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Ship capable of washing sea lice from farmed salmon now on Vancouver Island coast

Apr 23, 2019 | 10:33 AM

CAMPBELL RIVER — A huge vessel capable of offering what is described as “fish friendly health treatments” to farmed salmon is now at work for the largest Atlantic salmon farming company in British Columbia.

Mowi Canada West, which operates Marine Harvest fish farms in B.C., says the Aqua Tromoy is the most technologically advanced vessel ever to serve the Canadian aquaculture industry.

The Polish-built, 77-metre vessel, which launched last year, can hold 3,000 cubic metres of water, the equivalent of eight Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Mowi says the ship is an important tool in its pest management strategy, partly because it can lift farmed salmon from their pens and bathe them in fresh water to remove pests such as sea lice.