Salmon RAS What's the Problem?

I have now been in the Salmon RAS game for over a decade. In that time, I have seen a lot of development in the technology, and I have seen many failed attempts and hundreds of millions of dollars spent in trying to build the business of growing salmon on land.

A decade ago, the question was “is it possible to grow salmon on land” and that question has now been definitively answered Yes! Technologically there is no question that both Pacific and Atlantic salmon can be grown in land-based systems. But the bigger, and I suggest the most important, question of whether salmon can be grown predictably and profitably on land, is still a matter with few answers. The largest vision in the space so far is Atlantic Sapphire, with their pilot in Denmark and their main facility in Florida. The Denmark project is now almost a decade old. They have suffered complete mortality events several times and to date have only produced a fraction of their projected biomass. It appears that the pilot and main farm share a host of issues that are holding them back from profitable operations. In Florida, Atlantic Sapphire lost a whopping $56 for every pound of salmon they produced in 2020. Their average selling price was less than $5 lb. so that loss is astonishing.

So why is it so difficult to grow salmon on land at a profit? As one who has lived this question every day for years now I think I can shed a bit of light on the challenge.

If you do a google search you will find many stories that seem to point to Salmon RAS as a well developed and proven science. With more than 70 promised projects around the world it would seem so. If you read the prospectus’ almost all the proponents claim to have the answer. But none can point to actual production results. Many flow charts and diagrams of Salmon RAS seem to show it is a quite simple process to grow salmon in a recirculating system.. All you have to do is flow water, add oxygen, remove solid waste, convert metabolic waste from ammonia eventually to nitrate, remove nitrate and CO2 and the salmon will grow – no big problem!

However, having developed a RAS and met our operating goals my description of a RAS is quite different. I would compare the complexity and difficulty building a functioning RAS to building a space station. In a space station every factor of the environment to sustain life must be built and maintained without pause.  Nothing in the natural environment of space exists to support life within the space station. Similarly, nothing within a RAS system exists naturally to sustain the life of the animals who live and grow within. Adding complexity to a RAS is that the environment that is created is itself living. Some think that a RAS is simply a collection of pieces of equipment that work together to become a “system” where fish grow. This is not the case. The most important part of a RAS system is the water, but that water is alive. It is full of biological activity and even one small factor can cause it to do things that the operator has absolutely no control over. Within a RAS system many individual processes are biological -alive- and like anything living subject to a myriad of factors to maintain its health and wellbeing. Biofiltration, CO2 stripping, oxygenation, buildup of hormones, metals, etc. are not simply mechanical processes they are alive. And then there are the fish. The science of the biology of the fish is still emerging. The effect of light: color,, intensity, variability, and more, the effect of swim speed, tank color and a hundred other factors all have an impact. Then there is the challenge of maintaining a mechanical system that can never be turned off. How to you overcome the fact that anything mechanical will break down and needs ongoing maintenance yet each part is necessary to maintain the life support system for the fish, and if not essential will still impact the living water column differently if turned off for even a short while. In building a space station you need to build a system to maintain life of a few individuals, mostly alike. But in a RAS you need to support the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of individuals ranging from juveniles to full grown adults.

To grow Salmon on land at a profit is no small task or accomplishment. Scale likewise poses problems. Because the move to on land salmon farming has largely been driven by opposition to traditional ocean salmon farming the scale has largely been influenced. Projects must compare to the existing industry to be relevant. This is where I have always been distinct from most advocates of salmon RAS. I believe this distinction is where we will find success. Given the great complexity of this technology I have always maintained it important to prove a system in manageable scale before scaling up. Again, looking at the comparison of a space station, could you imagine trying to build a New York city in space, having never built so much as a house, as the first endeavor? Not me!