Meeting the unique requirements of Chilean aquaculture, textile solutions provider Garware has launched a new high-density polyethylene net that can be painted with traditional water-based antifouling paints.
The Star V4 polyethylene nets, developed by Garware Technical Fibres in Chile, are the only nets on the global market that can be entirely painted with these paints.
“Until before this technology, HDPE was not paintable. With its development, the nature of the fibre surface is modified, allowing traditional paint to be perfectly fixed with complete compatibility,” explained Marcos Jofré, Business Associate Garware Chile.
Today over 50% of salmon companies are conducting tests or permanently using the Star V4 nets, yielding good results – both in impregnation and antifouling, advised Jofré.
In several cases, the nets have been re-impregnated, surpassing the second cycle of impregnation.
“For this reason, we ensure that Garware’s V4 technology impregnates HDPE with traditional water-based antifouling paints, confirming its effectiveness,” he said.
Star V4 maintains all the characteristics of the original raschel nets – knotless Star – after 10 years of use, even under aggressive in-situ cleaning conditions. Its tensile strength loss is around 15%, compared to nylon which loses 40% or more in four years.
Furthermore, the new nets don’t elongate, shrink or lose their characteristics over time. They also have a high resistance to abrasion in humid conditions and incorporate anti-UV additives.
“Polyethylene with antifouling does not lose resistance over time, which provides great flexibility in the strategic process of cleaning the nets, since it is possible to migrate from impregnation to cleaning in situ or vice-versa with ease to deliver the better conditions for salmonids, complying with the new regulations required by the sectoral authority,” Jofré said.
Although paints for polyethylene work with any nets, their cost is higher. Additionally, in-situ cleaning in Chile is a complex activity due to numerous logistical aspects, including the distances from the farming centres, availability of services, costs, number of days in which it is not possible to work in the centres etc. As such, the majority of aquaculture companies prefer to use nets with antifouling.
