Boston, Massachusetts-headquartered aquaculture tech company Innovasea has introduced FlowFeeder, a waterborne feeding solution that gently delivers feed to fish below the surface, thereby minimising the pellet damage and loss that can be common with air-blown feeding systems.
“FlowFeeder provides a better way to feed fish because it gets more pellets directly into the pen underwater,” Innovasea Senior Vice President Langley Gace said. “Rather than blowing feed pellets onto the surface above the fish pen where they can drift away, FlowFeeder delivers the feed at the depths where fish prefer to congregate. That means less waste and better feed conversion ratios – one of the keys to profitability at any fish farm.”
According to Innovasea, FlowFeeder is an end-to-end feeding solution that can deliver feed to multiple pens from a single, centralised point. It mixes feed pellets with water on the feed vessel and then gently carries the mixture into the pens.
The waterborne delivery system requires less power than air-blown systems and can reduce energy costs by up to 50% – with farms that use diesel generators to power their feeding operations shrinking their carbon footprint as a result. Waterborne delivery also reduces damage to feed pellets, which are often fractured when blown through pipes by an air compressor.
“Air-blown systems are messy and leave behind a lot of dust and oily feed residue in the pipes,” Gace said. “That requires regular cleanings that drive up operational and maintenance costs and increase downtime on the feed vessel.”
FlowFeeder features a proprietary feed dispenser that can be placed at the ideal feeding depth for the species – and it does a better job distributing the pellets throughout the pen for all fish.
Because the feed pellets are delivered at depth, FlowFeeder enables farm operators to feed even when there are heavy waves, strong currents or surface threats such as harmful algal blooms or sea lice.
Not only does this keep fish stocks safe, it also reduces the number of lost feed days to help keep growth targets on track, Innovasea said.
FlowFeeder can be used with Innovasea’s submersible fish pens as well as traditional surface pens from other manufacturers.
