Ultrasonic eradication of sea lice on farmed fish
View Patent ↗A method, and device for removing sea lice from salmon with use of a salmon herding passage tube, with ultrasound transducers on the periphery thereof, in a number sufficient to provide ultrasound treatment of the salmon being herded therethrough at a normal herding rate and at a sufficiently high enough frequency to kill the sea lice. Salmon are herded therethrough, with the application of ultrasound from the ultrasonic. The method and device also include removal of the lice from a salmon cage or enclosure with feeding fish into an enclosure having ultrasound transducers situated on the inner periphery thereof and providing an attraction such as a white light which attracts noxious parasitic aquatic organisms and applying ultrasound from the electronic transducers within the enclosure.
1. A method for treatment of an enclosure containing water and salmon therein, to kill and remove parasitic, noxious aquatic sea lice having gas pockets therein, and freely dispersed in the water from affecting the salmon, comprising the steps of:
i) feeding salmon into the enclosure having ultrasound transducers situated on the inner periphery thereof;
ii) providing an attractant which attracts the parasitic, noxious aquatic sea lice thereto within the enclosure; and
iii) applying ultrasound at a frequency at or above 20,000 Hz within the enclosure directly at the parasitic noxious aquatic sea lice for an application of at least two seconds for the acoustic cavitation of the gas pockets and killing of substantially all of the parasitic noxious aquatic sea lice within the water contained in the enclosure.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the attractant is a white light.
3. An enclosure for salmon configured for use in the method of claim 1 comprising a plurality of peripherally placed ultrasound transducers and an attractant to attract noxious, parasitic aquatic sea lice between the ultrasound transducers.
4. A method for treatment of fish to effectively kill parasitic, noxious aquatic organisms having gas pockets therein, on the fish, comprising the steps of:
1) providing a fish herding passage with a source of ultrasound waves positioned adjacent thereto with the source of ultrasound waves being configured to direct ultrasound waves into the herding passage:
2) herding a specific type of fish at a normal herding rate of the type of fish through the fish herding passage, wherein the herded fish are externally covered with parasitic, noxious aquatic organisms thereon, with the parasitic, noxious, aquatic organisms having gas pockets therewithin;
3) directing ultrasound waves from the source to strike at the herded fish while the fish are in the fish herding passage, with the ultrasound waves striking the fish having an ultrasonic frequency of at or above 20000 Hz, for at least two seconds;
whereby the ultrasound waves cause the gas pockets of the parasitic, noxious aquatic organisms to expand and kill substantially all of them without harm to the fish.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the fish herding passage is a pipe section of at least 20 feet in length and a diameter of at least one foot.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein spaced areas of the pipe section are circumferentially provided with spaced apart ultrasound transducers as the source of the ultrasound waves, which are directed toward an interior of the pipe through which the fish are herded.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the circumferentially provided ultrasound transducers are four and wherein the pipe section has at least ten longitudinally spaced areas circumferentially each provided with the four ultrasound transducers.
8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the fish herding passage is interiorally lined with stainless steel and exteriorly covered with a sound absorbing composite material.
9. The method of claim 4 , wherein the parasitic, noxious aquatic organism is sea lice and the fish type is salmon, wherein the normal herding rate for the herding of the fish is the normal swimming speed of salmon.
10. A fish herding passage configured for use in the method of claim 4 , comprising a tube passage of a size sufficient to herd the fish therethrough and with each area having multiple ultrasound transducers positioned around an exterior circumferential section thereon and the ultrasound transducers being directed to the interior of the tube passage.
11. The fish herding passage element of claim 10 wherein the interior of the tube passage is lined with stainless steel and the exterior of the tube passage is covered with a sound absorbing composite material.