We have been offering Antifoulant treatment for nets since 2004 using Netrex AF™, a copper based wax emulsion coating. Netrex AF is a product imported from Norway and approved for use in Canada under the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency.
Being made with high quality food grade wax this product does not dry hard and stiff as others do but rather maintains a flexible consistency which keeps the mesh of the nets pliable and supple. This “flexible” property of Netrex means this coating will not flake off and litter the seafloor under the farms like the other hard drying products do.
Results in the field show Netrex AF to be the Top Performer out of all net antifouling products currently available here.
CRN is the Canadian West Coast Agent and is currently the only supplier and applicator of Netrex AF in British Columbia. By applying the product ourselves we ensure the quality of the product which works best un-diluted as prescribed by the manufacturer and as it is applied at CRN. Invoicing of the product is simple and transparent, the customer is charged for the amount of product used and the cost of the work to do the job. The cost of the work to dip the net varies depending on the size of the net or more accurately, the square meters of mesh in the net.
It is possible to quote prices for this service only on new nets of our own construction. Used nets will absorb whatever they absorb and there is no way to predict this therefore impossible to accurately price. As well new nets from other manufacturers we cannot accurately calculate the weight of the mesh so again impossible to determine beforehand how much such a net may absorb.
“Smoltnets we dipped in Netrex remained so clean that when it was time to switch to Grow-Out nets that they left the fish in those same nets right up until they were harvested. The fouling was kept to such a minimum that water flow was never appreciably restricted throughout the entire cycle.”
From a diver after cleaning nets in water on a site using several nets each dipped in one of the three antifoulants available:
“Whatever you are using on those nets (treated with Netrex AF) you should keep doing it, they didn’t need to be washed!”
When certification or company policy do not allow antifoulant use, CRN also offers a Non-Copper, Non-Antifouling coating called NetPolish™ which is basically just the wax coating. This product is like Netrex in that it is waxy and flexible but it goes on and dries green as opposed to the deep red color of Netrex.
NetPolish is used more for sealing the fibers and reducing the available attachment points for marine fouling organisms which make the nets easier to clean when that time comes and also provides a degree of UV protection.
(Netrex AF) 30m² Grower net into cage
has drained back
