-When we choose suppliers, we look for how they can contribute to Bjørøya succeeding with its goals and operations. We are looking for more than off-the-shelf goods, and want to think of long-term, says Eskil Bendiksen who is R&D manager at Bjørøya AS. – We see that Aquabyte can be part of the journey, contribute to our development, and bring in a new mindset.

The family company Bjørøya currently has nine licenses, and the company has 55 permanent employees and farms at five locations. – We have always looked ahead and searched for new knowledge and new solutions. We believe that one thing is quite certain; with current developments in automatic counting and registration, the industry may stop counting lice manually. Maybe there will be future requirements for this, and automatic counting will then become a ‘must’, says Bendiksen. – To get there, we need to work with many, and here we believe that Aquabyte plays an important role.

-Together with various professional environments and partners, we will be one of the leading players as the industry develops. Therefore, we are also looking for partners such as Aquabyte, with high professional competence, to defend our place in this ecosystem.

Beyond an off-the-shelf supplier

-Aquabyte is an interesting player, because they see themselves as something more than a product supplier. They are generally a valuable contributor to better fish health.

-One example can be an ongoing project where we compare effects between pens. In a pen we can use lumpsuckers to graze on the salmon. The work of optimizing the use of lumpsuckers to control salmon lice is an extensive and long-term work. At the same time, the level of knowledge about this species is limited, and we face many challenges. To document the fish welfare of lumpsuckers after release, registrations are carried out according to an established welfare score, and the state of health is documented monthly. Here, Aquabyte can help measure differences from the different pens. These are crucial qualities that mean a lot to us. We can use Aquabyte for much more than ordinary operations.

-Developing a full-scale protocol for the use of lumpsuckers as a biological de-licing method will be an important part of a comprehensive control strategy against salmon lice.

Aquabyte looks at us through our eyes

-As Aquabyte’s product platform expands, so does their value as a partner. They focus on lice, biomass and have their own health module for fish welfare. This is how they contribute: with both advice and equipment. They are good at seeing the situation from our perspective, and we follow each other up proactively. It is about much more than a product that is put into the sea. If a problem arises, it is solved quickly.

Cornerstone company that gives back to the local community

With headquarters in Flatanger, the 40-year-old Trøndelag family business has always valued its local roots. The business area covers the entire Namdal coast, from Osen and Flatanger on the Fosen Peninsula and up to Nærøysund and Bindalen in Trøndelag and Nordland. It is also important to us that value ​​that is created continues to benefit the local community.

The most important priorities

-In addition to local anchoring, our most important priorities are to produce optimally at the locations and permits we already have. We must make the best possible use of capacity. Furthermore, we must take advantage of more opportunities, such as shorter production time at sea, and shorter exposure time to lice, for example by investing in larger and better smolts.

The R&D leader also says that to be able to preserve good traditions, one must change at the same time. – We want to be far ahead, and therefore we need a value network that contributes across different environments. Here, Aquabyte has found its natural place.