FiiZK has been collaborating with researchers at Nofima AS to test the efficacy of ultrafiltration (UF) membrane technology on feedwater used in RAS and land-based aquaculture against two target fish pathogens: Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) and the bacterium Aeromonas salmonicida.

These pathogens can cause disease leading to mortality and, in some cases, persistent infections in recovered fish. Vasco Mota from Nofima and three of our FiiZK colleagues, Margit, Morten, and Kine, have recently published an article investigating the application of ultrafiltration membrane technology in aquaculture to disinfect intake seawater to remove the risk of disease outbreak. UF is currently used for the safe treatment of wastewater and drinking water to remove waterborne viruses and bacteria.

“Evaluation of an ultrafiltration membrane for the removal of fish viruses and bacteria in aquaculture water” was released in Frontiers in Marine Science. The study used a bench-scale unit to test if sea water that passes through a membrane with a pore size of 20 nm could prevent IPNV and A. salmonicida from also passing through. The results were very promising! The permeate (i.e., the water that passes through the membrane) was tested, and results showed that there was no bacteria or virus present.

One of the main aims of undertaking these trials was to assess if UF technology could be a stand-alone approach for treating intake water to prevent disease outbreaks rather than just being a support system for ultraviolet. These lab-based results suggest that membrane filtration can be successfully used in aquaculture to prevent disease outbreaks.