Sl. Hodson et al., Biofouling of fish-cage netting: the efficacy of a silicone coating and the effect of netting colour, AQUACULTURE, 184(3-4), 2000, pp. 277-290
The efficacy of a silicone coating (Veridian 2000) to reduce fouling on sal
mon-cage netting was examined at a salmon farm in Tasmania, Australia. Sign
ificantly less fouling occurred on the white silicone-coated netting (1.9 k
g/m(2)) compared to uncoated white (7.8 kg/m(2)) and black (8.5 kg/m(2)) ne
tting after 163 days immersion. On silicone-coated netting the green alga U
lva rigida dominated the fouling mass, with smaller amounts of solitary asc
idians. In contrast, solitary ascidians dominated the uncoated black and wh
ite netting and accounted for more than 75% of the fouling mass. Netting co
lour significantly affected the growth and composition of algal fouling, bu
t had no effect on invertebrate fouling. Cleaning experiments demonstrated
that fouling organisms were poorly adhered to the silicone coating and that
relatively little effort was required for their removal. Silicone coatings
may provide an effective non-toxic solution to reduce fouling on sea-cages
and to increase the ease of fouling removal. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V
. All rights reserved.