Gael Force signs deal to product semi-closed containment SeaQureFarm prototype

Gael Force Group is advancing its SeaQureFarm semi-closed containment fish-farming concept by developing a prototype.

Inverness, Scotland-based aquaculture supply company signed a contract with Northern Ireland-based Cunningham Covers, a maker of protective covers and containment products using high-strength flexible materials, to produce the prototype, which will be delivered in 2024, according to a company press release.

“We are delighted to be a long-term partner with Gael Force in this project,” Cunningham Covers Managing Director David Cunningham said. “Our two companies share core values and ethos, as well as a long-term ambition to grow our presence together in the semi-closed containment fish-farming sector, combining the considerable and complementary strengths of both companies.”

The two companies have also entered a supply partner agreement with Serge Ferrari, a producer of flexible composite materials, to provide its Précontraint-technology membrane fabric for the SeaQureWell system’s floating, enclosed “well,” which will be pumped full of seawater and supported by a collar that can modify water temperatures.

“The use of innovative materials will contribute to the system's robustness, flexibility, and resistance to environmental factors,” Gael Force said. “The SeaQureWell will be constructed of engineered high-quality composite membrane material, cut, and welded to form the well, with structural floatation at the surface and a rigid sub-surface service and support structure.  It aims to provide and maintain a secure controlled environment to safeguard healthy growing fish against external environmental threats to the fish from sea lice, gill amoeba, jellyfish, and algae blooms, as well as protect against sea mammal predation. Additionally, fecal depositions along with any uneaten food will also be captured in the well for on-site recovery and reduction for reuse.”

Gael Force, a technology and equipment manufacturer, recently launched a new strategic initiative focused on research and development and international growth. It said it has been researching the SeaQureFarm concept for several years and, in 2022, commissioned aquaculture expert Knut Senstad “to deliver a highly detailed business case for the concept, revealing key economic, health, and environmental savings in a range of farming scenarios.”

“By announcing this next major step forward in the development of SeaQureFarm, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to the continual improvement of a greener, carbon-friendly way to sustainably produce a healthy, nutritious food protein. We share the sector’s ambition of minimizing environmental footprint and moving closer to a goal of achieving net zero,” Gael Force Group Managing Director Stewart Graham said. “I am extremely confident that our collective experience and expertise will enable us to move the dial considerably towards that target.”

Gael Force is “immediately open to partnering with finfish producers in Scotland to trial a project next year and is welcoming approaches from customers,” it said in its release.

“SeaQureFarm has the potential to unlock global ambition for a greener, carbon-friendly, and more efficient way of producing healthy nutritious food protein through improving the sustainability of farming of the seas. It is designed to deliver improved fish health, reduced predation, prevent seabed depositions, and reduce egg-to-plate emissions while enabling on-farm circular economies and turning a waste problem into an energy solution,” the company said.

Photo courtesy of Gael Force Group