Containment – Mhon Aqua
Sound technology
THE MAG SEAL DETERRENT IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE, AND CETACEAN-FRIENDLY DEVICE ON THE MARKET
The Mag seal deterrent is being used in Chile F
or the last 20 or so years the Airmar DBII+ has been considered the best seal deterrent on the market. And whilst this system is as good as ever, Mohn Aqua felt that as the control system uses 1980s technology, it could do with modernising. So, with the help, advice and bless-
ing of Airmar, Mohn Aqua developed a new, state-of-the-art control box – the MAG Seal Deterrent – which, amongst other things, increased the system from a four projector sys- tem to one that offered the choice of two, four or six projectors. ‘Another important advantage of the new system’, says Mal Scott, General Manager of Mohn Aqua,
‘is that the pulses can be varied, in power, duration and fi ring pattern. Plus, it is 50 per cent more effi cient than the DBII+, which means half the batteries need to be used, or existing batteries last twice as long during power outages.’ The MAG Seal Deterrent was also
developed after discussions with both the Seal Mammal Research Unit and the Salmon Aquaculture and Seals Working Group, where two concerns with current ADDs were identifi ed. The fi rst was that operators could not immediately tell that a system had a fault until, for example, there was a sudden increase in morts. Secondly, there is a growing feeling that systems need to become more cetacean friendly. As such, the MAG Seal Deter-
rent has fault indicators for each projector. After a ‘soft start’ Switch – designed to not instantly frighten cetacean, the super bright LEDs turn from amber to green, with the projector that is fi ring at the time fl ashing green. This lets the oper- ators know from a huge distance away that all is good. Any faults on a projector or
cable are instantly recognised by an internal processor, and the channel is automatically shut down, preventing damage to the control circuits. The LED for that channel instantly turns red and the operators know which channel and which projector has a problem. This is particularly useful for audits, which are now are carried out in monitoring seal problems. The next generation of projectors, which will be available as soon as Airmar
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have fi nished trials and start manu- facture, have an inbuilt Sensor that will give even more fault information to the new control box. Mohn Aqua also believe that the
MAG Seal Deterrent is the most cetacean-friendly system available. It can be put into a ‘standby’ mode, where the output can be toned down to very low levels when there is not a current threat to the site. This way, cetacean, always know the system is there, keep a distance away, but are not frightened by it. When a threat does occur, the system can be switched back to normal operation through the ‘soft start’ sequence. This is far better than a ‘detection’ system that will lay dormant, almost asking cetacean to come close, then fi re unexpect- edly, causing fear and panic. This system is also fully compati- ble with customers’ existing DBII+ projectors, meaning that to upgrade sites only have to replace the con- trol box and not the full installation. The MAG Seal Deterrent system has been installed at a number of Scottish Seafarms (SSF), Marine Harvest and Scottish Salmon Company sites, as well as three large Salmones Magallanes sites in
Chile, where they have proved to be extremely effective. For example, as Ewan Gibb, site manager at SSF Summer Isles, explains: ‘Early on in the year we had a severe seal issue at one cage in particular. Once the new system was installed, overnight the seal problem stopped. ‘What I like about them is that
they can be programmed on site, they don’t need to be taken away, and you can also vary frequencies, pulse rates, the gaps between the pulses – everything is adjustable on it. It’s really doing the job well.’ This is echoed by Colin MacDon-
ald, site manager at SSF Scallastle: ‘The display panel is very clear and easy to read and since we’ve had it installed we’ve had no problems with seals,’ he explains. Mohn Aqua is also beginning an
agreement with Scottish Seafarms in Shetland, which will see the company carrying out an audit of all SSF Shet- land’s existing Airmar/Mohn Aqua Seal Deterrent equipment. This will lead to SSF Shetland receiving the optimum effi ciency from its existing equipment and recommendations for modifi - cation and upgrades to ensure that they continue to have the very best possible protection in the future. FF
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Once the system was installed, the seal problem stopped
www.fishfarmer-magazine.com
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