Copper alloys are important netting materials in aquaculture (the farming of aquatic organisms including fish farming). Various other materials including nylon, polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene, plastic-coated welded wire, rubber, patented twine products (Spectra, Dyneema), and galvanized steel are also used for netting in aquaculture fish enclosures around the world.[1][2][3][4][5] All of these materials are selected for a variety of reasons, including design feasibility, material strength, cost, and corrosion resistance.
What sets copper alloys apart from the other materials used in fish farming is that copper alloys are antimicrobial, that is, they destroy bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae, and other microbes. (For information about the antimicrobial properties of copper and its alloys, see Antimicrobial properties of copper and Antimicrobial copper alloy touch surfaces).
In the marine environment, the antimicrobial/algaecidal properties of copper alloys prevent biofouling, which can briefly be described as the undesirable accumulation, adhesion, and growth of microorganisms, plants, algae, tube worms, barnacles, mollusks, and other organisms on man-made marine structures.[6] By inhibiting microbial growth, copper alloy aquaculture pens avoid the need for costly net changes that are necessary with other materials. The resistance of organism growth on copper alloy nets also provides a cleaner and healthier environment for farmed fish to grow and thrive.
In addition to their antifouling benefits, copper alloys have strong structural and corrosion-resistant properties in marine environments.
It is the combination of all of these properties – antifouling, high strength, and corrosion resistance – that has made copper alloys a desirable material for such marine applications as condenser tubing, water intake screens, ship hulls, offshore structure, and sheathing. In the past 25 years or so,[when?] the benefits of copper alloys have caught the attention of the marine aquaculture industry. The industry is now actively deploying copper alloy netting and structural materials in commercial large-scale fish farming operations around the world.
- ^ Offshore Aquaculture in the United States: Economic considerations, implications, and opportunities, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, July 2008, p. 53
- ^ Braithwaite, RA; McEvoy, LA (2005). Marine biofouling on fish farms and its remediation. Advances in Marine Biology. Vol. 47. pp. 215–52. doi:10.1016/S0065-2881(04)47003-5. ISBN 9780120261482. PMID 15596168.
- ^ "Commercial and research fish farming and aquaculture netting and supplies". Sterlingnets.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
- ^ "Aquaculture Netting by Industrial Netting". Industrialnetting.com. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
- ^ Southern Regional Aquaculture Center at "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Marine Fouling and its Prevention, Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1952, United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland, USA