Marine Antifouling
The
accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae, slime, barnacles and other sea
life (also called biofouling) significantly impacts the shipping
industry. Biofouling increases drag on
the vessel which reduces the overall performance and increases fuel
consumption and maintenance costs.
LSI has led
the way in developing antimicrobials for use in marine antifouling coatings
to help prevent biofouling on ship’s bottoms.
Aquaculture
Aquaculture has
become necessary to meet the increasing seafood demands of a growing
population. The marine aquaculture
industry raises fish using net-pens. These net-pens are susceptible to
accumulating unwanted marine plants and animals, algae and other sea
life. Also called biofouling, the
increase of biomass accumulation can be very detrimental to the fish
environment and costly. Biofouling can
significantly increase the weight and drag and this added weight and drag can
compromise the integrity of the net-pen, resulting in breakage and the loss
of fish. Biofouling also reduces water
flow which can decrease the oxygen and increase the concentration of fish
waste leaving an undesirable environment for the fish.
LSI has
developed products that offer lasting antifouling performance in aquaculture
applications. Some of the benefits
include:
- More control over the system
- Reduced damage to the net and the system
- More efficient systems
- Reduced underwater cleaning
- Less disturbance to the fish environment