A Live Seafood Transport System That Makes Both Good Business and Ecological Sense

The new Live Seafood Transport System demonstrated that prime Atlantic lobster can be transported by road to any point within North America without degradation of quality and a mortality of approximately 1% - lower than normally experienced with air freight shipments.

The wild-caught lobster fishery in Canada is big business and currently provides more than half of the world’s supply for live and processed hard-shell Atlantic Lobster. Recognized for its consistent quality over 25% of the annual Atlantic Lobster catch goes to the live market, shipping cargo to high-end restaurants and retailers throughout North America and the rapidly expanding Asian market. Year-round availability of live lobsters is possible due to their excellent resilience in holding tank systems. But because of their limited life once out of water, live lobsters are universally shipped as high priority air cargo to ensure freshness on the dinner plate.

For sustainability the lobster fishery gets “Good Alternative” status from Seafood Watch and FishWise, and the Canadian Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 41 is certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. But from an environmental perspective it is the necessary air freight from the landing areas to the sometimes very distant gourmand that raises concern, as well as dramatically increasing the price. John Summers of Newfoundland, Canada-based ATS Transport Systems, Inc. realized that finding an alternative to flying Homarus Americanus across North America would simplify logistics and dramatically reduce both the transport costs and carbon footprint of this in-demand delicacy. The development of a reliable method of ground transportation was also certain to present an excellent business opportunity.

Over the last five years EnviroTech Instruments have been involved in John’s determined effort to develop a viable live seafood road-transport system based on an advanced holding-tank design that maximizes the lobster biomass per shipment. EnviroTech started by simply providing a way to measure ammonia in the holding-tank water of a small-scale system, but as the project progressed our role expanded to the development of a very specialized circulation control, water quality monitoring and conditioning system. The Atlantic Veterinary College Lobster Science Centre, Prince Edward Island, Canada, provided their unique expertise to optimize and then closely monitor the health of lobsters during the design and proving of the full-scale system.

Working directly with one of the largest lobster suppliers in Nova Scotia, recent proving trials successfully demonstrated that large cargos of 17,000 to 20,000 lbs. of prime live Atlantic Lobster can be transported by specialized tractor-trailer units to any point within North America without any degradation of quality and a minimal mortality of approximately 1%. Notably this a lower rate than normally experienced with air freight shipments.

Final development continues towards a fully commercialized system and further information about road transport opportunities for Atlantic Lobster are available from John Summers at +1 (709) 746-0646.

EnviroTech specialize in developing solutions for water quality monitoring and control applications including custom sensors, instrumentation, electro-mechanical integration and software systems. For more details please leave a comment, contact us by email or phone +1 (757) 549-8474

Thanksgiving Holiday

We will be closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday, Thursday & Friday 24^th & 25^th of November. Please text or call (+1) 757 650 9503 for urgent assistance during the holiday.

To all our Customers, Partners and Suppliers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Choosing Outdoor Enclosures

Choosing one type of external enclosure for all non-submersible equipment applications is a challenge. Cost, functionality, durability and many other factors influence the decision. Stainless steel enclosures are very durable even in marine environments, but they are expensive, heavy and relatively difficult to work with in manufacturing. Powder-coated steel is less expensive, but with the same drawbacks and the powder coating will eventually fail. Aluminum is lighter, but not suitable for all environments and still fairly expensive. Fiberglass is another option; it is affordable, durable, lightweight and easy to work with. Some fiberglass enclosures breakdown with long term exposure to strong sunlight and custom sizes are generally off limits due to high NRE costs.

Stahlin and their extensive range of fiberglass enclosures were recommended to us by a partner who had long experienced the same dilemma. After extensive and sometimes brutal trials we now house all our non-submersible systems, such as our AutoLAB 4 nutrient analyzer, in a variety of Stahlin’s SolarGuard protected enclosures. They offer some shapes and sizes that are not available elsewhere – including the “FatBoy”. For systems with telemetry fiberglass provides another advantage – antennas can remain safely protected inside.

AutoLAB used in precision agriculture application

Follow the link for an article with more information about outdoor enclosures:

http://www.controleng.com/index.php?id=483&cHash=081010&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=50307

EcoLAB 2 Upgrade Released

EcoLAB 2 Firmware & Electronics Upgrade Released

EcoLAB 2′s electronics have been updated to incorporate the latest advances in embedded controllers, data-logging and stepper motor control.

Features:

• Single board & no inter-connections = increased reliability
• Low voltage design = reduced power budget
• Intelligent motor power control = reduced power budget
• microSD storage = reduced size & uses the most current cards
• RTC with 10 year back-up life = no maintenance
• External sampling pump control = additional feature
• Stand-alone RS232 detectors = easy swap & reconfiguration
• Plug / mount compatible with previous wiring = no hassle upgrade
• Upgraded firmware with additional functionality

All customers with an active warranty will receive a one-time free electronics upgrade to allow forward compatibility with future firmware upgrades, analysis macros and additional features.

EcoLAB 2 Guard/Reagent Housing & Analyzer