CREATE aims to maintain and reinforce the strong position of Norwegian equipment suppliers to the aquaculture industry, and to be a leading supplier of know-how and equipment to the global aquaculture industry.
Norway has been a leading nation in breeding, the development of feeds, vaccination and other aspects of the aquaculture sector. The new CREATE Centre in Trondheim will guarantee the position of Norway as a supplier of technology to fish farmers.
Rising demand for farmed fish
The background for the CREATE Centre is that international demand for farmed fish is on the rise. People in the industrialised and western world are eating ever more fish because it is good and healthy, while the total population of the world is also increasing. This means that aquaculture has become an extremely good area in which to invest. Since traditional fisheries have more or less reached maximum sustainable harvesting levels, aquaculture will be the answer to the rise in demand.
Marine species
On a global scale, farming of freshwater fish is dominant, but there are good grounds for believing that the greatest rate of growth will be in the aquaculture of marine species, a field in which Norway has always been a leader. Our water quality is better, and the danger of spreading disease is less. At the same time, marine aquaculture is more demanding in terms of technology.
Technological advantage
Norway and Chile are the most important nations in the world as far as marine aquaculture is concerned, but Norway has always had a technological advantage in terms of breeding, the development of fish feeds, vaccination, reduction in the use of antibiotics, etc. This advantage is what the CREATE Centre aims to maintain and even increase.
Technology export
The potential is great not only in terms of exporting food as such but also for exports of aquaculture technology. The CREATE Centre will concentrate on the technology that surrounds the fish from when it is put into the sea to when it is harvested by a well-boat and taken to the slaughter plant.
Strenghtening the innovation process of suppliers
“There is also a need for more research and innovation on breeding and feeds, but that lies outwith our area of interest,” explains Arne Fredheim, the manager of the Centre.
"Our main focus is on strengthening the innovation process in companies that supply technology and equipment to the aquaculture sector.”
Host institution: SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Research partners: NTNU Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures (CeSOS) and Dept. of Engineering Cybernetics, Institute of Marine Research , Akvaforsk and SINTEF ICT.
Industrial partners: AKVA group, Helgeland Plast, Egersund Net and Erling Haug
International partners: Open Ocean Aquaculture Group at University of New Hampshire (USA), AquaNet/Network of Excellence (Canada)
Budget: NOK 160 million over eight years. Staff: 15–20 (full-time/part-time).
