Aquaculture infrastructure & farm technology

Ensuring resilient aquaculture infrastructure in the Middle East

Fish farming can be a key pillar of a country’s economy, making a significant contribution to its GDP and generating substantial export revenue. However, environmental footprints from farms present significant environmental and ecological risks, including: 

• Genetic and ecological impacts due to fish escape: Loss of genetic diversity and increased competition with wild fish for resources. 

• Spread of diseases and parasites: Fish farms may create a habitat for diseases and sea lice, threatening wild fish populations. 

• Habitat damage: Events such as storms can damage farm infrastructure, negatively affecting nearby ecosystems. 

In the Middle East, unique challenges include:

• Extreme heat and high salinity: Stressing infrastructure and requiring specialized materials.
• Sandstorms: Impacting offshore farms and mooring systems.
• Environmental uncertainty: Balancing aquaculture expansion with fragile marine ecosystems.

Expanding aquaculture operations to more exposed locations or implementing innovative farming technologies brings additional complexities, such as environmental risks, technological challenges, and high capital costs. Addressing these issues requires strong risk management and dependable infrastructure. 

Putting our expertise into practice 

At DNV, we provide comprehensive risk and integrity management services for aquaculture infrastructure, supporting safe and sustainable operations from design and construction to ongoing maintenance. With 160 years of expertise in marine construction, our classification, certification, verification, and advisory services ensure that physical infrastructure in the Middle East meets the highest safety and performance standards. 

DNV offers a comprehensive suite of services to tackle these challenges and support the development of advanced infrastructure and farm technologies: 

• Site-survey: Analysing environmental factors, such as currents, waves, and seabed conditions, to ensure site suitability and the reliability of farm components. 

• Site certificate: Verification of documentation and execution according to regulatory framework. 

• Mooring systems: Verification of design of mooring systems to minimize fish escapes and safeguard infrastructure integrity in sandstorm-prone areas. 

• Certification: New technology and main components (floating collar, net/barriers, barge, and mooring components). Ensuring compliance with regional regulatory and operational requirements. 

• New farm technologies: Providing risk management for more exposed, submerged, and closed/semi-closed farming systems adapted to local marine conditions.  

• Lifetime extension: Testing and verification to extend lifetime of components with expired design life. 

• Technology qualification: Validation and testing of new fish farming technologies.  

• Land based aquaculture: Risk assessment and verification of new buildings. Certification of barriers used in land-based fish farming. Assessment of the state of condition of existing farms.  

• Operational risk management: Reducing risks during construction and throughout the operational lifecycle.  

Your independent partner 

As aquaculture expands to more exposed locations and embraces innovative solutions, effective risk management is crucial for success. Robust infrastructure and cutting-edge technology help minimize environmental impacts, drive sustainable growth, improve operational efficiency, and boost investor confidence. 

With our vast independent expertise in marine operations, DNV is uniquely positioned to support aquaculture stakeholders—including designers, shipyards, entrepreneurs, and farmers—at every stage of the process. We help you secure technology approval, ensure regulatory compliance, and achieve operational excellence. 

Contact us today to learn how we can support your aquaculture infrastructure and technology needs.