Cermaq's Hydrolicer barge will be able to treat 50 tonnes of fish per hour. Image: Neptune Marine

Cermaq Canada orders state-of-the-art Hydrolicer

Liquid handling and pump specialist PG Flow Solutions will supply its PG-HydroFlow fish pumping solution to a salmon delousing barge that Dutch shipbuilder Neptune Marine will build for Cermaq Canada.

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In a press release, PG Flow Solutions said it will deliver the pump system as a subcontractor to Norwegian companies Hydrolicer Production and Cflow Fish Handling, who will deliver a complete fish delousing system to the barge. PG’s contract value is undisclosed.

PG-HydroFlow is a live fish transfer, non-mechanical pump solution that enables delousing vessels, wellboats and service boats to convey live fish at a rate of up to 30 – 40 tonnes per hour per pump, and which the company says is without harm or trauma.

Closed water column

PG-HydroFlow will be combined will the Hydrolicer system that delouses fish in a closed water column, creating water turbulence that causes the louse to lose its vacuum-based grip of the fish surface. The lice is lifted – not flushed – off the fish, which is a more gentle way of delousing.

“Our non-mechanical pump solution ensures excellent fish welfare with close to zero harm or trauma to the fish. Our pump system in combination with Hydrolicer’s delousing unit is extremely effective. We are very pleased to be able to support Hydrolicer and Cflow on this project,” says Øyvind Berg, vice president sales and marketing at PG Flow Solutions, which is based in Sande, Norway, and has a UK base in Warndon, Worcester.

Neptune Marine will build the 31-metre non-self-propelled barge – called a Euro Special Purpose Pontoon – at its yard in Aalst, the Netherlands. Delivery is scheduled for Q1 2019. The barge will be equipped with four lines (with space for an extra two), which has the capacity to treat 50 tonnes of fish per hour.