Lerøy Midnor wins Skretting’s Golden Pellet 2007
Norway’s smartest fish farmer 2006–2007 is Lerøy Midnor. During the Golden Pellet Award Gala at Aqua Nor, its innovative new cleaning system for enormous aquaculture pens brought Lerøy Midnor Skretting’s Golden Pellet and a reward of EUR 6,250.
Pal Tangvik (left) and Paul Ingar Udtian of Lerøy Midnor
won Skretting’s Golden Pellet 2007 and were proclaimed
Norway’s smartest fish farmers at the Golden Pellet
Award Gala at Aqua Nor Wednesday night.
Sales director Therese Log Bergjord, Skretting,
presented the prize.
Every second year, feed producer Skretting awards its Golden Pellet to the fish farm with the smartest and most creative solution to everyday challenges. The prize was established as a motivator for innovation and competitiveness in Norwegian aquaculture. This year’s contest is the third, and both former winning solutions have since become commercial products.
Pure gold
The Golden Pellet Award is a regular part of the Skretting Aqua Nor programme. At this year’s award show Wednesday evening, Pal Tangvik and Paul Ingar Udtian of Lerøy Midnor in mid Norway were proclaimed Norway’s smartest fish farmers and presented with the Golden Pellet 2007.
The solution earning them this prize is a new cleaning system for circular plastic aquaculture pens. Biosecurity and fish health demand regular cleaning of the enormous floating rings that carry the nets. The cleaning task is formidable, the rings being double and up to 200 meters in circumference. In this heavyweight version they weigh in at
150 kg per metre.
Tangvik and Udtian solved this challenge with an ingenious, but still simple and inexpensive, system of rollers, ramps, high pressure cleaners and a crane. With their totally home made invention they now perform the important cleaning job considerably faster while eliminating heavy and risky manual work.
Worthy silver
In addition to the winner, another three of the eight candidates in the finals are awarded Silver Prizes. This year Grieg Cod Farming, Marine Harvest Region Mid, and Nordlaks Oppdrett left Aqua Nor with silver in their baggage. Winner of the 2005 Golden Pellet Silver Prize Martin Steiness of Grieg Cod Farming became the fist ever to win a prize in two contests.
Triggering efficiency
The Skretting Golden Pellet is an important motivator to creativity and development in daily fish farm work, thus triggering efficiency and competitiveness. Solutions invented by Golden Pellet winners and candidates contribute to reduced costs and better working conditions at the farms. Every contest sees some 20 entries, covering the whole range of fish farm tasks. This year a majority of the competitors concentrated on better handling of pens and nets.
The Golden Pellet Award Gala has become a regular part of the world leading aquaculture exhibition Aqua Nor in Trondheim, Norway.
The competitors are ranked by a jury that covers a wide range of aquaculture competence. Between them they share peak knowledge in technology, ergonomics and economics. Looking for important improvements, the jury also openly admits a weakness for inventions with a high ingenuity factor.
This year’s jury consisted of science reporter Pal M. Jensen, kyst.no, production manager Turid Lande Solheim, Marine Harvest, farm co-ordinator Alf Jostein Skjaervik, Salmar, and innovation director Torleif Abrahamsen, Skretting Norway.
Skretting’s Golden Pellet 2007 – the Award Winners
Golden Pellet Lerøy Midnor avd Hestvika, Pal Tangvik and Paul Ingar Udtian
Cleaning system for circular plastic aquaculture pens
Silver Prize Grieg Cod Farming, Martin Steiness
Crate device to catch waste fish
Silver Prize Marine Harvest, Region Mid, Lars Flaahammer
Claw pole for hauling nets
Silver Prize Nordlaks Oppdrett, Remi Mathisen
Cleaning system for circular plastic aquaculture pens
Skretting, world leading in fish feed, operates on five continents with a yearly production surpassing one million tonnes of feed for more than 50 species. With Skretting high quality feeds, fish farmers all over the world produce healthy and delicious seafood in a sustainable manner. Skretting is a part of the global animal nutrition and fish feed producer Nutreco.
