Biofouling poses an important management issue in fish farming and represents a serious threat to fish welfare if it is not handled properly. Therefore, fish farmers use considerable (economic) resources to keep especially their nets free of biofouling.However, today's underwater cleaning work at fish farms is mainly focused on keeping the nets clean from biofouling, the remaining underwater infrastructure has been of little focus. This is a problem because a probable cause of rapid re-growth of biofouling on nets is the transfer of biofouling from "reservoirs" found on the submerged structures of fish farms (floating collars, sinker tubes, hamster wheels, ropes, chains, hoses, and feed barges) ¹.
¹ Amplified recruitment pressure of biofouling organisms in commercial salmon farms: potential causes and implications for farm management. Nina Bloecher, Oliver Floerl and Leif Magne Sunde, SINTEF, Trondheim, Norway; Cawthron Institute, Nelson, New Zealand (2015).
Offshore fish farming is a relatively new area. Cleaning the submerged infrastructure of offshore fish farms presents a new challenge due to the type of construction and the location of these fish farms.Bravo Marine has developed products that can be used for cleaning the various submerged structures, such as floating collars, sinker tubes, feed barges, and pipes/tubes in offshore structures. We are working hard to develop even more products to help cleaning chains, ropes, and hoses and to clean offshore structures.
Biofouling poses an important management issue in fish farming and represents a serious threat to fish welfare if it is not handled properly. Therefore, fish farmers use considerable (economic) resources to keep especially their nets free of biofouling.However, today's underwater cleaning work at fish farms is mainly focused on keeping the nets clean from biofouling, the remaining underwater infrastructure has been of little focus. This is a problem because a probable cause of rapid re-growth of biofouling on nets is the transfer of biofouling from "reservoirs" found on the submerged structures of fish farms (floating collars, sinker tubes, hamster wheels, ropes, chains, hoses, and feed barges) ¹¹ Amplified recruitment pressure of biofouling organisms in commercial salmon farms: potential causes and implications for farm management. Nina Bloecher, Oliver Floerl and Leif Magne Sunde, SINTEF, Trondheim, Norway; Cawthron Institute, Nelson, New Zealand (2015).
