LandbasedAQ received a preview of the high-tech building in December, which now stands almost completed. And what meets you behind the façade is one of Europe's most flexible and technically advanced research platforms for both RAS and flow-through systems.

The RAS and tank technology is delivered by North Aquaculture, which has had full responsibility for design, engineering and installation, in close collaboration with the expertise already gathered at the institute.

From tropical aquarium to high-tech RAS hub

NATIH

National Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Hub (NATIH)

 NATIH is funded by a £17million investment by the UK Government through the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal, as well as a £1million Wolfson Foundation grant, and additional investment from the University of Stirling.

Systems and capacity: • 18 separate research systems • 17 RAS lines + 3 flow-through fish disease challenge rooms • Total tank volume: 43 m³ • Temperature control: 6–28 °C • Can handle freshwater, brackish water and seawater • Modular full-PE RAS design delivered by North Aquaculture

Where the new building stands today, there used to be a tropical aquarium. This has been demolished and replaced by a modular research centre with 18 separate systems, 218 fish tanks ranging from 25 to 500 litres, and a total tank volume of 43 cubic metres.

Here there are 17 RAS lines, three flow-through fish disease challenge rooms, and both small and large controlled-temperature rooms (CT rooms).

The full range from 6 to 28 °C can be delivered to the water – making it possible to work with both tropical and temperate species, as well as both fresh and saltwater.

Precision and flexibility

According to RAS specialist Jamie Mayans from North Aquaculture, the main goal has been to build a system that is robust, modular, and extremely flexible. 

“We have designed a research facility that provides full control over all water parameters – temperature, oxygen, turnover, photoperiod, everything. When conducting experiments, reproducibility is essential, and therefore the systems are set up as repeatable twin systems,” he says.

The RAS lines are built around North Aquaculture’s own full-PE (polyethylene) modular construction, with the core being fixed-bed biofilters.

“We use our own fixed-bed technology, which is very stable and easy to operate in all sizes, from 24m3/h to 600m3/h units. But if someone wants moving-bed in addition, there is nothing preventing us from delivering that as well. Flexibility is the whole point,” Mayans explains.

Each RAS line consists of:

• mechanical filtration

• protein skimmer

• biofiltration with fixed bed

• option for ozonation (up to 600 mV ORP)

• UV disinfection

• full control of temperature and light regime

The intake water is ordinary municipal drinking water that is dechlorinated and nanofiltered. Approximately 95% of the water is recirculated, while the remaining flow passes through a drum filter and an open-gate UV system before being discharged to the municipal sewer.

“We have built for robustness. The backwash processes are automated, and the entire facility can operate continuously without needing to shut systems down between trials. That is an important part of the quality,” says Mayans.

Strict biosecurity

The new building is constructed according to very strict biosecurity requirements. IoA has therefore also been granted permission to import any species from anywhere in the world.

The rooms where disease trials will be conducted operate as pure flow-through systems, as required by UK legislation.

Even so, they have full temperature control, from 6 to 28 °C, just like the rest of the facility. The effluent water passes through advanced UV and particle treatment before returning to the public system.

The control room is the nerve centre of the facility. Here, large screens are installed that display live images and other real-time information from experiments, allowing researchers to monitor trials without physically entering the biosecurity zone.

Built for animal welfare

NATIH manager Alastair McPhee explains that the entire facility is built around the classic 3R principles (replacement, reduction, refinement).

“There is an incredible amount of information that can be obtained from well-designed experiments. We should never have to repeat an experiment because the equipment wasn’t good enough or because environmental parameters were unstable. The new centre is built for precision,” he says.

According to McPhee, NATIH will not only be a research platform but also a recruitment engine.

“The Institute of Aquaculture currently has 40 PhD students, 35 master students and around 100 bachelor’s students. These people are going into the industry – and they will take with them the technological understanding that modern aquaculture needs. NATIH enables us to educate at a completely different level.”

A resource for the entire industry

The University of Stirling already has two other large-scale research facilities that will work closely with NATIH: the freshwater facility at the Niall Bromage Freshwater Research Unit and the marine research laboratory MERL at Machrihanish. Here, fish can be produced to early life stages before being introduced into the NATIH systems.

NATIH is funded through £17 million from the Stirling & Clackmannanshire City Region Deal, in addition to support from the Wolfson Foundation. For Scottish and UK aquaculture, it is considered a strategic investment.

“The biggest challenges in aquaculture are related to environment, biosecurity and fish health and welfare. Here, we can test new solutions quickly, in controlled and repeatable conditions. That means faster innovation, better documentation and safer operations for the industry,” McPhee says.

Benefiting many

The facility will now go through a commissioning phase, during which the systems will be filled and tested with fish. The plan is to work with everything from salmon and tilapia to pangasius, zebra fish and crustaceans.

“We have built one of Europe’s most flexible research facilities. We are extremely proud of what we have delivered,” says Jamie Mayans from North Aquaculture.

For Alastair McPhee and others at IoA, getting the facility operational will be epoch-making.

“NATIH is going to change how we work with aquaculture research. This will not only benefit research and students; it will be of value to the entire industry – globally as well,” he says.