Harnessing the Ocean for Food Production: The Concept of an Ocean-Going Aquaculture Process Vessel to Produce Salmon (Salmo salar) on the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic salmon aquaculture has become an important seafood producer, contributing to the human diet. The natural productivity of Atlantic salmon populations is not sufficient to meet even a fraction of current aquaculture production, and it has not been able to do so in the past. Alternative process technologies are needed to maintain aquaculture production at current levels while mitigating the environmental impact along the coasts. Future aquaculture development must align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This study describes an aquaculture process vessel operating in the open sea and powered largely by renewable energy. Production conditions are fully adapted to the biology of salmon, improving production reliability, reducing coastal environmental impacts, and enabling more sustainable production. This study specifies the biological and technological aspects, provides evidence of the technical and economic feasibility, and justifies the relocation of salmon aquaculture to a large oceanic ecosystem, the North Atlantic Ocean.