We have new friends on Lofotens. Friends of our friends. Olsen’s family.

After huge dinner and changes of presents ( ancient tradition of hospitality) we were invited to visit Johnny’s new child – his fish factory.

All over the world its a lot of salmon factories. People now know how to grow tons of this fish for delicious breakfasts and dinners.
But all fish has a problem – sea lices. Sea lices like to drink blood and eat fish, not only grow on  factories but wild as well.

Before  tons of chemicals added to water to kill sea lice.

Norwegians decided to do another way.
They use Lumpfish or pinagora or sea sparrow to clean the salmon.

Lumpfish is an valuable fish which live in cold water of Atlantic and North Oceans. It can be 60 centimeters long and 9 kilo weight.  Lumpfish roe is delicious product for Asians. It can be colored in red or black color just for fun. But normal roe is pink color. Meat of this fish sold in big frozen boxes.
But during last years the price for this fish go dawn and quantity in ocean also go dawn. So Norway and Iceland stop their catching. Only Denmark and Greenland now the biggest traders.

But from 2015 Norway starts another program – program of growing Lumpfish for cleaning salmon.

And Johnny with his brother started their personal business 7 years before.

What we saw impressed me very much – two huge buildings fully equipped for Lumpfish. First building has at least 15 opened cisterns with small fishes. Every cistern completed with automatically devices for breeding and control oxygen and salt in the water. To feed fish it’s also a science – not too much not to little. This fish if they hungry can eat each other.

Every three weeks water must be changed in each cistern and cistern must be cleaned. Its hard work.

In next building there are less cisterns but they are may be three times bigger! And fishes here also bigger.  They are ready now to be sell for work. They are ready to eat lices!  But before they need to be vaccinated! 60000 in one day! One by one! Impossible….

And everywhere are pumps, tubes, equipment, controllers ext.

To receive a smallest ones, family going to the open sea and catch fish, take roe and release fish again. From this roe it will be smallest fishes which will be grown into real salmon – cleaners! But not bigger then 20 cm.

For salmon cleaning also traditionally use two types of  wrasse. But I think they are for warmer waters.