LOW DENSITY CROWDING
SmoothMove Smart Funnel
Moving fish efficiently and humanely is critical to the aquaculture industry.
SmoothMove's cutting edge technology is the first purpose built Smart Funnel that focuses on low density crowding, fish welfare and operator control.
01
Control
The SmoothMove gives you full control over the fish loading operation. With the aid of underwater cameras, you can observe how the fish swim naturally round and into the SmoothMove smart funnel before transferring at a consistent, ideal rate.
02
Low Density
With the SmoothMove, fish handling is careful and deliberate. Each net movement, weight shift, and SmoothMove deployment is guided by careful observation of fish behaviour. Assisted by environmental currents created by the SmoothMove, fish are kept at a low, safe density during the loading operation, thereby maintaining a stress-free environment for the fish until they are delivered to the factory in a markedly calmer condition.
03
Fish Quality
The SmoothMove provides a tool for more humane fish loading operations. Less crowding, less stress, better health outcomes lead to better fish quality.
04
Smoother Move
The SmoothMove offers better control over loading operations ensuring a consistent flow of fish during transfer. This means that equipment used to pump, process or treat the fish can work at optimum efficiency.
WHY SMOOTHMOVE?
If fish welfare is in your DNA?
Salmon farming is one of the most sustainable food sources on the planet. All farmers have fish welfare as their focus during the production cycle. SmoothMove gives them a new tool for handling fish in loading operations. Transferring fish from a low-density position improves fish welfare on a scale never seen before in the aquaculture industry.
It is widely accepted throughout the salmon farming industry that reducing crowding densities during fish loading operations will lead to calmer fish. Having more water and space for each fish will result in reduced stress and more dissolved oxygen available to each animal while they wait to enter the fish suction hose. Reduced crowding leads to better fish health outcomes for all live fish handling events including harvest, treatments and well boat loading.
In addition to improved fish health outcomes, more control over the rate that fish are loaded will also result in better performance of the equipment used to pump, process or treat the fish.
Until today there has been no solution for loading fish other than sucking them up using a traditional funnel on the end of a fish suction hose, which requires high density crowding to reach and maintain efficient fish transfer rates.
The SmoothMove is an exciting solution to this problem where the fish swim comfortably before transfer and as they are loaded into the SmoothMove, resulting in many operational benefits and improved fish welfare outcomes.
01
Focus on fish welfare
Video footage of fish that are transferred by the SmoothMove Smart Funnel clearly demonstrates that giving fish more space to swim naturally before transfer leaves them in a calm, familiar environment during the whole loading event. Less stress leads to better fish welfare.
02
Controlled fish loading
By using the SmoothMove as the loading device, operators are given new tools for observing fish as they swim in their natural behaviour before and during transfer, allowing them to make adjustments to ensure a successful outcome.
03
Better working conditions for net handling crew
Equally important, is the impact on the people involved: the farmers, vessel operators, and crew. SmoothMove gives them a tool that allows fish to be moved in the most humane way possible. They no longer need to rely on stressful crowding to drive transfer. Instead, they can create safe environments where fish can swim and school naturally into the transfer zone. That’s not only better for the fish. It’s better for the people caring for them.
