Pulcea is a novel venture harnessing marine physics, data, and AI for the development of innovative technologies to improve the health and welfare of farmed Atlantic salmon, while maximising the environmental profile and consumer confidence in the sector. Image Problem Sea lice pose one of the greatest challenges to the Atlantic salmon farming industry, causing losses in excess of £40 million per year in Scotland alone. Restrictions and regulations in place for the use of ectoparasite medicines and lice removal machines are a significant factor in these losses. Pulcea has developed an innovative sea lice treatment technology that helps existing medicines to kill sea lice more effectively and at lower doses. This means less medicine is used overall, improving fish welfare, and greatly reducing the volume discharged into the environment, giving farmers an effective treatment option within existing regulations. Solution Our data-driven innovation uses acoustics to harness hydrogen peroxide bubbles, effectively killing sea lice and rendering any survivors infertile. Furthermore, it enhances the treatment so much that chemical doses can be reduced as much as 60% - a significant improvement for the environment. This alone brings essential medicinal treatments back within regulatory limits and reduces the impact on the fish and surrounding environment. The use of AI to enable our technology to be used at commercial scales also provides a much-needed tool in the box of treatments available to combat ectoparasite resistance, something the industry has an urgent need for. Links Website Further information If you'd like to discover more about Pulcea, please contact us. Contact us This article was published on 2024-06-06
