New partnership to expend the fish pen nets' lifespan

Probotic, Vonin Refa, and Ballangen Sjøfarm enter into extensive collaboration to reduce the risk of fish escapes and extend the fish pen nets' lifespan.

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Through the preliminary project "Notdokumentasjon" financed by Innovation Norway
the companies Probotic, Vónin Refa, and Ballangen Sjøfarm have found several exciting opportunities and synergies around improving the lifespan of fish pen nets and reducing the risk of fish escapes.
The companies are now collaborating on a new documentation application, developing a  digital tool explicitly aimed at fish pen nets. The goal is to build a user-friendly and visual tool where everything that happens to the fish pen nets during their lifetime is easily documented and visualized for everyone involved; this includes everything from certificates, service, net inspections, and various operations where the nets have been mechanically touched.

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Probotic sees significant synergies in working actively with suppliers and manufacturers of pen nets. We all want to actively contribute to the reduction of salmon escapes and the industry's footprint. This collaboration and documentation project fits in perfectly with our goals and projects where we work to automate the ocean phase in fish farming. The timing could not be better since we are now working with our platforms' digital "front end" side. Here, we work on tools primarily with automatic and autonomous registrations, so expanding this to include manual registrations for others will be a win-win for everyone and strengthen our product. Connecting today's manual solutions with tomorrow's automatic ones with good interaction and documentation tools is essential for a good "flow" in an industry with many different systems, actors, and suppliers who already work together, so bettering this collaboration is exciting!

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Quality coordinator in Ballangen Sjøfarm, Kent David Pedersen, says this is one of many projects in their work on active prevention of fish escapes. He believes that better documentation for the current and future solutions is something everyone will benefit from, both authorities, breeders, and suppliers. Today, Ballangen Sjøfarm has no registered escapes from its facilities and thus proves that proactive work is worthwhile. Ballangen Sea Farm has worked actively with Probotic for many years and has Probotic's autonomous drone out in pilot testing. - The fact that local actors are building up technological expertise around us is another example of the positive ripple effects around our business.

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In addition to this, the parties are looking at further cooperation in the following fields:

• Automation and automation of inspections at service centers using machine vision
• Standardize reporting and documentation
• Standardize a coordination system for fish pen nets for more straightforward repairs and work in the field
• Better tools for pen nets solvency calculation
• Better tools for tensile testing of fish pen nets

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We at Vónin Refa look forward to putting in place an "experience database" that will be able to function as a "health journal" that follows the note throughout the entire life course. Such a database will be great for seeing the big picture and a great asset to improve the nets, both operationally and constructionally.

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Næringshagen Midt-Troms (NHMT) has identified the project that has led to this collaboration through the project Supplier Development Havbruk Nord (LUHN). NHMT has led the preliminary project and has been an important facilitator in kick-starting the partnership. This is a direct result of LUHN's investment in developing the suppliers' services for the farming industry.

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Ballangen Sjøfarm
Ballangen Sjøfarm is a salmon farming company with 45 committed employees who, in collaboration with Cermaq Norway AS, produce up to 14,000 tonnes of salmon annually. The company's 5 locations are in Ofoten, a fjord well suited for farming salmon in terms of water quality and current and bottom conditions.
The company works continuously to operate in a sustainable and environmentally sound manner, and this is through environmental certifications, participation in technological development, and skills development among the employees.

Probotic
Probotic is an innovative aquatech company with a head office in Narvik and a branch office in Trondheim. Probotic's goal is Clean Aquaculture, working with technology to automate the marine phase of the aquaculture industry. For this, Probotic develop dynamic sensor carriers, robots, and systems powered by artificial intelligence that enable automation. The first products are robot vacuum cleaners that can inspect and keep the cages clean, contributing to reduced escapes and a better environment for the salmon. The company has several patents and aims to become the market leader in high-tech underwater technology for the aquaculture industry. Probotic currently has 11 employees.

Vónin Refa
Vónin Refa has been involved in the rapid development that has taken place in the farming industry since the industry adventure began. This means that they have built up unique expertise about the industry and the conditions under which it operates. Their proximity to the market, in-depth industry knowledge, skilled professionals, and recognized subcontractors means that Vónin Refa is today a reliable supplier of quality equipment.

Næringshagen Midt-Troms
Næringshagen Midt-Troms aims to be the preferred partner for innovation and business development in the region and an attractive partner in the north. We are passionate about developing the region and succeeding when the companies succeed! We advise companies that want development and growth and assist with networks, expertise, and financing.

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Follow the partnership and development on the webpage: NOTA

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