“Iceland is important for us for fishing gear, but we see the growth of aquaculture there. This is already a market for us and we see this as a sector that’s going to continue to grow,” said Vónin’s Bogi Nón.
“So this is one of the reasons we will be at IceFish next year, as this is where we get to see both the people we already supply and potential new customers in both the established fishing industry and the expanding aquaculture sector.”
Vónin has been there through out the development of fish farming in the Faroe Islands, where the salmon industry is a significant employer, and has played a leading role in the developing technical aspects of keeping salmon in cages under some challenging conditions.
“This is the North Atlantic, and we are very familiar with winter storms and the temperatures and sea conditions here are very similar to those that Icelandic farmers are having to cope with.”
Vónin’s products have already gone beyond the local market as the company supplies fish farms in Scotland and Norway, as well as in Iceland.
“We have developed very robust mooring systems and we have a co-operation with Crosby to produce hardware – connector plates, shackles, steel rings, anchors and more, and this is all top quality as you can’t take chances with the volumes of fish in these cages,” he said.
A key aspect of Vónin’s service is the assessment process that kicks off any new installations, with a computer simulation that uses wave height, current, depth and weather data to determine the best options for each site.
“This is a key aspect of how we approach this and we always produce a simulation before we send a proposal to a customer. All the hardware is produced in Europe and we work to the exacting Norwegian standard. We make sure that the mooring systems are easy to connect and install, and we have also increasingly been using Dyneema netting in our aquaculture cages. Nylon has been used for a long time, but while Dyneema is more expensive, it also has plenty of advantages. It’s lighter, so smaller twine sizes can be used, requiring less anti-fouling, and also these cages have less distortion as there’s a better flow of water through them – which is also better for the welfare of the salmon,” he said.
“We had intended to be at IceFish this year. But we understand completely the reasons for the postponement, so we’ll be at IceFish in 2021 to meet our current customers and some new ones.”
If you are interested in exhibiting, sponsoring, attending or speaking at 2021 IceFish please call +44 01329 825 335 or email info@icefish.is.
International sales:
Diane Lillo Tel. +44 1329 825 335 or email dlillo@mercatormedia.com
Icelandic sales:
Birgir Þór Jósafatsson Tel: +354 896 2277 birgir@icefish.is or Bjarni Thor Jonsson GSM: +354 896 6363 bjarni@icefish.is
