Sea lice avoidance system trial at Seil fish farm is a first for UK
A fish farm in Seil Sound is the first in the UK to try a new sea lice avoidance system.
Norwegian company Mowi’s trial at Port na Cro farm is part of a world first project in the aquaculture industry.
Developed by AKVA group, the technology system has been designed to proactively avoid a tiny fish parasite found commonly on many marine fish.
Known as the Tubenet, the project follows successful trials at Mowi’s research centre in Norway.
The Tubenet keeps fish well below the traditional sea lice belt in the top five to 10m of the water.
A large cylindrical passageway is fitted in the centre of a cage, from which tarpaulin hangs and protects salmon from lice infestations when they swim to the surface.
Fish feed is delivered through underwater feeding tubes, and cleaner fish welfare is safeguarded says Mowi by using tailor-made hides specifically for Tubenets. In the case of Port na Cro, the tarpaulin hangs to a 14m depth and the feeders are placed at 13m. The inner cylinder is 60m in circumference.
Farm manager at Port na Cro Gareth Siney said: ‘We are really excited to be the first farm to implement the Tubenet. At the moment, we use lots of different tools to tackle sea lice such as water pressure and using cleaner fish that naturally pick the sea lice off salmon. But this technique is the first that is proactive by trying to avoid sea lice being present in the water in the first place.’
The Tubenet was installed at Port na Cro in May and Mr Siney and his team will provide regular reports and data to the other teams in Norway. The project will end when the salmon are marketed but expectations are high given research already conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (IMR) found the system gave as much as 80 per cent reductions in sea lice infestation over time.