Expertise makes it happen
Nordic Aqua Partners (NOAP) is in the process of moving from demonstration and run-in to more industrial operations. The company reports good appetite, strong biological control, high superior percentage and no sexual maturation in the production of large fish.
Building a high-tech recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) salmon farm on the periphery of China, and making it function as intended, doesn't happen without knowing what you're doing.
On a visit to the facility I meet assistant operations manager Bergur Magnussen, a Faroese with over 35 years of RAS experience from companies such as Hiddenfjord and Fiskaaling, and with extensive experience from land-based trout production in Denmark. Magnussen has been at the NOAP facility for four years, and together with his wife Anna (who also works at the facility) is settled in a home not too far away.
"The core competence when running such a facility is 'farming'. It is not possible without it," he says.
He highlights that the company has extensive RAS expertise throughout its management. Not least, he points to his compatriot Ragnar Joensen, who is the chief executive of the listed owner company of the Chinese production company. Joensen already has 25 years of industry experience, including as head of Mowi Norway and global head of technology in the same company. The main responsibility for production lies with Ola Frøvik, while another veteran in the aquaculture industry, Johan Toftegaard from the Faroe Islands, is also part of the team that forms the core competence for the aquaculture section.
Everyone must know what to do
According to Magnussen, human error is often the most common cause of fish mortality in such facilities.
"Therefore, operations must be guided by expertise. It is important that when things happen, everyone knows exactly what to do and that they act correctly."
He says that so far (apart from the geosmin challenge – see further down in the article) they have not had any major incidents.
"But we have had many small incidents. Fortunately, they have not cost us much, but they have given us a lot of experience," he says.
The fish farming department, where he is deputy manager, currently has approximately 30 employees out of a total of 110 at the facility.
The company has its own water production department, and the technical department has approximately 20 employees.
"It is a level that is scaled for phase 2 in full operation. If there is a phase 3, we will have to hire more people."
The facility is staffed 24 hours a day.
"We have people at the facility all the time. Here, there is no one sitting at home in the living room and getting messages and alarms in the app," says Magnussen.
Operational status
In 2025, Nordic Aqua harvested 2,026 tonnes (head-on gutted weight) from the facility. The fish had an average weight of 3.9 kg HOG, corresponding to 4.7 kg live weight, and a superior share of 97%. Total production was 3,981 tonnes, and the biomass at the end of 2025 was 3,759 tonnes.
"Phase 1 was then at full run-rate in Q4 2025, while the Phase 2 department is gradually increasing and is expected to be at full run-rate in the second half of 2026," says Andreas Thorud, CEO of the Chinese NOAP company.
In Q1 2026, 771 tonnes of HOG were harvested, with an average weight of 4.4 kg HOG, corresponding to 5.4 kg live weight, and a 95% superior share. Production in the quarter was 2,161 tonnes, and total biomass was 4,991 tonnes. In February 2026, the company guided a harvest volume of 5,000–6,000 tonnes of HOG in 2026, with higher volumes in the second half of the year as the first harvest from phase 2 is expected in September.
According to assistant operations manager Bergur Magnussen, the biological performance was strong, with good fish health, no sexual maturation, and high survival.
The fish at the facility take about 26–27 months from the time they are laid down as eggs (from Benchmark in Iceland) to a weight of about 7 kg. From start to 100 grams, it takes about seven months.
The feed is supplied by Skretting and produced at its factory in Zhuhai, located between Macao and Hong Kong a little further south in the country.
Technology and production design
The plant is based on RAS technology from AKVA group. The recycling rate is a whopping 99.6%.
The Phase 1 section contains a hatchery, smolt facilities, and a growth capacity of 4,000 tonnes of HOG. The building consists of a smolt department of 6,200 m² over two floors, with units RAS 1–3 and RAS 11–13, and a production department of 29,000 m² with RAS 4–8, a purging unit and a processing plant. The Phase 2 section has four larger, standardised RAS units in a new production building, while Phase 3 is planned to have many new RAS units. The roof areas are covered with solar panels. Sludge from the plant will be used as fertiliser in nearby agriculture, and/or as a source in biogas plants.
The water treatment follows a classic RAS setup with mechanical filters that remove particles, biofilters that remove ammonia and fine particles, deaerators that remove CO2, and low-dose ozone to keep the water clear.
The raw water for the plant is collected from the Gaotang Strait, filtered, and sterilised with UV/ozone before entering the plant.
"We operate with low salinity, approximately 2–3 parts per thousand, because several serious RAS incidents internationally have been linked to high salinity. Fresh water is produced from seawater by reverse osmosis, so that the plant can mix seawater and freshwater to the desired salinity," explains Magnussen.
He believes that the facility's ability to maintain good fish health and low or no degree of sexual maturation depends on several factors.
"We have very good control over the temperature in the water. A high proportion of the approximately 12 kWh per kilo of fish produced that we use in total goes to cooling the water. Especially in the fish's first phases, it is important that it does not get too hot, and we are at around 11–12 degrees," he explains.
He also emphasises the need for enough light with a broad spectrum to reach the water.
"We strive for clear water and to keep the density so low that the fish themselves do not shade the light. We measure the turbidity every day with a goal of being at 1–3 (FAU Formazin Attenuation Units, editor's note). But we do not want crystal clear water, as a little colour is stress-reducing," Magnussen points out.
Biosafety
Before we as visitors are allowed to enter the actual production units, we have to go through a biosecurity briefing. This is handled by fish health manager Alejandro Millar. The Chilean has more than 20 years of experience in fish health as a veterinarian and has worked in companies such as Tassal, AquaChile, Blumar, and Skretting.
"We have a very high focus on biosecurity at the facility", he says.
Therefore, the water used in the facility is also thoroughly filtered and disinfected.
"There is some yellow croaker farming nearby, so we don't want to risk bringing pathogens in. As of yet we haven't gone so far as to have filters on the air intake, but it's something we're considering."
He says they actively screen regularly, but so far have not detected any pathogens.
“For analysis, we use two different laboratories. One is a laboratory that Zoetis has just established,” says Millar.
So far, no form of vaccination of the fish has been used.
The geosmin event in 2024
As mentioned before, there is one incident in recent years that stands out in a negative sense, and that is the geosmin problems that arose in 2024. Geosmin, and other similar compounds, can be produced by bacteria in the water and the biofilter and can thus cause an unpleasant taste in the fish.
"In July 2024, we suddenly discovered elevated values of geosmin in the system, and immediately stopped all harvesting. Then we had to take a step back and analyse what had happened. At the same time, we also chose to be very transparent towards the market, "says CEO Thorud. He calls the period difficult, "because it also came at a time when we were going out to raise money for further scaling up".
In the two quarters of 2024 when there was a complete stop to fish harvesting, in close dialogue with the AKVA group, NOAP installed additional capacity for protein skimmers, UV and ozone, rebuilt the CO2 degassers, installed activated carbon filters, and adjusted biofilter protocols. The company also built its own lab for water testing. The cost of the whole amounted to around €19 million.
"After this, we closely monitor the production phase, and we let the fish go to the purging department with plenty of new water for a certain period before harvest, depending on what the tests show. Geosmin is not a challenge we can completely get rid of, but with the right strategy and equipment we can control it so well that it is no longer an issue for us in our daily lives," Thorud explains.
NOAP resumed commercial harvesting in February 2025, and was well received in the market again.
"We had done a lot of preparatory work, because building trust is one of the most important things you can do in this market. That's why we had a successful reintroduction. It was as if we hadn't been away at all," he says.
