Farming lobsters the future with Norwegian technology

Norwegian Lobster Farm (NLF), a Stavanger-based company with headquarters in Kvitsøy, has developed the technology and methodology to produce juvenile and market-sized lobsters in land-based farms using a patented process. As a result, NLF is now a leader in the development of land-based lobster farming, both in Norway and the world.

NLF’s unique technology, based on the recirculation of heated seawater (ca. 20 degrees C), enables full utilization of the water volume in 3 dimensions and facilitates the tracking of individuals throughout the entire production cycle. Being land based, it avoids problems such as escapes, pollution, and negative impacts on and from the environment. The company produces high-quality lobster using environmentally friendly farming methods focused on animal welfare and health from egg to harvest.

Established in Kvitsøy in 2000, NLF started the world’s first commercial production of lobster in 2006 and now plans to build a larger commercial breeding and production facility on Kvitsøy in 2010 with an annual production capacity of over 20 tons. From 2011 onwards, the company will begin expanding into the industrial production stage with several 100-ton facilities around Europe.

NLF has spent several years developing the technology to culture this cannibalistic species. In 2006-07 it started to develop the methods for breeding lobsters in captivity and is currently developing methodologies to produce juvenile lobsters in a year-round stable and continuous process. Now it plans to construct the world’s first closed-cycle broodstock facility.

Since 2000, Hobas AS, an aquaculture engineering and technology supplier, has cooperated with NLF to design and develop its commercial production facilities.  The new facility, designed by Hobas, allows for complete year-round manipulation of seawater temperature and light regimes and 12-month breeding seasons. The system makes NLF completely independent of wild-fished broodstock.

Lobster, an aggressive, territorial species, needs to be contained in individual boxes. NLF’s high-tech system enables the tracing of individuals throughout the production cycle using image processing technology, automatic individual feeding, and self-cleaning of tanks and cages. The recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) conserves water, allows for higher stocking density and operating temperatures, and permits easy access to the livestock for inspection and feeding. From stocking, the animals can be harvested after 24-26 months.

The perfect market-size lobster is about 300g, the so-called plate size. The quality of NLF’s farmed lobster has been tested and well rated at the Culinary Institute of Norway in Stavanger.

Among the challenges NLF has had to overcome is how to achieve a naturally colored shell, how to avoid cannibalism, and development of a well-balanced diet.