At AKVA group we are, and will always be, pioneers. We dare to think thoughts no one has thought before. To go first, where no one else has gone before, in order to solve the challenges of the future. That is why it is so important that we listen when a knowledgeable customer or colleague dares to think aloud: Can we build pens from recycled PE plastic? Is it possible to make boats from used cooking oil? What if the solution to the sea lice challenge is to lower the fish into the depths?
Pioneering the future
The pioneer mentality has been part of AKVA group since its establishment in 1974. Today we are the world’s largest supplier of solutions and equipment to the aquaculture industry, with 1,400 employees worldwide. The unwavering belief that we would succeed has led to ground-breaking solutions: the world’s first pen made of PE plastic, the first recycled pen – and with deep farming, a marked reduction of the industry’s biggest challenge: sea lice.
Steinar Olaisen (pictured) and Hans Petter Meland launched the idea of the plastic pen in PE, developed together with Helgeland Plast (owned by AKVA group). The prototype was tested at Lovund Sjøprodukter in February 1974 – the start of a revolution in aquaculture. Photo: AKVA group
Without strong collaboration, we solve nothing
Even though the sea lice problem has existed as long as the industry itself, real progress came in 2014. In close cooperation with Sinkaberg (then Sinkaberg-Hansen), AKVA group started the Atlantis project, with large-scale development and testing of submersible salmon farming facilities – which ultimately resulted in today’s commercial solution, Nautilus.
“This was an entirely new method that no one had tried before: to keep the salmon deep to avoid lice without raising the pens,” says Svein-Gustav Sinkaberg, CEO of Sinkaberg. “The process required the development of underwater feeding and monitoring technology, and the collaboration with AKVA group has been crucial in making this work in practice. Their technical expertise and ability to adapt the systems to our sites have been key to achieving good results.”
Read more about the world’s first commercial deep farming solution
And the results have indeed been good: research shows that submerged pens have significantly lower lice infestation and require far fewer delousing operations compared to surface pens.
Submerged facilities experienced substantially lower lice infestation and required only a tenth of the delousing operations per pen. Data from six deep farming sites compared with reference sites using conventional technology showed 0.6 versus 6.1 delousings per pen. Source: Høvik, C. (2025). Growth, welfare and sea lice infestation of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) produced in submerged and surface pens. A comparative study across 12 paired full-scale commercial deployments. Master’s thesis, NTNU.
Quite simply, the fish thrive in the depths. That is why today we can see salmon on the dinner table that have not gone through a single delousing operation. Because someone once dared to think visionary, say it out loud, and make it real.
What if we can achieve even more?
What was once a bold idea is today a commercial success. But that does not mean the pioneering work is done – nor the close cooperation with skilled farmers:
Global Solutions Manager Merete Gisvold Sandberg and CIO Sea Based Arnstein Hosaas at AKVA group. Photo: AKVA group
“We are constantly testing new improvements, adjustments and elements, even after, for example, a pilot project has been completed and a product such as Nautilus has been commercially launched,” says Merete Gisvold Sandberg. Merete is Global Solutions Manager at AKVA group and responsible for ensuring that biology’s needs are in focus when we develop new solutions.
“The development in the industry is moving very fast, and we are completely dependent on close collaboration with knowledgeable customers to solve the challenges the industry faces. That is why we have established a user forum where we gather input from our customers and share knowledge across companies. This allows us to verify and improve our solutions continuously,” she explains.
Setevika: Out in the field together with the customer. Photo: AKVA group
“Another important part of our pioneering work is actually being together with our customers out there on the pen edge. Following them through the entire process, supporting them when needed, and above all learning from their experience.”
Merete is not alone in highlighting the value of customer competence:
“Strong cooperation with the farmers is a prerequisite for solving the industry’s challenges,” says Arnstein Hosaas, CIO Sea Based at AKVA group. “Together we increase knowledge and competence about the challenges we face and the solutions we know are possible.”