GS E&C succeeds in land-based salmon farming demonstration

GS E&C has successfully demonstrated land-based farming of Atlantic salmon using its water treatment technologies, securing capabilities that can be applied and expanded to future aquaculture projects.

Eco Aquafarm, a subsidiary established by GS E&C for land-based salmon farming, held a ceremony Wednesday to mark the successful completion of the demonstration project and showcased Atlantic salmon raised at Busan Smart Aquaculture Cluster ahead of commercial shipments.

GS E&C CEO Huh Yoon-hong and officials from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and Busan city government attended the event, and tasted the land-raised salmon and were briefed on the company’s farming technologies.

The cluster is a testbed facility capable of producing up to 500 tons of Atlantic salmon annually, with commercial shipments set to begin by the end of this year

Eco Aquafarm was established in 2020 to develop a new business leveraging builder GS E&C’s water treatment technologies. Since then, the subsidiary has operated the entire farming process, from incubating Atlantic salmon eggs and raising fish, managing water quality and shipments.

Atlantic salmon require cold, clean water, making precise temperature and water quality control essential for stable year-round farming. To meet such conditions, Eco Aquafarm uses Recirculating Aquaculture System based on GS E&C’s water treatment technologies, so that the water can be continuously filtered and reused.

The facility also applies Zero Water Concept technology, which enables up to 99 percent of the water to be reused, creating a more sustainable environment for land-based salmon farming.

Salmon hatch in freshwater before growing in seawater, requiring the hatching and smolt stages to take place in freshwater while adult salmon are raised in seawater. This requires advanced ICT-based smart farming technologies to precisely control water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen levels and quality to maintain optimal growing conditions.

Based on its cooling and precision temperature control systems, Eco Aquafarm maintained water temperatures between 12 and 16 degrees Celsius, optimal for raising Salmon, even during the summertime. Its Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system collected, recorded and analyzed facility data through sensors while automatically adjusting equipment based on real-time water quality monitoring.

The technologies developed by GS E&C and Eco Aquafarm resulted in multiple patents. The companies secured patents related to recirculating aquaculture facilities in 2023 and desalination-based aquaculture facilities in 2025. They have also filed a patent for technology that uses underwater cameras to determine when salmon should be transferred to the next stage of their growing environment.

“By raising Atlantic salmon at the cluster, we have built technological and operational capabilities across the entire land-based farming process, from water treatment to growth management and facility operations,” a GS E&C official said. “Based on the technologies and data we have accumulated, we will continue to enhance the competitiveness of our land-based aquaculture platform.”