VAKI NEWSLETTER MAI 2008
BIOMEST DAILY
The aim of the Biomass Daily concept is to supply accurate, up to the minute information on the growth, average weight and size distribution from every stocked
cage and allowing the opportunity for immediate response to any unforeseen changes or unusual conditions. The solution was to develop a system which
would have the Vaki frames remaining in cages weight
sampling fish around the clock. Linking each frame
to a central computer with dedicated software for collecting the size information gives real time feedback
for all cages day and night.
The first 10 frame trial system was installed early 2007 for a
major user of the Vaki Biomass frames Lighthouse Caledonia (formerly Pan Fish Scotland). Working closely with senior managers and site staff, the system was developed over
the next 12 months to incorporate additional features and
functions into the user interface. Marine Harvest Scotland
another large user of the Vaki frames have installed the Biomass Daily systems to compliment the existing equipment.
Biomass Daily in the arctic
The fast growing company Lerøy Aurora in
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Daily system at one of their sites in the arctic
region. The benefits to the company is to get
full information on the growth of fish, according to Willy Berglund general manager and to
be in the forefront of using new technology.
Tasmania
NEW WELLB
WELLBOAT COUNTER
Once again, Vaki is proud to announce a new solution in the history of counting for fish farming. For over 20 years the company
has been a leader in the design and manufacture of counters for fish of all types and sizes. Counters from Vaki are used in
over 40 countries with fish from fry to harvest size of all species. The technology employed has changed over the years: where
infra-red light was used at first, solutions are now based on computer vision.
An accurate starting point
Capacity and accuracy have both increased.
Counts can now also be substantiated by
images of each individual fish, avoiding
disputes on the numbers of fish delivered,
which many fish farmers will know from
bitter experience. All of the Vaki Micro and
Macro range including the new Wellboat
counter can also measure the size of the fish
during the count, giving average weight and
the size distribution as well the number of
fish counted.
Challenges at sea
Advantages of the Biomest
Daily include
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available in real time 24 hours
each day
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changes in growth
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patterns can be detected as soon
as they occur
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on larger samples
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equipment and gather data
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intranet or analyze the data
The Saltas Wayatinah Hatchery in Tasmania received a new Vaki Macro to
compliment the Micro they have had
since 2002. Freshwater Manager Harry
King and site manager Matt Allen received comprehensive user training during a visit by David Jarron Vaki Marketing
Manager who was also joined by Gerald
Verdouw. Gerald and business partner
Jake run Scielex Electronics and are the
Vaki service partner based in Hobart,
looking after Vaki customers in Tasmania and most of Australia
Tassal took delivery of 2 Macro 4 channel Quattro’s at the end of 2007. Doug
Paveley hatchery manager for Australia’s largest Atlantic Salmon company
has been using the Vaki Bioscanner V
channel counters for many years and
upgraded to the Macro’s to meet increased smolt production demands.
Both counters also have the Size Estimation option which sample weighs the
fish as they are counted and produces
the size distribution and average weight
for the counted fish.
VAKI AQUACULTURE SYSTEMS LTD. · AKRALIND 4 · 201 KÓPAVOGUR · ICELAND · TEL: 354 - 595 3000 · FAX: 354 - 595 3001 · [email protected] · www.vaki.is
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reliable counting of smolts from wellboats.
The numbers of smolts in each delivery
is high and the throughput rate has to be
greater than in ordinary hatcheries. For
this reason much larger pumps are used
to move fish from the wells (typically 14”)
with a larger volume of water involved.
Furthermore, seawater is more difficult to
handle than freshwater as froth can form
during pumping. These factors contribute
to the challenges and the hitherto unreliable results in counting. Vaki’s engineers
developed the solution and the company
launched the Wellboat Counter onto the
market this year so successfully that a further 8 counters were ordered immediately.
a larger counting area. The counter is controlled and monitored from the touchscreen
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a camera positioned on top of the counter
allows the captain to monitor and control
the flow of fish and water into the counter.
Self levelling
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was undergoing reconstruction. The wells
are emptied using a two-tank 14” vacuum
pump, so it is important to dewater the fish
before they are counted. Vaki recruited the
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with the design of the water-drainage system
that was connected with the counter. An automatic level adjustment was incorporated
into the counter using hydraulic jacks. As the
boat tilts when one of the tanks is emptied
before the other, the counter will register the
tilt and automatically level itself.
High capacity 300,000 smolts per hour
Average weight and distribution
Self levelling
Full control from the bridge
The technology used in the wellboat counter is the same as Vaki’s Macro counter with
Digital record
Full control from the bridge
Reports for the customer
As production management software generate projections of feed requirements and
growth based on the numbers of fish in the
pens, it is vital to be able to rely on the accuracy of the estimates of these numbers.
Too many fish in a pen (as compared with
the estimate) will result in underfeeding,
with the fish being below the intended
weight at the time of harvesting. Confirmation of the number of fish in each pen,
based on recordings of the image scans
with detailed reports are an important aid.
The Vaki Wellboat counter makes it possible to print a report following each count.
The report contains information on the
total count, average number counted per
hour, average weight and size distribution
of the counted fish as well as the length
of time during which the counter’s capacity was ever exceeded. This information
enables both supplier and the customer
to assess the reliability of the count and,
if necessary raise objections or ask questions about the delivery immediately.
New Finance Manager
at Vaki
After 15 years as Vaki’s Finance Manager, Snorri Þorkelsson decided to
move on and has accepted the same
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would like to take this opportunity
of thanking Snorri for his good work
and also of introducing the company’s new Finance Manager, Hanna
María Hjálmtýsdóttir, who joined the
company in 2007 and has made a
good impression. A graduate in BusiOFTT4UVEJFTGSPN3FZLKBW¬L6OJWFSsity, she has a lot of experience of
finance, both in banking and in the
public sector. Vaki welcomes her to
the team.
UNNI AND ATLE – GREAT
TEAM IN NORWAY
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now, and there has been a great increase in sales of Vaki’s products in that country.
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ble for sales and servicing of equipment
from Vaki since she began work in 2006.
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has worked within the fish farming industry
for several years. She has established a very
good relationship with the customers of Vaki
and Havbruksinstituttet and made every
effort to solve all problems that have arisen.
She has also put a great deal of emphasis
on demonstrating the use of the equipment,
visiting large numbers of fish farms along
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Last year, 2007, was another exceptional one for
Vaki, further sizeable growth in all major markets
have increased the demand for new products that
promise a strong future. 2007 also saw an increasing demand from fish farmers in new species particularly for the full suite of grading and counting
equipment, consisting of the Heathro Fish Pump,
the Vaki Grader and the Macro Counter.
Many of these systems have been installed in a
fixed location so as not to have to spend time on
ad hoc installations with only the pump moving
between tanks.
Biomass Daily – the new
thing in biomass estimation
More and more companies are now renting biomass counters for all their farms.
With the latest model, the Biomass Daily,
a single counting frame is positioned on a
long-term basis in each pen. Every day, the
frame gathers and transmits, by wireless,
all data on the size of the fish that swim
through it. This is processed by a computer
connected to the internet, so that sales
managers and others with internet access
can follow developments in each pen from
day to day.
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Toskedal is in charge of repairs and other
after-sales service for the customers of Vaki
and Havbruksinstituttet. He has long experience of repairing equipment for underwater use, having worked with underwater
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and also of running his own company,
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personal service, and make every effort to
solve all customers’ problems.
stations. The first such system is being
set up at Lakeland, in Scotland, in early
2008. Plenty more innovations are in the
pipeline: Vaki has always made a priority
of developing products to meet the needs
of the market.
New feeding system from Vaki
is Europe’s second largest bass and bream producer as well as
being a major supplier of Trout.
TURKEY GRADING Turkey
Another innovation unveiled by Vaki last
year is a new feeding system for breeding
Emphasis on cod farming
and other new species
Benedikt Hálfdanarson, Vaki’s Marketing
Manager, attended a conference on cod
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where it was clear that cod breeding is
on the up and up and is seen as a major
growth area. Vaki has played a part in this
venture from the outset, and many of the
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graders and the Micro Counter with good
results. The company has also been putting more emphasis on promoting its grading and counting equipment in the Mediterranean region, where sea bass and sea
bream producers in Turkey, Greece, Spain
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Vaki Down Under
Clean Seas Tuna
Clean Sea Tuna part of the Stehr group of companies are in
the heart of Jaws country, in fact many of the scenes from
the movie of the famous great white shark were shot in Port
Lincoln South Australia location of the corporate headquarters. The company’s tuna ranching activities have also been
the subject of two Discovery Channel documentary series.
AkuaDan, the Vaki dealer for Turkey, have a
sure fire method for proving the benefits of
good control of size, directly to their clients,
by utilising the Vaki grader into their own
vaccination service.
After only a few months AkuaDan have
now supplied the Vaki graders to key Bass,
Bream and Trout producers in Turkey such
as Akuvatur, Pinar, Bagci and Kilic the largest in Turkey with a juvenile production of
150 million bass and bream.
As part of the customer support service
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Ooms from Catvis BV joined the AkuaDan
team on training visits to the new grader
users. A program of calibration and set
up training for the grader, included on site
demonstration of the Vaki 3 channel Micro
fish counter in combination with the grader.
For many fish farming operations, hand
grading and sample weighing is an exhaustive, labour intensive 24 hour operation.
Automated, fast and accurate grading and
counting from Vaki, allows better use of
staff and resources as well as improving
VAKI EXPANDING ON ALL FRONTS
overall control and general husbandry. During the visit to Kilic the counter, which had
the size estimation package, was used to
count 26,906 fry which showed an average
weight of 2.7g which was within 0.1 g of the
hand sample weight.
Bagci, Turkeys largest trout producer, received comprehensive training with the
set up and calibration of the Vaki 150 large
grader and are now in discussions to add a
Vaki counter and fish pump to the process.
As well as ranching and raising Southern Bluefin Tuna and
wrestling sharks, Clean Seas farm King Fish also known as
Yellow Tail, a large, pelagic fish sold into the sashimi and
fine-dining restaurants. The Hatchery Manager Morton Deichmann selected a complete system of Vaki Heathro pump,
96 grader and 3 channel Micro for both of the hatcheries in
Arno Bay and Port Augusta. Complete with wireless remote
control, what was previously a long and labour intensive process for grading and counting fish into transport trucks, is
now a quick simple and effective procedure.
The company are also experimenting with the Vaki Biomest
frame system in the grow out phase to sample weigh all cages and have valuable information on size distribution, average weight and condition. So impressed were the staff with
the Vaki pump, grader and Micro counting set up that Morton has challenged Vaki to come up with an automated
solution to grading out deformities which is still a manual
operation.