Michelle Wildeboer and Mike Forbes at Seafood Expo North America in Boston. Photo: Ace Aquatec.

Lobster farmers look at shelling out on stunner

Aquaculture technology supplier Ace Aquatec has reported strong interest in its electric stunner, particularly from lobster and crab farmers, during its debut at Seafood Expo North America in Boston.

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Head of sales and marketing, Mike Forbes, and commercial and marketing specialist, Michelle Wildeboer, attended the event, which was the company’s first North American exposition and the first time the company had shown its award-winning Humane Stunner Universal (HSU) to the North American market.

The HSU is an in-water electric stunning system that can stun up to 100 tonnes of fish per hour. The device won the NOK 100,000 Innovation Award at Aqua Nor in Trondheim in 2017.

The electric fish, designed to be mistaken for a dead salmon, shocks seals and sea lions that touch its electrodes. Photo: Ace Aquatec.

Transform welfare

The HSU comprises three to five electrodes and connected switching electronics capable of rendering the fish unconscious within one second, without damage to the flesh.

“It is believed that the system has the potential to transform welfare and efficiencies in aquaculture and mariculture worldwide for fish and crustaceans,” the Aqua Nor jury said.

Delighted by leads

“We’re delighted by the leads and opportunities to bring electric stunning to North American lobster and crab farmers and the growing recirculating aquaculture market,” said Forbes.

“We also introduced our new electric fish, which is a predator solution for areas that have regulations in place against acoustic deterrents.

“Another product that received a great deal of interest was the biomass estimation system, the BioCam 3D, which uses revolutionary time-of-flight technology that captures biomass in real-time and will be available later this year.”

Ace Aquatec will be attending Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, Belgium on May 7-9 (stand 4-6105) and Aqua Nor in Trondheim, Norway on August 20-23.