Over the weekend, the company was able to carefully restart the feeding of fish.
On Thursday, it became apparent that the fish farming company has found itself with a critical a shortage of liquid oxygen (LOX), after demand for the gas skyrocketed in connection with new forms of treatment against Covid-19.
Liquid oxygen is crucial to the production of salmon in tanks on land.
In recent days, the company’s management has taken measures both to reduce oxygen consumption and to source alternative sources of supply, in order to avoid endangering biomass health.
Non-medical
Over the weekend, the Company has been able to source additional LOX deliveries
by cooperating with Miami-Dade County (“MDC”) to pick up non-medical grade LOX, produced at MDC’s wastewater treatment plants, for use by the Company and for delivery to a chemical plant supplied by MDC.
In addition to the MDC source of LOX, as well as its current supplier, the
Company is also expecting deliveries from a third supplier later in the week.
The non-medical grade LOX received is not certified for human consumption, and
therefore does not compete with demand from hospitals, while being equally
suitable for salmon.
Independent
As part of the company’s measures to be independent of covid related shortages in the supply chain, the company has also secured its own LOX truck with certified drivers. As a result, the company will not only collect LOX from MDC’s treatment plant, but will also provide the authorities with the delivery of LOX to other water treatment units in the state of Florida.
The water quality at the fish farm is excellent, and the company has this weekend carefully restarted feeding of fish in the fresh and salt water systems.
“Mayor Levine Cava and her Miami-Dade County staff and Congressman Gimenez,
together with logistics support from Crowley, have been incredibly supportive in
helping us navigate the current situation. The Company will have to continue to
monitor this shortage and its effects over the coming days in weeks, however we
have had positive developments in the LOX delivery pipeline since the release of
our Operational Update,” the report states.
Local oxygen production has always been part of a “Grand Master Plan” for the company for cost-saving and redundancy reasons. This is viable on a large scale, but was not part of the Phase 1 construction project because the offer of LOX has historically been reliable in the USA. The company does not see oxygen supply as a barrier to future expansion efforts.
