Health – Aqua Pharma
Special treatment
Industry-research partnerships are the way forward when it comes to tackling biological challenges
T
he Scotti sh salmon industry has successful- ly overcome a number of biological chal- lenges in recent years, by using diff erent tools and strategies, including hydrogen
peroxide treatments in full enclosure tarpaulins. Its signifi cant investment in specialist equip-
ment and associated training has supported the proacti ve fi sh health monitoring regimes under- taken by all companies, the results of which are coordinated to excellent eff ect by the Scotti sh Salmon Producers Organisati on (SSPO). When an enti re industry has made such
eff ecti ve progress over a short space of ti me, it is someti mes diffi cult for busy farmers to keep the momentum of innovati on going beyond a certain level of achievement. Once a level of operati onal competence can
be routi nely achieved, one that consistently delivers the specifi ed results, the understand- able temptati on for the salmon farmer is to turn their att enti on back to managing other key issues. That is when their key suppliers need to step
up to the mark and ensure that developments conti nue.
Aqua Pharma is the internati onal distributor
for Solvay’s veterinary grade hydrogen peroxide, Paramove. The primary focus of its Scotti sh sub- sidiary, based in Inverness, has been to ensure
Paramove availability to all customers in Scotland and Shetland, even during sustained periods of unexpectedly high demand. Impressive as that achievement is, its customers understandably require
more than that. Three years ago, Aqua Pharma funded the formati on of its sister company Hygiene Teknikk in Oban to ensure the development of delivery, dosing and monitoring equipment for Paramove treatments that are appropriate to Scotti sh farming conditi ons. Both Aqua Pharma and Hygiene Teknikk are part of the Norwegian based Aquati c Concept Group, and their small teams of specialists work in partnership to deliver customer requirements. It is not always possible for specialists in small companies to undertake
ti me consuming fi eldwork and so earlier this year, following the sugges- ti on of the SSPO’s Iain Berrill, we approached the University of Sti rling to ask if any MSc students were interested in studying dispersal in treatment tarpaulins. The Insti tute of Aquaculture’s Professor Jimmy Turnbull consulted with
Dr Trevor Telfer, and together they reviewed this opportunity with Pietro Allasia and Mario Guarracino, both qualifi ed veterinary surgeons current- ly att ending the MSc Aquati c Veterinary Studies course. Aqua Pharma funded their travel to the Gill Health Initi ati ve’s meeti ng in Galway, Ire- land, to help brief them on the operati onal status of the industry. At our Oban workshop, Hygiene Teknikk build hydrogen peroxide dose units in 10ft shipping containers, which are connected by a manifold to ISO tanks containing Paramove. Adopti ng this modular approach allows trained crews to safely install and remove treatment capability in a matt er of hours, and this fl exibility permits Scotti sh salmon farmers to effi ciently operate multi -purpose support vessels. Such operati onal excellence appears easy to achieve, although in reality it isn’t. Included within these 10ft shipping containers are all the safety items
required for hydrogen peroxide treatments, together with the controlled dosing systems to connect to the customer’s preferred diluti on and dis- persal mechanism within their tarpaulins. Our latest dose containers have a 500 litre stainless steel tank c/w mixer
to assist the diluti on and dispersal of the other therapeutant compounds available to the prescribing veterinarian, such as Salmosan supplied by the Fish Vet Group, and Alphamax supplied by Pharmaq. Aquati c’s philosophy is to work with other suppliers to deliver a bett er,
more integrated, service to our joint customer, the salmon farmer, than we can do alone. These informal partnerships are delivering additi onal value to the modern salmon farming industry, and our sponsored re- search is similarly intended to assist other suppliers. A recent additi onal item within our dose containers is a 10-point water sampler, which allows ti trati ons to be ti meously and simultaneously taken from each of 10 sectors within the tarpaulin. Bringing sample water back
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www.fishfarmer-magazine.com
Clockwise from left: A 10-point sampler inside the dose container; SSF’s Sally Ann with dose container; Grieg Seafood Hjaltland; Pietro Allasia; Mario Guarracino
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