Laksesystemer, VP Vélaverkstæði form JV focused on land-based aquaculture in Iceland

Laksesystemer and VP Vélaverkstæði are partnering to expand the services and technology available to land-based aquaculture operations in Iceland.

Nærbø, Norway-based Laksesystemer is a provider of aquaculture equipment and services, and Vogar, Iceland-based VP is a design and construction firm with expertise in repair and metalwork. VP’s CEO, Jón Reynir Andrésson, worked for 25 years as chief technology officer for Benchmark Genetics Iceland.

“We have been searching for the right partner for a while, and we are really looking forward to the cooperation with VP,” Laksesystemer General Manager Ole Gabriel Kverneland said in a press release. “Jón has now been in Norway to learn more about our company and our technology, and we can easily see that Jón knows what this is about. Our systems are delivered with state-of-the-art remote support solutions and this, combined with the massive experience of Jón and his crew, means we are confident that our Icelandic customers will be in safe hands. We are primed and ready to grow together with the market in Iceland.”

Andrésson said his firm chose Laksesystemer because of its proven technology and expertise in land-based farming systems and operations.

“We believe Lakseystemer has developed technology that can solve many of the challenges in land-based aquaculture. Having seen the technology in operation in huge Norwegian facilities, I am impressed by the scale and how advanced the technology has become. There are not many companies specializing in land-based aquaculture the way that Laksesystemer does, so their experience and technology is sure to be valuable for our market in Iceland,” Andrésson said. “In particular, the focus on gentle feed handling and use of AI to prevent feed spill is something that can greatly contribute both to financial and environmental sustainability of the industry. We are happy to see that the cooperation will be fruitful from day one and we are ready to install their feed system to one of the most experienced land-based operations in the world.”

Kverneland said his company began to look to Iceland as a potential expansion opportunity following the implementation of a tax on salmon farming the Norwegian government imposed earlier this year.

“The new aquaculture tax has obviously put many projects on hold in Norway. We immediately foresaw that the stagnation in Norway would represent an opportunity for other countries producing salmon. At the moment, there is very high activity in Iceland. We have been present with our technology for a while, and we are now moving forward with a strategic partnership with the company VP that will help us with installations and ‘feet on the ground’ in this important market for land-based aquaculture technology,” he said. “We have also signed contracts for delivery of feed systems and for the ReelAppetite artificial intelligence feeding. Big projects on land [are] a perfect match for our newly developed technology focusing on gentle and precise feeding. We are also experiencing a lot of interest in our new lights developed especially for land-based aquaculture.”

Photo courtesy of Laksesystemer