Steen-Hansen, a Kylkje, Norway-based company that provides antifouling products and coatings for aquaculture nets, has obtained approval from Chilean authorities, enabling it to sell its copper-free antifouling solution that uses the biocide Econea.
Chilean maritime authority Directemar’s approval makes Steen-Hansen the only aquaculture supplier with approved copper-free products, which the company will market to the Chilean aquaculture industry as a more environmentally friendly alternative than copper, SalmonExpert reported.
The move marks a milestone for Chile, as the country is the world’s largest copper producer – responsible for more than a quarter of worldwide production. Copper represents more than half the value of all Chilean exports.
“We started using Econea-based products as early as 2017. Since then, documentation requirements have increased along with [its] popularity, and we are finally able to expand the use of these to Chile as well, which is one of the largest markets in the world for antifouling in aquaculture,” Steen-Hansen CEO Ulrik Ulriksen said.
While launching its plant in Puerto Montt in June 2023, Ulriksen said the company’s sustainable products promote healthy environments for both the fish and workers present at the facility.
“We see from the Chilean authorities, from the Chilean farmers, and from the workers in the aquaculture industry globally that the attention to environmental concern, the attention to safe products, and the attention to healthy fish and animal welfare is increasing. This is what has helped us to grow in Norway, and we believe the same solutions will also work well in Chile and help us to grow in this market,” he said at the time.
Steen-Hansen reportedly controls more than 70 percent of the antifouling market in Norway.
At the end of January 2024, Steen-Hansen Chile officially presented its first local produced batch of its product Aquanet CCT 100.
Photo courtesy of ausfilms/Shutterstock
