Aquaculture Europe 2010: Increasing Productivity, Sustaining the Future

Did you know that copper alloys have been used in both surface and submersible, near- and off-shore marine aquaculture for many years? Or that alloy mesh cages improve the sanitary conditions, productivity and sustainability of operations for aquaculture farmers raising salmon, trout, sea bream, and many other species?

These are just some of the highlights the European Copper Institute, in partnership with the International Copper Association and EcoSea Farming, demonstrated this October during Aquaculture Europe 2010, in Porto, Portugal.

The event was attended by over 1,000 people from across the fish farming industry supply chain, including raw material suppliers, manufacturers and fish farmers, as well as business-to-business media and industry experts. ECI made a big “splash” in its premiere appearance, emphasising the latest innovations in copper for aquaculture and providing context around the benefits of using various copper systems to support the European strategy for the sustainable development of increased aquaculture production.

“The show was a great opportunity to demonstrate some of the improvements our trial sites have witnessed while using copper alloys in marine aquaculture,” said Nigel Cotton, ECI’s  project leader. “For instance, EcoSea Farming has been using copper-zinc at the Van Diemen Aquaculture in Australia since 2005. Growers have reported that fish mortality decreased from 20% to 10% and losses from predators were reduced from 5% to less than 0.1%. Figures like these are significant and really show the potential for copper alloys’ continued use in sustainable aquaculture.”

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, worldwide population growth has resulted in approximately 70 percent of the world’s fish species becoming depleted. Aquaculture offers a major innovation in the production of fish and has been the fastest-growing food production sector, growing 6-8% a year on average. It now provides about half of the world fish supply for human consumption. At the exhibition, ECI demonstrated that copper is an ideal raw material for the aquaculture industry through its theme, “Increasing Productivity, Sustaining the Future.”

The exhibit highlighted the three copper alloys currently available for use in marine aquaculture: copper-zinc, copper-silicon, and copper-nickel. It emphasised the metallurgical properties that give each a service life of five or more years, good overall resistance to corrosion and abrasion, and a natural strength which helps maintain cage volumes, exclude predators and prevent escapes. It also demonstrated that copper alloy containment systems also significantly improve water flow and oxygenation, which helps improve fish health and production, reducing the need for antibiotics and reduced cage maintenance.  And lastly, all three alloys are fully recyclable.

The use of copper alloys in marine aquaculture began in 1975 with small salmon farming enclosures in north eastern USA.  Since then, alloy technology has evolved and additional trials, to identify future applications and test improved copper alloy materials, mesh forms, and aquaculture system configurations, are underway with a variety of species in China, Korea, Panama, Norway, South Africa, Turkey and the United States..

For more information about copper alloys for marine aquaculture, visit ECI’s recent webcast or watch the video on its YouTube channel.