In recent years, the global demand for aquatic products has been continuously increasing, and the use of natural resources in the ocean may have reached its maximum limit. This means that the growth of aquatic product production in the future will mainly rely on aquaculture. At present, the global annual production of mariculture has reached nearly 200 million tons, and the global consumption of mariculture has increased by about 50% in the past decade.
The copper alloy net cage technology, born in 1975, utilizes the natural antibacterial and corrosion-resistant properties of copper to prevent marine organisms from growing in the aquaculture net, thereby creating cleaner and healthier conditions for fish farming. At the same time, this technology greatly reduces the frequency of cleaning and replacing fishing nets, and reduces losses caused by attacks from carnivores or fish escape.
The existing net cages are generally made of Synthetic fiber fishing net materials (including polyethylene or polyamide fishing net materials). Therefore, the copper net materials used for complete sets of copper alloy net cages mainly compete with Synthetic fiber fishing net materials. The natural antibacterial and corrosion-resistant properties of copper alloy mesh boxes just make up for the shortcomings of traditional mesh boxes. Although the one-time investment is high, it has high profits and high output value. In addition to the labor and breeding costs saved, it is still a very worthwhile investment project with long-term benefits. “Li Hong, General Manager of Haosail Machinery, summarized the two major advantages of Haosail super clear copper alloy net:
One is that it can withstand strong winds and waves. The copper alloy net cage is made of a special copper alloy produced by a special process. This material determines the good plasticity of the net cage, which will not easily deform under strong wind and waves. Moreover, the effective water body for breeding is large, which can increase the number of fish, reduce the impact of wind and waves on the fish body, and cause less damage to the fish.
Secondly, it has natural antibacterial properties. Due to the slow release of copper ions after immersion in seawater, slight toxicity can inhibit algae growth and greatly reduce the amount of attachment on the net cage. In summer, the temperature is high. If it is a traditional net cage with excessive growth of seaweed and other attachments, the net cage should be picked up and cleaned every week. In spring and autumn, it should be cleaned approximately every 2-3 weeks. And the copper alloy net cage only needs to be cleaned by mechanical or diver high-pressure water gun cleaning method at the bottom of the water every year, which can save a lot of labor costs for drying and cleaning the net.
Li Hong stated that the absence of attachments in the net clothing can increase the oxygen content of the cage, improve the fluidity of the water, increase the growth rate of fish, reduce the frequency of fish diseases, and also reduce the indirect harm to human health caused by the use of antibiotics. Fish growth research data shows that under the same conditions, the growth rate of fish in copper alloy mesh cages can be increased by 30%, and no copper residues have been detected in fish meat and skin.
In addition, the service life of the copper alloy net cage is about 10 years. As copper is a non Renewable resource, it can be 100% recycled at a high market price after cleaning after the end of the breeding cycle. The common service life of traditional net cages is 3-5 years, and after the breeding cycle ends, they can only be recycled at low prices or treated as waste.
