News & Events
12 March 2007Welded Aquagrid® Nets Supplied to the Aquaculture Industry Through a Joint Business Venture Between the Aquaculture Engineering Group, Tencate North America, and Future Nets
ST. ANDREWS, NB - The Aquaculture Engineering Group (St. Andrews, NB) announced today that they have entered into a joint business venture with Future Nets (Pennfield, NB) and TenCate North America (Commerce, GA) to supply welded Aquagrid® nets to the aquaculture industry.
“AEG incorporates Aquagrid® net as the netting material of choice in our innovative AEG Containment System. We recognized early on that there was a need to use a material having the structural integrity of Aquagrid® netting to ensure containment survival in exposed locations. AEG has purchased the necessary welding equipment that has been installed at the Future Nets facility, to fabricate welded Aquagrid® nets for inclusion in AEG Containment Systems globally as well as conventional cages used locally,” says Chris Bridger, AEG General Manager.
Aquagrid® netting is a semi-rigid PVC coated polyester fiber grid having an ultimate tensile (breaking) strength of 3000 lbs/ft in each direction. This is nearly twice the strength of a 210/120 nylon netting. Welded Aquagrid® net seams have a breaking strength of over four times that of traditional hand laced nylon netting.
“Providing manufactured Aquagrid® containment systems that are ready for deployment is essential,” states Don Bishop, Market Manager and Technical Advisor for TenCate. “Having the welding capacity installed in the heart of the New Brunswick salmon aquaculture industry, and therefore in close proximity to the material source from our facility in Georgia, will ensure cost-effective access to Aquagrid® nets by cage operators located throughout the Northern Hemisphere.”
Aquagrid® nets are reasonably new to the marine aquaculture sector in Canada. Already, there have been more than 350 Aquagrid® nets deployed globally to raise salmon, cod, tuna, cobia, sea bream, sea bass, and snapper. In addition to providing a stronger material, Aquagrid® nets have numerous positive attributes that will benefit an aquaculture site operator including:
- Elimination of anti-foulant use thereby removing costs and environmental concerns associated with net treatments.
- Increased net life expectancy that can be depreciated over 7-10 years thereby decreasing recurring operating expenditures to replace nets.
- Zero water absorption thereby maintaining a light net in water and reducing service costs associated with handling heavy nets.
- Easy to clean of fouling thereby greatly reducing associated labour costs.
- Stronger net material reduces the likelihood for net failure and subsequent fish escapement and reduces the concerns associated with predation thereby eliminating the need for a predator net.
About TenCate
TenCate, makers of Aquagrid® netting, specializes in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyester fabrics for use in a variety of industries, including building, recreation, agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, and industrial applications. TenCate North America is an operating group within Royal TenCate, a Dutch corporation over 300 years old. For Aquagrid® net product details, please visit http://www.aquagrid.com
About Future Nets
Future Nets & Supplies Ltd., an aquaculture net manufacturing company located in Pennfield NB, has been working with and supplying the aquaculture industry for the past 17 years and are firm believers in the farming of fish. Our goal is to supply the aquaculture industry with quality workmanship and service, in turn, providing the products to ensure that good customer relations are achieved in this ever changing industry. For company details, please visit http://www.futurenets.net
(Download This Article as PDF)