The copper microparticles incorporated in Garware’s V2 netting, used in fish tanks and cage nets, skirts and ropes, kill the bacteria responsible for Piscirickettsiosis (SRS) and Tenacibaculosis.
Evaluation by ADL Diagnostic Chile confirms that after 24 hours of exposure, it is 100% effective. The V2 technology is has been developed in response to the main sanitary challenges of the Chilean aquaculture sector.
ADL Diagnostic Chile’s audit indicates that the Garware STAR V2 netting has components that have an active antibacterial effect against Piscirickettsia salmonis and Tenacibaculum dicentrarchi, significantly after a four-hour exposure and 100% effective after 24 hours.
“It is extremely important, since both bacteria are two of the main culprits for fish mortality and the consumption of antibiotics in Chile. P. salmonis is found mainly in Chile, but Tenacibaculum is also in the northern hemisphere. This study rules out the possibility of Garware V2 systems harbouring bacterial diseases,” commented Garware Technical Fibres commercial manager Francisco Serra.
The recent investigation was carried out with the agents of T. dicentrarchi and P. salmonis, using methodology implemented by ADL based on the British Standards Institution protocol for the evaluation of disinfectant products for veterinary use.
Garware STAR V2 mesh sections and HDPE mesh sections of approximately 1g were obtained, the segments were immersed in a solution of hard water, organic matter and a standard bacterial suspension of P. salmonis (strain PM-15972) and T. dicentrarchi ( strain PM-90951) adjusted to a microbiological procedure -of 0.5 McFarland equivalent to 108 cfu/mL- incubated at 18 ° C for one, four, 24 and 48 hours.
“The effectiveness of Garware's V2 technology was amazing. We did not expect such a high efficacy, at four hours we already had a significant effect and at 24 hours we registered 100% efficacy. Its effect is undeniable, even more remarkable, if we consider that we were working with a matrix that has copper particles. In sanitary terms, the active antibacterial mesh aims to control the environment, helping to keep bacterial loads low in the farms, with a better sanitary condition of the fish,” said Álvaro Sandoval, head of R&D projects at ADL Diagnostic Chile.
“Although there were evaluations of the V2 technology in other regions, our results validate this and even better, since it was carried out with field strains present in outbreaks of clinical cases in the national environment. We have the evidence with local agents.”
Garware developed the V2 technology, adding metallic copper to various HPDE product lines, after research and development and field trials, which began in 2017. A special procedure for V2 incorporates metallic copper microparticle inlays in the manufacture of HDPE fibre, in which the final product can release in a controlled way the elements that will allow the nets to stay clean in the water for a longer time. This uses less copper than in paints and the V2 technology does not flake. It has a positive impact on the environment, due to the reduction of the release of copper and organic residues and the reduction of dirt. Garware V2 nets have completed production cycles in Norway, Canada, Chile, Australia, Scotland and have shown positive results in delayed fouling and achieving low rates of mortality due to disease.
According to the company, it is notable that most of the Tenacibaculosis cases that occurred in Norway and Chile involve topical infections of the epidermis, capable of producing mortality, with environmental consequences and their correlation with endemic diseases such as Piscirickettsiosis. Opportunistic diseases such as Tenacibaculosis could be associated with SRS.
