhealthy nutrition and over-weight, Almås says.

According to Odd Magne Rødseth, CEO atAqua Gen, a trend setter in applying contem-porary genetics in breeding schemes, it willbe increasingly difficult for cold wateraquaculture to exploit a larger share of thetotal fish meal and fish oil supplies for fishfeeding.

- Intensive research programmes havebeen initiated to find alternatives. The mostpromising efforts include production of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids by yeast ferment-ation, extraction from algal sources or genet-ic modification of oilseed crops, Rødsethsays.

HUMAN CAPITAL: The traditional import-ance of avai labi l ity of natural resources in anations seafood industry (e.g. in Norway)wil l gradual ly change to intel lectual capitalas increasingly critical . According to MariusNordkvelde, member of Maroni 's think tankteam, there are several types of intel lectu-al capital that at al l levels are critical forseafood industry success.

Intellectual capital is located in the headsof employees in companies, bureaucrats inpublic managament and researchers. It canbe manifested in private companies and reg-

ulations and conduct of these. Other com-ponents in intangible capital are the value ofcustomer relationships, trademarks and pat-ents. According to Nordkvelde a key ques-tion for the future is to what extent seafoodnations will be attractive to localize jobs,companies and financial capital. As salmonfarming regions are challenged by other spe-cies in other regions, the importance of at-tracting and developing human capital andcompanies increases.

Many of the best brains in global marineinnovation are concentrating on finding effi-cient feed for the fish to increase output offood for humans. Today 30 percent of the in-gridient in aquaculture feed to e.g. salmonand trout comes from marine fish.

If the aquaculture industry shall increaseby five to ten times in the next forty years,the expenditure of marine resources needsto be increased. As a result of the globalstagnation in traditional fisheries landings,there is a need to develop a sustainable mar-ine contribution of marine ingredients fromdifferent trophic levels.

This has to be done in a close interplaybetween the commercial interests, science,management and policy.

PORTRAITS:Facilitators and contributors of the global exchange ofknowledge, competence and innovations in the marinesector: Georg Chamberlain (1 ), Pierre Erwes (2), Karl A.Almås (3), Jørgen J. Lund (4), Odd Magne Rødseth (5),Petter Dragesund (6), Tanja Hoel (7), Øystein Lie (8).

Sharing her know-ledge, researcherHelena Haugefrom The Norwegi-an Veterinary In-stitute, presentinga forefront projecton DNA vaccine ina December 201 2seminar.

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THE GLOBAL CONFERENCING: An import-ant part of pushing development and in-novation is the new and old meetingplacesaround the world, inviting the differentplayers together to confront the chal-lenges. Both publ ic and private conferenceentrepreneurs play important roles in thisrespect,

- We have to mobilize both human capit-al and smart money together with robustknowledge based clusters when aiming atseriously taking this sector forward to its po-tential. The willingness to share informationand competence is increasing, professor Øys-tein Lie says. He is the Chairman of NASF,Manager of MareLife and organizer of theannual NASF Marine Innovation Day.

Seafood conferencing entrepreneur Jør-gen J. Lund, founder of North Atlantic Sea-food Forum eight years ago, points to thedevelopment of the annual conference as aresult of interaction with the seafood in-dustry companies, partners and stakehold-ers. One of the world's biggest seafoodfinance banks and major shareholder inNASF, Pareto Securities, is in charge of theCorporate Finance Seminar including theworld's biggest listed seafood companies -

headed by Pareto's Corporate Director PetterDragesund.

- One of the most important meetingplaces for anyone involved in seafood, Lundsays, gathering speakers from 20 countries,the World Bank, OECD, Global AquacultureAlliance. The Food and Agriculture Organiza-tion of the UN has also become a partner ofNASF, as well as the local co-organizerFiskeriforum Vest led by Tanja Hoel in Ber-gen. According to Hoel the Bergen SeafoodWeek will be introduced in 2014.

Pierre Erwes, founder of BioMarine Busi-ness Convention, organizes the conference inHalifax in September 2013.

- Our objectives are to meet the growingneed for up-to-date information, encourageinternational development and lobby interna-tional organizations, Pierre Erwes says. Hefocuses on investments in marine biotechno-logy: - Unfortunately investors are kind ofsceptical when it comes to marine biotechno-logy, Erwes says: - To get the investors onboard we need a better global communica-tion and a stronger international representa-tion of the sector, and build a recongizedinternational structure – independent fromthe existing biotech organizations.

George Chamberlain, founder and presid-ent of Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA),aims to define the aquaculture agenda forthe next 10 to 20 years on the alliance'sconference in Paris, October 2013.

What can be done to ensure the addition-al mill ions of tons of seafood required to feedthe world are produced in a responsible man-ner, is the GOAL 2013 conference main ques-tion.

- Rising global demand for seafood, driv-en mainly by a rapidly growing middle classin China and other Asian nations, is puttingnew pressure on the aquaculture industry tofind sustainable ways to increase productiv-ity, Chamberlain says. He points to the ad-vances in production technology for farmedshrimp, the most valuable internationallytraded aquaculture species, as an example ofthe marine innovation needed in the future.

Text: MAGNE OTTERDALmagne.otterdal@oslobusinessmemo.no

Photo: GORM K. GAAREgorm.gaare@oslobusinessmemo.no

- There areincreased

willingnessto share .

Øystein Lie, MareLife.

PORTRAITS:Facilitators and contributors of the global exchange ofknowledge, competence and innovations in the marinesector: Georg Chamberlain (1 ), Pierre Erwes (2), Karl A.Almås (3), Jørgen J. Lund (4), Odd Magne Rødseth (5),Petter Dragesund (6), Tanja Hoel (7), Øystein Lie (8).

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The “Stingray” innovation cancontribute to the sustainablegrowth of the aquaculture

industry.

In forthelaser

lice kill.JUST SHOOT IT! By the end of this year,the first salmon infested by sea l ice andsuccesful ly treated by a newly developedlaser technology can be on the dinnertable. Beck Engineering's patented lasersolution “Stingray” is one of the innova-tions that can contribute to sustainablegrowth of the aquaculture industry.

The story of Stingray goes back to Christ-mas 2009, when there was agreat deal of media attentionabout the resurgence of sea licein Norwegian fish farms. Entre-preneur Esben Beck read thenews stories, and one day he gotan idea: Why not just shoot thesea lice with laser?

He started to research patentdatabases and googled sea liceand laser.

- When I got zero hits ongoogle, I felt a chill down myspine, Beck says today. He imme-diately went back to work towrite patent applications, andworked around the clock. In Feb-ruary 2010, the patent applica-

tions were completed. Today, the laser isalmost fully developed, and it has potentialto be a real game changer in fish farmersfight against sea lice.

HUGE CHALLENGES: One of the greatestglobal chal lenges of this century is toprovide enough food for a growing popula-tion with increasing purchasing power. In-

creased food production from the sea is animportant means to solve chal lenges, but itassumes that production is environment-al ly sustainable.

A report produced by a working groupappointed by The Norwegian Academy ofScience and Letters and Norwegian Academyof Technological Sciences points to the greatpotential for marine value creation in the

decades ahead. For Norway,marine value creation may in-crease from about NOK 80 bil-lion today to almost 500 bill ionin 2050, driven by the need forfood production and increaseddemand for seafood.

But it requires large invest-ments in education, research,large-scale infrastructure andlogistics chains, and that theindustry is able to increase itsproductivity. It will be a hugechallenge.

The Norwegian Academy ofScience and Letters recentlyaddressed these issues in itsannual symposium, held in its

At Beck Engin-eering in Oslo,ChristopherCabot, head ofworkshop is fin-ishing a machinepart.

Photo: Gorm K.Gaare.

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stately villa in Drammensveien in Oslo. Infront of a celeb assembly, with His MajestyKing Harald and The Minister of Educationand Research Kristin Halvorsen, professorRagnar Tveterås from the University ofStavanger showed how growth in globalaquaculture has shown a declining growthtrend over the last decades. In the 1980s,world aquaculture production grew by 170percent, the decade after growth was 130percent while in the first decade after 2000,the number was down to 76 percent.

Tveterås proceeded to ask whether thisis due to the low rate of innovation, and therole of R&D investment and economic organ-ization.

FAST TRACK DEVELOPMENT: This winterBeck Engineering won the regional finals inthe battle for DnB's Innovation Award withthe Stingray solution. Looking back toChristmas 2009 when Esben Beck first gotthe idea, the development of Stingray hasgone remarkably rapid.

Beck Engineering has its origin in EsbenBecks basement. In 2000, when he wasabout to attend engineering at Oslo and

Akershus University College of Applied Sci-ences, Beck bought a metal lathe and endedup spending hours working in the basement.Business grew quickly, and Beck Engineeringsoon worked with development and innova-tion for the oil and gas industry, and particu-lar with engineering projects involvingremote interventions. Beck never made itback to engineering school.

From its high spec workshop at Stålfjærain eastern part of Oslo, Beck Engineering hasdeveloped a portfolio of projects includingsubsea and deep water equipment as well asinspection vehicles and inspection tools. Thisexperience and knowledge from complextechnology projects proved to be vital whenBeck decided to go ahead with the sea liceproject.

After the patent application was submit-ted during winter 2010, Esben Beck and histeam began to outline the process from ideato solution. And in autumn 2010, the teamasked themselves: What do we do now withthe sea lice project?

The answer was to involve the industry.- We had a meeting with Marine Harvest,

Lerøy, SalMar and Innovation Norway in Ber-

gen in January 2011, where we presentedthe idea. And they got excited by our idea,says general manager John Arne Breivik inBeck Engineering.

The laser solution is alluring to salmonfarmers. Use of chemical treatment is ex-pensive, it requires a lot of manual work andhas created resistance problems. A laserbased system for reducing sea lice infesta-tion is operated automatically, and canprovide significant cost savings.

The solution involves two devices sub-merged in salmon cages. The units contain,among other things, advanced camera tech-nology and laser and the whole system iscontrolled by software. The salmon moves inpredictable patterns in cages, and whencameras capture salmon infested by sea lice,the laser is directed at each individual fishand shoot the sea lice.

With backing from the industry, EsbenBeck and his team focused entirely on theStingray project and put aside or declinednew projects. During 2011, they conductedproof of concept, with a budget of NOK 3.5million which was funded by Lerøy, MarineHarvest, SalMar and FHF (The Fishery and

Anders Fjellvang (left)and Christopher Cabot

testing the laser at BeckEngineering.

Photo: Gorm K. Gaare.

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Aquaculture Industry Research Fund) andBeck Engineerings own capital.

- We experienced that the industry hadconfidence in us, we proved that there wasno doubt about our concept of optical sealice treatment, and we did it on time and onbudget, says John Arne Breivik.

Beck Engineering demonstrated that itwas possible to discover and track sea liceusing cameras which scans fish in the cages,that lice were defused by the laser, and thattreated fish were not injured, which wastested and verified by NIVA (The NorwegianInstitute for Water Research).

Research and development was conduc-ted in the workshop in Oslo and at the Insti-tute of Marine Research' site at Austevollnear Bergen, where Beck Engineering hasrigged up its own laboratory in a 20 feet con-tainer.

In late 2011, the groundwork was laidfor the second phase of development, whenBeck Engineering agreed on and signed a so-called IFU contract (Industrial Research andDevelopment Contract) with Innovation Nor-way, Marine Harvest, Lerøy Seafood Groupand SalMar which lasts to March this year.

IFU contracts seek to develop competitiveproducts in the international market, and todevelop industrial networks and environ-ments. Through a committed relationship,firms get access to new expertise, globalnetwork of strategic partners and interna-tional markets.

The budget for phase two was NOK 22.5million, and was funded by Lerøy SeafoodGroup, Marine Harvest and SalMar (NOK 7.5million), Innovation Norway/Skattefunn (NOK7.5 million) and the company itself (NOK 7.5million).

To finance its share Beck Engineeeringbegan discussions with various investors andbefore summer last year the company final-ized an agreement with venture capital firmTeleVenture and its founder and managingpartner Rune Rinnan to invest in Beck Engin-eering.

- That gave a very good basis for the wayforward, says Breivik.

- We have worked around the clock formore than two years, and we have put in anestimated 30.000 hours in this project, hesays.

STATE OF THE ART TECHNOLOGY: Thesea l ice solution contains high-tech solu-tions in al l parts, including proprietary soft-ware created by hired game developers.Software wil l control the entire system, in-cluding cameras, l ighting and laser beam,and is constructed with artificial intel l i -gence. The system scans fish in the cage,picking out areas that are particularly inter-esting and directs the laser beam. Imagesare also checked continuously against apicture l ibrary. The software is of vital im-portance to the system and SINTEF ICT ishired to check the development of thissoftware.

- The software controls the whole sys-tem, and this is important because it will be afully automated process. The system is superfast and can process 15 million messageswithin ten seconds. The software is de-signed so that it always learns. For example,the more pictures we have of sea lice, thebetter is the system because it knowswhether to take aim or not and thus will bemore effective. At the same time, the tech-nology involved is constantly innovated, in-cluding the camera technology, which

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PICTURES:1 - The laser killing ofsea lice on salmon.

2 - The team at BeckEngineering. From leftEspen Beck, ChristopherCabot, John ArneBreivik, Steinar Laudaland Anders Fjellvang.

3 - Anders Fjellvang atthe laboratory.

4 - John Arne Breivikand Anders Fjellvang.

Photo: Gorm K. Gaare.

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ensures us that the system will only get bet-ter and better, says Breivik.

During the winter, a system has beentested in a small cage at the Institute of Mar-ine Research` facilities at Austevoll near Ber-gen. This spring new tests will be conductedin a large cage. And this autumn the proto-type series will be ready for operation.

- How much lice can you shoot?- The laser can shoot pre adult lice that

are 6-7 mm long, but it will primarily aim toshoot mature females, which are about 10-12 millimeters. If there are more than 100000 mature females in cages with 200.000fish it is dangerous and it may spin out ofcontrol, so something must be done. The in-dustry has set a target level at around 0.2,which in this case means 40 000 lice. If eachlaser kills one lice every 30 seconds, itmeans up to 3 000 lice a day. But the sys-tem has capacity to kill several lice persecond. This is a permanent installation ofcontinuous optical delousing, which will re-duce the level of lice to prevent outbreakswith exponential growth. The more sea lice,the more effective it becomes. It is also pos-sible to imagine optically delousing in com-

bination with wrasse, where one useswrasse at salmons up to between 800 gramsand 1.2 kilograms, and laser on the largerfish, says Breivik.

- This is also mathematics, and the Nor-wegian Computing Centre and The Norwegi-an Veterinary Institute are involved, EsbenBeck ads.

The partners Lerøy Seafood Group, Mar-ine Harvest and SalMar have first right to or-der from the prototype series, which will beready this autumn. Beck Engineering expectsthat it will produce between 10 and 30 unitsof this series, and the first to be put into op-eration during autumn 2013. The units areproduced in the workshop at Stålfjæra.Today, there are 10 full-time employees, butbefore year's end they expect to be around15.

- How do you think the market will devel-op?

- We believe it has potential to grow fromzero to a few hundred million in three to fouryears, says Breivik.

THE BLUE REVOLUTION: Back at TheNorwegian Academy of Science and Let-

ters symposium, professor Ragnar Tveteråsis talking about the blue revolution, andhow global aquaculture industry has un-dergone enormous fluctuations in produc-tion, which can be explained by diseaseand infection, and a form of market fai lurewith respect to R&D. Private actors in theindustry are not getting enough return onits R&D investment, which in term leads tounderinvestment.

- Long-term growth depends on pro-ductivity growth, says Tveterås.

The productivity growth in aquaculturehas abated, and it may indicate that totalcost of pushing production costs furtherdown is too high. Studies by professor TerjeVassdal at The University of Tromsø showhow the cost of producing one kilo of salmonin Norway fell from NOK 71,30 in 1987 toNOK 18,77 in 2005. By 2008, the cost hadrisen to NOK 21,47. Rising costs related tosea lice is one of the reasons behind this in-crease.

Text: PER GJØRVADper.gjorvad@oslobusinessmemo.no

- We believeStingray can

help theaquacultureindustry tocontinue togrow in a

sustainableand efficient

manner.John Arne Breivik, CEO, Beck

Engineering.

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Growthe fish;slow andwith love.

Blue Frontier Magazine: What is the secret of being a succes-ful family business in Mediterranean aquaculture for 20years?

Lara Barazi-Yeroulanos: - Raising our fish is really a labour of love.The fish grow slowly, as nature intended. Our fish take almost twiceas long to grow to maturity as other farmed fish. We do not use anyadditives or any other artificial means to speed up their growth. Theirfeed is specially formulated to match exactly what they would eat inthe wild, explains Barazi-Yeroulanos.

BFM: Why is quality and sustainability so important to you?LBY: - I think that al l food pro-duction industries have a tre-mendous responsibi l ity. Theymust produce under the moststringent conditions as to hy-giene and safety. Ful l controlof the whole production chainis an essential part of any foodproduction system. Any lapse,whether health hazard to con-sumers, false claims or a sub-standard product is absolutelyunacceptable. As a mother Iknow how much I worry that Iam choosing the very best,healthiest foods for my chi l-

dren as parents everywhere do. We wonder what is real ly in ourfood, how it was made and who is overseeing the whole process.

BFM: How do you view the future market of aquaculture incompetition with meat - in regard of the many scandals inthat business lately. Is aquaculture better off?LBY: - Aquaculture producers may be better off in that theproducts we produce are already widely recognized as healthfulwith essential benefits for a balanced diet, However we have tobe just as vigi lant as any other food producer, be it meat or any-thing else.

As far as production indeveloping countries isconcerned, it is very im-portant that we, asEuropean citizens, beaware that there may notbe the same standards inproduction required every-where in the world. At theEU level we often set high-er standards for our produ-cers as for our consumers.This is very dangerous as ascandal that may resultfrom poor practices in oth-er countries will affect the

The aquaculture industry hastremendous potential for playing anactive part in the future food supply.

The dangers lies in not respectingwhat consumers and neighbours

want, warns Lara Barazi-Yeroulanos,CEO of Kefalonia Fisheries.

Lara Barazi-Yeroulanosis CEO at KefaloniaFisheries S.A. with 1 00employees, producingand selling 8 million fryand over 3 000 tons ofBass and Bream, withannual sales of overEUR 20 million. Exportsover 80 %, mainly toFrance, Italy as well asSpain, Portugal, UKand US.

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market as a whole. The image of the whole industry is affected.There has to be a level playing-field.

BFM: What can the North Sea farmers learn from the onealong the Mediterranean countries?

LBY: - The salmon industry in the North has always been a modelfor us and is far more advanced in the fields of genetic selection, sus-tainable feeds, disease management and animal husbandry in gener-al.

In two areas, however, I feel that we may have some advantages.In the Mediterranean sector we had to develop in a less “industrial”manner. Average site sizes are much smaller due to the intense com-petition for space we have with tourism.

BFM: So small is more beatiful?LBY: - Today when feed and disease costs have become much

more important than labor, the ability to micromanage feedingschedules, take full advantage of well-trained, experienced person-nel to observe and judge the behavior of our animals is becoming avery important component of production.

The second element is our “traditional less industrial” way of pro-duction.I feel we may be more aligned with what a growing segmentof consumers are looking for: a better connection with where theirfood is coming from, how it is produced and by whom. Although ourcustomers, large retailers, wholesalers and processors would like amore industrialized production, I believe that our consumers wantone that is less so.

BFM: Can aquaculture help develop the southern Europeancountries out of the euro-crisis?

LBY: - I think that the aquaculture industry has tremendous po-tential as core industries in southern Mediterranean countries. In thelast 10 years, the Mediterranean sector grew at an average annualrate of 8% up until 2008 whereas the EU aquaculture sector overallhas grown at an average annual rate of only 0.37%.

It has been an essential contributor to sustainable prosperity inregional communities and an important alternative to tourism as asource of long-term, full-time employment in Greece and the Medi-terranean region as a whole.

BFM: Is there a fight for space in the coastal areas?LBY: - Absolutely. In Greece 99 % of the population live within

100 km of the coast. One of the important bottlenecks to aquacul-ture development will be competition for the marine coastal zone.Developing aquaculture sites offshore faces the challenges ofweather and depth which could be mitigated by coordination withoffshore wind platforms.

Fishfarming has also gradually taken on the role of the decliningtraditional fishing sector in preserving traditional employment andthe way of life in the islands and coastal rural regions. In contrastwith a gradually shrinking profession with little appeal to youngergenerations, employment in aquaculture has been steadily increasingfor the past 10 years.

Kefalonia Fisheries S.A. on theisland of Kefalonia betweenItaly and Greece. The island ismainly agricultural and is knownfor its wine, the Robola, its oliveoil and thyme scented honey.The clear and deep waters of theBay of Livadi provide an idealenvironment for the culture ofMediterranean Sea Bass andSea Bream.

Text: DAG YNGLAND, Berlindag.yngland@berlin.de

Picture: Lara Barazi-Yeroulanos,CEO, Kefalonia Fisheries.

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CLOSED RACE: After years of skepticismtowards other solutions than the tradition-al net cages, a large number of companiesare now developingclosed or partial lyclosed solutions.

One of the com-panies is AquafarmEquipment, based inHaugesund at theNorwegian WestCoast, where the workis well underway withthe construction ofthe prototype of alarge closed sea cage.In April 2013, theplant will be launchedand towed to MarineHarvest's test licenseat Skånevik, Hard-anger.

CEO AtlePresthaug at Aqua-farm Equipment be-lieves that thesolution will eliminate

the problems with sea lice and escapes offish. - We will take in the water at a depth of30 meters, and release it through hatches at

15 meters. Since lice live no deeper than 15-20 meters, we secure that no lice come intothe facility. The system also ensures good

flow-through,which is importantfor the fish tothrive and grow.

ENVIRONMEN-TAL CHALLENGE:The developmentwork has beenunderway forthree years,where InnovationNorway has con-tributed withNOK 8.4 mil l ionthrough the En-vironmentalScheme. Also, UniResearch at Uni-versity of Bergenis a partner.

Presthaugstates that all thesludge is collected

SALMON ON THE RUNNumberofescapedsalmon2001-2012

SOURCE: The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries

Preparingfor the

revolution.

Closed-containment cages at sea could revolutionizeglobal aquaculture. Smart capital is needed to solve

the problems.

Illustrations, opposite page:Aquafarm Equipment installs theprototype closed cages inHardanger, April 201 3.

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at the bottom of the tank and composted onland.

- We are trying to solve the industry's en-vironmental challenges, also handling andutilization of sludge. This is an environment-al friendly solution that will fit very well forsmolt from 100 gram to one kilogram. Wealso think that the method is suitable for big-ger fish.

The construction of fiberglass armedpolyester is 40 meters in diameter and 20meters deep. The size is in line with themost common traditional open net cages.The plan is to test the system out 2014, butstart already this year with commercial sale.

- The price is around NOK 1 million for1000 cubic meters. It is somewhat more ex-pensive than traditional constructions, buton the other hand you save a lot of moneysince you don’t have escapes of fish anddon’t need to spend money on delousing.

Presthaug is aware that a number of oth-er companies are working on similar solu-tions.

- But we think we've come far since wevery soon have at sea full scale plant of21,000 cubic meters.

ZERO LICE: In May 2012 another Norwe-gian company, Akvadesign, based at Brøn-nøysund further north on the NorwegianCoast stocked 80 000 smolt into twoclosed sea cages. The result so far is zerosea l ice. In two open cages close by, therehas been proven much l ice.

- It looks very good. We have no sea licein the closed cages, although we are basedin an area with enormous amounts of lice.We believe we now have a product that isready to be launched commercially, says CEOAnders Næss at Akvadesign, the companybehind the solution, while subsidiary Akvafu-ture is responsible for marketing and sales.

The solution consists of a plastic tarpaul-in placed inside an open net cage. The wateris taken in from 25 meters deep, and througha system of pumps and inlet the water is putin rotation inside the plant.

Akvadesign is now testing out the sys-tem with bigger salmon.

- We think this will work well also for sal-mon from one to five kilo, but first and fore-most the system is best suited for smoltproduction at sea.

Næss believes that the system elimin-

ates the lice problem, and is also well suitedto prevent escapes.

- The plastic tarpaulin lies on the insideof a traditional cage. If there is a failure withthe inner system, the fish is caught in thenet cage.

Næss believes the price of the 3.000 cu-bic meter cage is competitive.

- The price is so far slightly above theprice for conventional construction, but thisis quickly compensated by eliminating theproblem with sea lice and escapes.

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS: A numberof international companies are workingwith closed or partial ly closed aquaculturemethods at sea. Among these are the Insti-tute of Technology and the companyPlastsveis with a plastic tarpaul in cal ledClosedFishCage. The Company Feed Con-trol has launched the closed cage systemEcomerden while the company Coast In-novation focuses on tanks of steel bui ld ona larger floating frame.

The Company Future Sea Technology haslaunched Sea System 2, with large plasticbags at sea, while Botngård has developed a

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plastic tarpaulin outside the top part of thecage to prevent lice.

Also, Canada's Agri Marine is investingbig on closed solutions. The company hasconducted successful tests at facilities inChina and Vancouver, Canada. In November2012, the company signed an agreementwith the Norwegian private equity group Ak-vatech to advance the adoption of the com-pany's closed containment fish rearingtechnology.

In Denmark and the U.S. the first onshorefarmed salmon is now ready for sale, butcommunications director Are Kvistad at TheNorwegian Seafood Federation does not be-lieve such closed onshore facilities willthreaten the Norwegian aquaculture in-dustry - an industry that expects to export1.2 mill ion tons of fish in 2013.

- Deep Norwegian fjords with heavyflow-through along the Norwegian coast arewell suited to producing Norwegian salmonin open cages in the future.

ELIMINATES CHALLENGES: The Norwe-gian Seafood Federation represents the in-terests of 500 member companies, which

are expected to have a tremendous impactfor feeding the world's population with fishin the future. Kvistad finds many of theclosed or partial ly closed solutions inter-esting and thinks some of the new meth-ods can help el iminate some of thechal lenges the industry has.

- The new technology solutions can elim-inate the problem of lice, but we need betterdocumentation that such systems are betterto prevent cage-failures leading to escapes.We also need to know more about thegrowth and welfare of the fish in such closedsystems before it becomes commercially on alarge scale.

Kvistad believes that closed-containmentcages are of particular interest in environ-mentally vulnerable areas, like in the end ofnational salmon fjords or in areas with ahuge number of sea lice.

- But my guess is that most of the pro-duction of farmed salmon for many years willtake place in the open sea cages.

He believes that the new technologysolutions around the sludge handling areeven more interesting.

- There are absolutely interesting ideas

about how to handle the sludge, and make abusiness out of it, for instance to extract thephosphor for reuse.

GOVERNMENT SPONSORED R&D: Tobring forward new innovations l ike closedcages and technology solutions for sludgehandl ing, a steady stream of risk capital isrequired. In Norway the publ ic sector playsa significant role both in financing and con-ducting R&D, for instance through publ icresearch institutions and universities.

According to an article written by FrankAsche, Kristin Helen Roll and RagnarTveterås, many innovations within aquacul-ture are a result of R&D which has been fin-anced by the public sector, and public sectorrepresents over 50 percent of total R&Dspending. The fish farming companies havehistorically played a less important direct rolein conducting and financing R&D, while theirrole have been more to adopt innovations bythe suppliers, like feed companies, equip-ment suppliers and pharmaceutical compan-ies.

The total R&D spending amounts toaround NOK 1.3 bill ion (2009). Looking at the

- We needto know

more aboutthe welfareof the fish.

Are Kvistad, The NorwegianSeafood Federation.

32

1PICTURES:1 - The closed cages at Akvadesign,Bodø.2 - Are Kvistad, The NorwegianSeafood Federation.3 - Ragnar Tveterås, University ofStavanger.4 - Geir Spiten, Akvatech. Photo:Gorm K. Gaare.

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Text:KJETIL HAANES

kjetilhaanes@gmail.comPER GJØRVAD

per.gjorvad@oslobusinessmemo.no

last 20 years, the R&D spending has doubledwhile sales has increased six times and pro-duction eight times, according to figures byAsche, Roll and Tveterås. As a consequence,the R&D intensity has decreased.

According to Asche, Roll and Tveterås, itis not realistic to expect the R&D intensity torebound back to 1990-levels, which wouldhave required a total R&D spending of aboutNOK 2 bill ion. The question is if it is possibleto increase the R&D efficiency? It is probablynecessary for the fish farming companies toplay a more direct role when it comes to fin-ancing and conducting R&D. Bigger compan-ies with sufficient human and financialcapital have better conditions to take on amore direct role, according to Asche, Roll andTveterås.

SMART CAPITAL: When Geir Spiten wassearching for capital to the startup com-pany Akvatech, which develops closed con-tainment cages, he chased privateinvestors who could help him solve prob-lems.- I 'm dependent on smart capital , tohelp me to find the best solutions. You justhave to real ize that you cannot find them

alone, says Geir Spiten, CEO in Akvatech. -The real job is to solve problems, not to sel la particular solution, he says.According to Spiten, Akvatech recentlyraised NOK 15 mil l ion from private in-vestors. The company has a partnershipwith Canadian AgriMarine, which includesl icenses for AgriMarines technology usedin closed containment cages. The plan is tohave the first cage in water with fish inMay, on Smøla, which is an island north ofKristiansund in the north western part ofNorway.The abi l ity to combine capital and expert-ise was Spiten` s priority rather than seek-ing out publ ic grant schemes.

- Initially, I have stayed away from publicschemes. You have to spend a lot of time tosubstantiate your idea and do all the report-ing stuff. And it would not get me the help Inow get from investors, says Spiten.

Spiten wanted investors who can helphim solve the challenges in areas such as en-gineering, manufacturing and logistics.

- Among the investors, there are peoplewho knows manufacturing and has set upfactories, shipping companies and shipyards

which have operations in many countries andpeople who knows technology, related to thematerials we use in cages, like fiber and res-in.

- We also got an oil trader who helps mewith contacts in connection to sourcing andcommodity purchases. Generally, it's aboutlooking at the whole product and the lifecycle, says Spiten.

- What about the players in the industry,are they potential investors in a project likethis?

- They prefer to be demanding custom-ers, and not owners of technology. I think it'shealthy, because it contributes to technologydevelopment.

- Smartcapitalto solve

problems.

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How can the global aquaculture be expanded sub-stantially?

· What are the most critical challenges facing thefisheries and aquaculture?

· How can sustainable exploitation of existing re-sources and pursuing new ones be achieved?

·Blue Frontier Magazine talks to EU and politicalexecutives in some of the world’s leading nationsfor fisheries and aquaculture.

Challenged todecide the

marine future.· HOW TO ENSURE GROWTH: - The chal-lenge today is how to ensure that aquacul-ture growth could be balanced andsustainable. In EU aquaculture output hasbeen stagnating during the last years withadministrative burden and l imited accessto space being seen as the main l imits forfurther growth of the sector. I t is thereforecrucial to ensure alevel playing field: pro-ducers should not beat a competitive disad-vantage for respectingthe necessary qual ity,health and environ-mental protectionstandards which aretime consuming, saysEuropean Commission-er for Maritime Affairsand Fisheries MariaDamanaki .

- This simple mes-sage is important, foraquaculture every-where. There is a signi-ficant potential for

increased aquaculture production, but wehave to meet and reduce the environmentalchallenges in order to develop the potentialthat is there. FAO have recently developedGuidelines for aquaculture certification. In myview, those guidelines give a good guidancehow to increase aquaculture production in asustainable way, says The Norwegian Minis-

ter of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs LisbethBerg Hansen.

- The challenge is to ensure aquaculturegrowth is sustainably and socially well man-aged. We need to think about whereaquaculture is located, the species grown,development of feed and new technologies,and the potential for closer links between

aquaculture and tradi-tional agricultural activ-ities, says ScottGallacher, Deputy Dir-ector General, ResourceManagement & Pro-grammes, Ministry forPrimary Industries, NewZealand.

- To achieve its vis-ion for sound aquacul-ture development,Department of Fisher-ies and Oceans has de-veloped acomprehensiveAquaculture ActionPlan aimed at increas-ing public confidence in

- There are chal-lenges toaquaculturegrowth, butones that I be-lieve we canovercome.

Scott Gallacher, DeputyDirector General, Min-istry for Primary Indus-tries, New Zealand.

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Maria Damanaki (left), EuropeanCommissioner for Maritime Affairs

and Fisheries and Lisbeth BergHansen, Norwegian Minister of Fish-

eries and Coastal Affairs.

Photo: The Norwegian Ministry ofFisheries and Coastal Affairs

the sustainability of aquaculture and to sup-port competitiveness in international mar-kets, says Keith Ashfield, Minister ofFisheries and Oceans Canada.

- Aquaculture can be expanded throughadvances in technology, better infrastruc-ture, better education, and encouraging in-vestment. Good governance, by both localgovernment officials and industry, also hasan important role to play. Improvements toplanning and policy will help protect the en-vironment as aquaculture production in-creases, says Joe Ludwig, The AustralianMinister for Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry.

CRITICAL CHALLENGES: - With the currenteconomic cl imate, the most critical chal-lenge for New Zealand is improving theeconomic performance of the fisheries andaquaculture sectors whi le ensuring sus-tainabi l ity. For the New Zealand seafoodindustry, key chal lenges are addressinggrowing market interest in supply chain in-tegrity, attracting a market premium for agreater proportion of seafood exports, anddemonstrating social ly-responsible and en-vironmental ly-sustainable business prac-

tices, says Scott Gal lacher, New Zealand.- The most significant challenges to in-

creased aquaculture production are competi-tion from imports, possible impact on theenvironment, and disease. The health of

aquaculture in open marine en-vironments is a continual chal-lenge, but we are continuing toexamine methods that helpsminimise the risk of disease,says Joe Ludwig, Australia.

- It is of key importance thatall interested parties work to-gether to manage fisheries re-sources sustainably, to protectmarine eco-systems, to fight il -legal, unreported and unregu-lated fishing as well as toaddress fleet overcapacity. Thechallenge for aquaculture is toensure the sustainability ofstocks, especially for stocks thatare used for feed production toimprove competitiveness and toensure a better access toEuropean markets, says MariaDamanaki, European Commis-sion.

- Our oceans and the fishery resourcesthey contain are under pressure from manyfactors, including: Increasing global demandfor seafood, new fishing technologies that

- Thechallenge foraquaculture isto ensure thesustainability

of stocks.Commissioner Maria Damanaki, European

Commission.

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have made it easier to catch large quantitiesof fish, il legal, unreported and unregulatedfishing - in domestic and international wa-ters, fisheries management that varies in ef-fectiveness from region to region,destructive fishing techniques, climatechange and pollutionthat is disturbing mar-ine ecosystems and af-fecting the health offish and other marinespecies, says KeithAshfield, Canada.

- In the short term,the major environment-al challenges are sea-lice on wild fish andfarmed fish escaping. Inthe longer term, issueslike feed supply, sitestructure and farmingtechnology will be im-portant. The futurechallenge for capturefisheries is to secure asufficient basis of sci-entific knowledge to

harvest sustainably within low levels of eco-logical footprints, says Lisbeth Berg-Hansen,Norway.

SUSTAINABLE EXPLOTATION: - Sustain-able exploitation requires sound manage-

ment structures, coupled with ahigh-qual ity research and monitoring re-gime to inform robust management de-cisions. It is acknowledged thatinformation about sustainabi l ity can lagbehind the development of a new fisheries

resource. In this in-stance an adaptivemanagement approachis required. Fishingexploitation ratesneed to be constrainedunti l there is sufficientconfidence about thestate of knowledge ofthe resource, saysScott Gal lacher,Deputy Director Gen-eral , Resource Man-agement &Programmes, Ministryfor Primary Industries,New Zealand.

- We rely on thelatest scientific dataand the resulting sci-entific peer-reviewed

- The health ofaquaculture inopen marine envir-onments is a con-tinual challenge,but we are con-tinuing to examinemethods thathelps minimise therisk of disease.

Joe Ludwig, Minister forAgriculture, Fisheries andForestry, Australia.

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advice to make important decisions for thesustainable management of Canadian fisher-ies. In our decision-making, we consider theeffects of the fishery on various componentsof the ecosystem. Enforcement and monitor-ing also form part of our sustainable man-agement approach. We spend approximately$130 million annually on monitoring, controland enforcement across the country. Aswell, healthy and productive ecosystems arevital to the sustainability of aquaculture inCanada. Informed by science, Fisheries andOceans Canada and other federal, provincialand territorial government partners establishthe regulations, policies and standards onwhich to control the environmental effectsof aquaculture operations and protect thehealth of farmed fish and shellfish. Canada’saquaculture industry must operate in a man-ner that ensures environmental sustainabil-ity. Indicators to measure the performance ofthe industry in ensuring healthy ecosystemsand healthy aquatic animals are presentlyunder development as part of the Aquacul-ture Sustainability Reporting Initiative – acollaborative activity between industry, gov-ernments, and other interested groups, says

Keith Ashfield, Minister of Fisheries andOceans Canada.

- The Norwegian government has a clearambition: Norway should be the world’s fore-most seafood nation. We must improve man-agement regimes for key fish stocks.Through sustainable management of thecapture fisheries and rebuilding of stocks, itwill also be possible to increase productionfrom the wild stocks. We have to increase theproduction from aquaculture, and we mustuse more raw materials from wild fisheriesand aquaculture. This will help to increasethe production of seafood, and thereby en-sure more sustainably harvested food for theworld’s growing population. Today, Norwayexports 33 million sustainable and healthyseafood meals every day, The NorwegianMinister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs Lis-beth Berg Hansen.

- In Australia, Ecosystem Based FisheriesManagement (EBFM) applies to our fisheries.This method takes a holistic approach to theinteractions of fishing activities with thewhole ecosystem, including habitats andnon-target species. The productivity of tar-get species can be maintained through the

application of EBFM environments, says JoeLudwig, The Australian Minister for Agricul-ture, Fishery and Forestry.

- The EU is one of the very few majorplayers with a strong presence in all of theworld’s oceans, through its fleet and invest-ments, bilateral agreements with third coun-tries and participation in most of theRegional Fisheries Management Organisa-tions. In addition, the EU is the biggest im-porter of fisheries and aquaculture products.We see it therefore as our key responsibilityto promote sustainable fishing globally, inline with our internal principles and stand-ards. I have taken that commitment verystrongly to the proposals for the CommonFisheries Policy reform, which are currentlyunder negotiation, and both the MemberStates and the European Parliament acceptand support this approach on the interna-tional dimension, says European Commis-sioner for Maritime Affairs and FisheriesMaria Damanaki.

Picture:From the production line atBakkafrost in Thorshavn, FaroeIslands. Photo: Kjetil Haanes.

- We rely onscientific

data and theresulting

peer-reviewedadvice.

The Honourable Keith Ashfield,Minister of Fisheriesand Oceans Canada.

Text: INGRID SCHIEFLOEingrid@oslobusinessmemo.no

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- And of course you should eat more fish, my doctor tells me.As if it was some sort of medicine. She has been saying thisfor years.- Of course, I answer - as always. If I can find one.. .

I know all about the vitamins, the minerals, the healthy fat. Thetaste. Yes, fish is good for you. As a Norwegian I grew up with it. Butwhere can I catch it, buy it, cook it? Now, that I live in a countrywhere meat is king?

I´m not a little fisherman any more – as I was in my childhooddays on the coast of Norway. I now live in Berlin – capital of Germanyin the middle of Central Europe. Here, a lot of people still eat fish onlyonce a year – for Christmas.

The smell in the streets of this inland city comes from steaks,wurst, schnitzel and kebab. Meat is everywhere. Although the con-sumers in the biggest European food market are known for their con-cern for the environment and their fear of food scandals, most ofthem don´t change their behaviour. When the bad news are gone -it´s back to the wurst - whatever is in it.

The consumption of meat in this coun-try has quadrupled during the last 100years with high costs for health and enviro-ment as a consequence. Every German con-sume on average more than 1094 animalsduring their lifetime, 945 of them are chick-en – which shows there is a desire for light-er food.

There are many big inland cities like thisin the world. Between Berlin and Bejing.

From Buffalo to Buenos Aires. Many have a “Fear of fish”. Fear ofcooking it wrongly and get the blame for it. Fear of the fish not beingfresh – a question rarely asked about chicken or beef. Fish still issomething fishy for people who have no experience with a fjord, alake or a river.

- Fish dishes must be sold as a positive experience.Something to enjoy. Something exiting, says Kenneth Gjer-rud, the chef of “Munchs Hus” - Germany´s only Norwegianrestaurant.Gjerrud has about 7-800 guest a day in his restaurant and a bistroin the Nordic embassy bui lding. About 80 % of the guests comethere to eat fish. Regulars come to enjoy their salmon and hal ibut– and even fal l in love with the scary ones l ike the wolf- andmonkfish.

The fresh and crispy Nordic cuisine has lately become famousthrough the restaurant Nemo in Copenhagen – voted the best in the

world for three years in a row by“Restaurant Magazin”.

- When I started a decade agothe local press wrote that there isno Nordic cuisine. They don´t dothat now, says Gjerrud and smiles.

Yes, indeed, the times might bechanging. At my last visit to the doc-tor she asked ME if I knew a goodfish restaurant.

Fearoffish?

- The smell in thestreets of this inlandcity is from steaks,wurst, schnitzel andkebab, writes DagYngland from Berlin.

Dag Yngland isan Europeanjournalistbased in Berlin.

dag.yngland@berlin.de

Kenneth Gjerrud, thechef of “Munchs Hus”

in Berlin. Photo:Gorm K. Gaare.

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Join our quest forblue food solutions!

WWW.MARELIFE.ORG

Erik Lopez Fedde Jon Aulie Carl Seip Hanevold Øystein Lie

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A TURQUOISE FUTURE? : - Maybe we are at the beginning of ablue-green revolution; heading for a turquoise future!? Rita West-vik says rhetorical ly when she is asked about expansion, chal-lenges and exploitation of fisheries and aquaculture.

Rita Westvik is working with innovation, foresight, entrepreneur-ship, FEED (food and energy eco dynamics), communication and sus-tainable tourism. She has unique knowledge about the industry at aforesighted big picture-level from designing andhosting several confer-ences in the field of innov-ation and aquaculture.

HOW TO ENSUREGROWTH: - In the field offeeding rapidly growingpopulations we must be open-minded, brave and increase our skills tonavigate and innovate. Fast. My brief way of describing our presenttimes is shifts happen!

- I hold that it is not knowledge per se, but foresight, navigationalskills and brave action that are the most decisive ingredients in astrategy for expansion in the field of aquaculture, Rita Westvik says.For many years she has been engaging in developing radically newmethods for producing both agri-and aqua-based food in closed en-vironments.

CRITICAL CHALLENGES: - The rate of change is accelerating. Infact we l ive in the age of hyper-change. If you think things arechanging fast now, you haven’t seen anything yet. Entire new in-dustries and technologies unheard of only a few years ago arenow normal parts of our l ives. It’s difficult, but necessary to keepup with new and disruptive developments and to try to under-stand their impl ications.

Influential scientists warn us; we may have reached the tippingpoint.

A “deadly triad” of pollution, overfishing and climate change will

impact the world’s ocean habitats in near future. In a dystopic futureperspective; guess who’s not coming for dinner? The fish that usedto live in wild will no longer exist, Westvik says.

SUSTAINABLE EXPLOITATION: - I bel ieve that we humans areborn with a capacity to work with nature and I hold there is roomfor abundant l iving for al l , provided we take direct responsibi l ity

for deep and radical change, Westvik says.- Nothing is more radical than local , regenerative food, water andenergy projects based on new mental , pol itical and technologicalmodels, already under development and testing. Analyses showthat more food production means more ecological impact, but thatcompared to other forms of animal protein production such as l ive-stock, aquaculture is more efficient.

- Maybe we will need to change both our eating and productionhabits. We must establish a global approach and business leadersmust establish a new bottom line, including both financial, social andecological capital, Westvik says.

MESSAGE TO THE INDUSTRY: - Dare to share! Act now! Explorenew frontiers! Engage pol ititians, media and the creative and sci-entific community to develop solutions for the future of food pro-duction in an ecofriendly manner, also in urban environments.And: Empower and engage women and youth! Rita Westvik says.

Picture:Rita Westvik runsher own company,FUTURAMA(foresight, innova-tion, communica-tion). She alsoworks as a facilitat-or in Memetor. Forten years she wassenior adviser atSINTEF Technologyand society.Westvik has alsospent many yearsworking with polit-ics and has a broadbackground frommedia.

Dare to share!

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Text: INGRID SCHIEFLOEingrid@oslobusinessmemo.no

Rita Westvik.