Wieland Bluesea is challenging salmon farmers first choice in cages.
There is a large market Wieland Bluesea is elbowing itself into. It is nylon that dominates the market for mesh nets across salmon farms. Their idea is to make the same out of brass.
“It is self-disinfecting, does not foul, gives better growth and is cheaper over the life of the product. This gives increased fish welfare, less mortality and less handling of fish,” said Wieland Bluesea CEO Asbjørn Tøssebro to SalmonBusiness.
“With frequent washing of nets, there is a lot of sediment that can enter the gills of the fish, thus increasing mortality. And it takes 25 per cent fewer resources to create a new generation compared to nylon,” he said.
Large capital
With him on the team, Tøssebro & co has major capital from Germany.
“The parent company is German, Wieland. With 10,000 employees it is one of the world’s largest copper suppliers. Fish farming is only a small part of it,” he said.
Last year, Wieland Group generated sales of EUR 3.4 billion.
Now the subsidiary wants to enter the Norwegian market.
“We are present in a number of countries – it is only in Norway that we have not broken through. We see how well it works around the world, and want it here,” added Tøssebro.
Wieland Bluesea’s organization is located in Trondheim, Norway.
“We are at Aqua Nor for the second time. The company was founded in 2017,” he added.
Certified
Tøssebro is pleased with the attention so far on Aqua Nor’s opening day.
“I think it’s been good. The interest in the product seems pretty good. We have arranged many meetings before Aqua Nor,” he said.
But isn’t copper is a very toxic substance?
“The product is ASC certified. We have done research that shows that there are zero signs of copper in sediments under the plants. And not even in the content of fish meat,” he explained.