Agrilight, a manufacturer specializing in the development and production of light for livestock, has entered into an agreement with Nærbø, Norway-based Lakesystemer to develop LED lights specifically designed for land-based aquaculture operations.
The new agreement comes after three years of preparation and cooperation and formalizes the relationship between the two companies, Lakesystemer said in a press release. Now, the two are developing new lighting systems intended to reduce fish stress level and improve feed utilization in land-based aquaculture operations, while also reducing energy consumption.
Monster, the Netherlands-based Agrilight has manufactured lighting solutions for a number of agricultural industries, including cows, poultry, goats, insects, and in greenhouses. Now, the company is working on developing lighting solutions for aquaculture.
“When we learned to know Agrilight, we discovered a new world of knowledge on the use of light for efficient production of food,” Lakesystemer General Manager Ole Gabriel Kverneland said in a release. “It is truly inspiring to work with a knowledgeable and dedicated partner as Agrilight and we complement each other so well that we have now decided to formalize the partnership.”
Norway may be a leader in aquaculture, but Kverneland said the industry has more to learn about lighting from the agriculture industry, particularly from its use of greenhouses. Light technology currently used in land-based fish production is not always optimized for biological production, he said.
“The consequence is that the fish is unnecessarily stressed and that the energy consumption is higher than it needs to be,” Lakesystemer said. “Few things are as stressful for a fish as poor light conditions in form of flickering, uneven light spread, or wrong intensity.”
The partnership between the two companies will allow for the further development of lighting solutions designed specifically for a particular species or environment to reduce stress and allow for easier management of fish in a tank. Initially, the product has been developed for the salmon aquaculture industry, but Lakesystemer said the two companies are already trailing other uses.
“Even though the light is developed for salmon, the initial results have been so promising that we are already involved in testing for species such as tilapia as well as snails,” the company said.
Photos courtesy of Lakesystemer
