NL Aqua Services world leader in net cleaning

Although the Coast of Bays may have been late entering the world wide aquaculture game, the area is leading the world in one important aspect of the industry – cleaning nets.

While other jurisdictions like Norway and Scotland are cleaning nets on land they are not doing it in enclosed areas which presents environmental issues in these areas as some copper based anti-foulants and untreated wastewater still escapes into the environment.

Boyd Pack, owner of Newfoundland Aqua Service Ltd. said, “Our operation is going to be a closed system – in other words all of the water will be recycled for reuse,  evaporated or cleaned-up to meet environmental standards. The biofoulants from our nets will be dewatered and used to make B grade compost that can be used for things like site reclamation at abandoned mining sites or coverings for old dump sites etc. We have seen net cleaning operations in other areas of the world, and no one else is using a system like the one we will have in place in 2012. Because we are just starting, we have the opportunity to learn from what has happened in other jurisdictions.”

Pack said that there are three main advantages to cleaning aquaculture nets on land in an enclosed area.

When nets are cleaned on water the copper-based anti-foulants are washed into the ocean which lends to an environmental issue. More importantly, from a bio-security viewpoint, washing nets on water can lead to viruses or bacteria being spread from one area to another. This can lead to disease issues for the fish that can mean delays in growth rates and production levels for the companies. In addition, cleaning nets in an enclosed area on land means you can clean nets all year round in all types of weather – a big advantage for the companies who need the nets early in the spring.

 “When we set up here we will follow strict guidelines set by the provincial Department of the Environment. While doing it right costs more, we feel we have an obligation to the industry and to the environment to do so. This means it’s taking us more time to set up the operation but in the long run it will certainly benefit the industry and the environment.

It’s a big challenge and the operation is very expensive to establish. However, at the end of the day we’ll have the most environmentally friendly and the most bio-secure facility in the industry, bar none. We are convinced that we can meet the regulatory requirements and still be cost competitive as an industry.

 “We will need at least three cleaning systems in place to handle the volume of nets that are coming at us and to allow for down time for maintenance and repairs. We hope to be fully operational at our site in Milltown by the end of the 2012 season.”