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.
Barge Disinfection Tarps or Barge Tarpsare usually smaller than Plankton Tarps but are made of much heavier and stronger vinyl (usually) material. These tarps come in different sizes custom made for particular barges or feed storage floats, for example45’ x 95’.
After a net has been washed it gets submerged in a large heated tank of 70’ C water for a 30 min disinfecting bath.
This soak assures any harmful pathogens (if present) will not survive beyond this point. Although hot enough to kill pathogens, 70’ C is still not hot enough to do any damage to these nylon nets. In fact at our netting factory in Norway during the shrinking process, after the nylon fibers have been knitted into actual mesh, the entire new bale is submerged in water over 100’C to bring about the majority of the shrinkage that is expected. And if required, if the mesh is to be dyed, that is added at this time as well.
At Campbell River Netloft Ltd (CRN) we are experienced in the construction of all kinds of nets. Nets for Fish Farms primarily but also for many other uses from children’s play areas to themed indoor decorations to larger than life depictions of giant Douglas Fir trees and clouds used in the opening ceremonies for the Commonwealth Games in Victoria in 1994
Diagrams of nets, mort rings and their set-up and use, bottom designs of nets.
CRN’s Net Repair Service encompasses a complete range of operations usually completed for every net that we do. Prior to commencing actual repairs each net is Evaluated for mesh strength. The mesh strength is measured in accordance to the “Aquaculture Regulations” using an approved mesh strength testing device where several “Breaks” are made throughout different prescribed areas of the net and averages are taken and recorded.
The overall strength must fall within the minimum required or the net would be scrapped at that point. If it passes, the repair process can proceed and the evaluation will continue as well. The remainder of the evaluation involves recording the overall dimensions of the net as well as noting any other special features, the number of holes and descriptions of the damage found and the work done to that net. Repairs are affected in such a way as to bring the net back to its original specs or as close to this as the customer requires. Overall shrinkage is common but depending on that nets future use an existing shrunk dimension may be fine or they may want “wedges” installed to bring the overall size back to where it was when it was first built. All of this info is recorded and saved onto a hard copy Service Report which is archived on site and can be emailed to the client so this record is available at the farm site where this net is to be used as per the Aquaculture Regulations.
Handling the sometimes Very Large nets that are used on the farms is a job made much quicker and easier by the help of any of our large or small forklifts all equipped with hydraulically driven Net Drums.
Click images to enlarge:
These Engineer Certified, Worksafe BC Approved attachments greatly reduce the handling time and additional damage that can sometimes be caused by the use of forks alone. Our staff as well are spared the strain of having to pull these massive nets around by hand.
After repairs have been completed the nets are spooled up and bundled in a way that makes them simple to deploy once on site and relatively easy to transport in order to get them there. Having a large drum for this job saves additional wear on the nets and overall time for the repairs which ultimately saves our customers money.
We have large bags available for packaging and transport of large nets.
