History

Lumarine started producing lumpfish in Tømmervåg in 2015, under the company name Rognkallen AS. In 2016, Kistefos AS joined as owners and, subsequent to a number of improvements to infrastructure, the facility has produced high-quality lumpfish for the aquaculture industry in recent years. Lumarine has chosen to farm lumpfish as part of our strategy to be a leading total supplier of cleaner fish and post-smolt for the aquaculture industry. Using lumpfish as cleaner fish in cages allows for a reduction in mechanical and medicinal delousing for salmon. Use of lumpfish is a gentle method of delousing salmon, eliminating environmental problems involved in the use of medicinal delousing agents. Controlling salmon lice by using cleaner fish is a goal for many companies in the industry, and the production of lumpfish and ballan wrasse is a growing industry. The facility currently has 18 employees.

Production/biology

Our production line for lumpfish at the facility in Tømmervåg is roughly divided into four departments; hatchery/start feed, silo and two on-growing departments.

• Hatchery/Start feed: The fertilised eggs are incubated for 288 degree days before hatching. The newly hatched larvae are approx. 5 mm long. They are well-developed and have an adhesive disc and a yolk sac that keeps them fed for several days. Lumpfish do not have a swim bladder, and stick on to any suitable surface in the tanks to save energy. After around six weeks, they are transferred to the silo department.
• The silo department: The lumpfish stay here until they have grown to an approx. weight of 1.5 grams. This is when the process of sorting the fish also starts.
• The on-growing department: This is where the fish stay until they are ready for delivery. They are sorted once more, then vaccinated when they reach a weight of around 7-10 grams. They remain in the facility for 500 day-degrees after vaccination until they are ready for delivery (20-60 grams).

The facility has a production capacity of approx. 3 million fish per year. Together with our facility in Sleneset, we have a total capacity of 4 million lumpfish per year.

Health

Our lumpfish are screened for well-known diseases/parasites several times during their cycle in the different parts of the facility. The parent fish, eggs and milk are also screened when entering the facility. Our lumpfish are screened when they are moved from start feed to the silo, prior to vaccination and before delivery. As such, we can be absolutely sure that we are delivering a product with optimal quality.

Pictures from the facility