How Foover can help
A new system can help remove mortalities quickly and efficiently
Standard livestock farming systems have been developed to be efficient at growing animals, but as in nature there is always a proportion which won’t make it through to harvest. Although this is a subject which many find unpalatable, mortality is a fact of farming and dealing with it is an important part of animal husbandry.
The salmon farming sector has come in for significant criticism over mortality levels in recent years, but understanding mortality and reducing its occurrence is one of the key measures in the 10year farmed fish health strategy.
The industry standard, and best practice, is to remove any dead fish on a daily basis. This can be challenging, but the Foover mortality recovery system developed by UCO provides a fast and efficient way of recovering and verifying that all mortalities have been collected. This is beneficial to stock health by reducing both the viral load in the pen and the potential for issues to escalate and spread, which is in line with the principles of the Scottish Code of Good Practice.
Predator attacks by seals can also have a devastating effect on the welfare of farmed salmon, and removing potential food sources like mortalities at the earliest opportunity can reduce the potential for attacks.
At Underwater Contracting, we have found that using the Foover system ensures that all pens can be verified mortality-free on a daily basis, reducing the potential for fish health issues and maintaining the health and welfare of the stock, which makes financial sense. www.underwatercontracting.com