GS E&C successfully demonstrated land-based salmon farming

Eco Aquafarm, a subsidiary established by the construction company GS E&C in 2020 to develop a new business, has held a ceremony to mark the successful completion of its demonstration project. The event, held at the Busan Smart Aquaculture Cluster, showcased land-farmed Atlantic salmon ahead of commercial shipments. The event was attended by GS E&C CEO Huh Yoon-hong, representatives from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and the Busan City administration, who tasted the fish and familiarized themselves with its farming technologies.

The pilot facility is capable of producing up to 500 tons of Atlantic salmon annually, and commercial shipments are scheduled to begin by the end of this year. The enterprise fully controls the production process, from roe incubation and fish rearing to water quality management and shipping. To ensure stable year-round breeding, a Recirculating Aquaculture System based on GS E&C's water treatment technologies is utilized, allowing water to be continuously filtered and reused. The Zero Water Concept is also employed, ensuring the reuse of up to 99 percent of the water.

Since salmon go through freshwater and seawater stages, smart farming ICT technologies are used in the process to precisely control temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen levels, and environmental quality. Special cooling and precision control systems made it possible to maintain the optimal water temperature within 12 to 16 degrees Celsius even during the summer period. A Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system collected and analyzed information via sensors, automatically adjusting equipment operation.

The companies' developments have led to a number of patents: patents for recirculating aquaculture systems were registered in 2023, for aquaculture desalination facilities in 2025, and an application was filed for a technology using underwater cameras to determine the timing of transferring fish to the next stage of maintenance. A GS E&C representative noted that the successful implementation of the project has made it possible to build technological and operational capabilities at all stages of land-based farming, and the accumulated data will serve to further increase the platform's competitiveness.