Canada East achieves global first with thermolicer

For the first time ever at Mowi, the team from Canada East has successfully treated salmon of 250g using a thermolicer. Previously, the standard starting weight to use this particular treatment was 500g.

Amanda Borchardt, Fish Health and Welfare Director, explains why this is such a significant milestone: “This is a real step forward for us in terms of our fish health programme. We have a range of tools available to us to manage the challenges presented by sea lice but in Canada East, we have found using a thermolicer to be extremely effective. If we can treat fish so early in their lifecycle, then it means we are giving them the best start to grow and develop into strong healthy salmon.”

The thermolicer has been operating across our sea farms in Canada East since May when it started in New Brunswick. This initiative represents a real collaboration between Mowi and 360 Marine, a Newfoundland and Labrador-based service supply company as Joel McGee, Technical Project Manager at Mowi, explains:

“360 Marine is part of a very small rural community in Newfoundland. The fact that Fabian and his team were able to step up and provide the support we need is incredible. There is great communication between our farm teams and the team of five that 360 Marine provides to operate the vessel.”

For Joel, the thermolicer has been a labour of love as it was his main project to install all the necessary equipment on board so that Mowi could begin using this treatment. The fact that this was done in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic is testament to his dedication. Joel was also involved in modifying the equipment to enable us to use the thermolicer on smaller fish.

So far, the thermolicer has treated 5,680,454kg of biomass (5,680 tonnes) and is part of Mowi’s ongoing commitment to use green technologies across its operations.

Well done, everyone!