Abstract To avoid the negative impacts caused by biofouling development, aquaculture nets around the world are periodically cleaned using high-pressure washers. Net cleaning is labour-intense and costly, can damage antifouling coatings on the nets, and pose contamination as well as fish health and welfare risks. To support the environmental sustainability of the growing aquaculture sector, novel net cleaning methods are needed. This study examined low-pressure-, cavitation-, and suction-based cleaning technologies as alternatives to conventional high-pressure cleaning. Using field experiments, cleaning efficacy, cleaning waste generation, and the impact of cleaning on coating integrity and net strength were evaluated. Cavitation and high-pressure cleaning achieved considerably higher cleaning efficacy than low-pressure and suction cleaning. However, a single high-pressure treatment caused up to 53% coating degradation, compared to 2% for cavitation. All technologies produced similar cleaning waste and neither reduced net strength significantly. This study identifies cavitation cleaning as promising technology for biofouling control on aquaculture nets.

中文翻译：

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有鳍鱼养殖新型净网清洁技术的试验

摘要 为了避免生物污垢发展带来的负面影响，世界各地的水产养殖网都定期使用高压清洗机进行清洗。清洁网需要大量劳动力且成本高昂，会损坏网上的防污涂层，并造成污染以及鱼类健康和福利风险。为了支持不断增长的水产养殖部门的环境可持续性，需要新型的网清洁方法。这项研究检验了低压、空化和抽吸式清洁技术作为传统高压清洁的替代品。通过现场实验，评估了清洁效果、清洁废物的产生以及清洁对涂层完整性和净强度的影响。空化和高压清洗比低压和抽吸清洗实现了更高的清洗效率。然而，单次高压处理会导致高达 53% 的涂层降解，而空化仅为 2%。所有技术都会产生类似的清洁废物，并且均未显着降低净强度。这项研究将空化清洗确定为水产养殖网生物污垢控制的有前途的技术。