Sea lice ‘vacuum cleaner’

Equipment provider Vard Aqua has introduced a tool that sucks up the sea lice that detach from salmon during delousing treatments.

Called NS Collector, the tool is akin to a vacuum cleaner that could be installed inside or outside net pens to remove salmon lice at every stage of the louse’s life cycle, said the Norwegian company.

Lice that detach during crowding and treatment are caught, collected and destroyed, as are algae and other particles such as debris from net cleaning. “Destruction of the sea lice collected reduces the degree of re-infection, while simultaneously reducing the general infection rate, both in the facility where the system is used, and in nearby facilities,” it added.

The NS Collector is a complete system, consisting of an underwater unit, a cable, a cage anchor and a control cabinet with integrated communication. As well as being easy to use, the tool simply needs a filter replacement once it is full.