Long-term lobster storage

Lobster trays were developed to meet longer-term storage requirements (up to six months) faced by lobster distributors to balance seasonal harvests with market demand.  Combined with our water reused systems, they provide optimum conditions for the lobster to thrive in storage.

The concept is engaging

• The animals are housed in plastic trays which are stacked up in cabinet-like shelving, or nested into piles, under a shower system. When slid into cabinets, trays are pulled open like drawers, allowing for easy access to each lobster.

• Lobsters in each tray are isolated in individual compartments—a creative arrangement which protects them from attacking one another and let them get into a calm state similar to dormancy. Movable plastic inserts, called dividers, can be custom located to accommodate a wide variety of lobster sizes and storage densities.

• Habitats are not limited to seaside installations — in inland facilities the water is recycled to very high proportions (close to 100% of the total water flow in the system). The shelving is then linked to our REBF systems, which stands for water Recycling with BioFiltration.

With two moulded-in overflows, each tray keeps the animals in just enough water to be submerged (9 to 11 cm, depending on water flow).  The water spills from one level of trays down to the next below, travels through the dividers to the overflow located at the other end, spills to the tray below, and so on.  Water is then recycled through our  Water REcycling with Biofiltration (REBF) system.

Trays in our Eco Lobster-Condo have calibrated holes strategically drilled across the floor that create a micro-current around and under the animals.   The water exchange rate per hour is adjusted in every stack to ensure that each animal is sure to bathe in a constant flow of high quality and well-oxygenated water.

Added security: when the water flow is interrupted, trays will gradually drain to let lobsters breathe air, preventing them from drowning in oxygen exhausted water.

Note that cabinets are not essential to operating an efficient long-term storage system. Trays can also be nested into compact piles and set under a shower as shown above.

By taking advantage of vertical space, one can hold a surprisingly large number of animals isolated in individual cells.  An individual cabinet unit houses two stacks of trays.

A standard 2-stacks cabinet of 15 trays high can comfortably house 432 kg of lobster (18 kg/tray) in only 1.1 square meter of floor space.

Being 2.29 meters (90.16”) tall, each standard cabinet-like structures is shipped standing in a 40-ft high cube container.   Eight of these assemblies fit into a high cube container for a total capacity of 3. 45 metric tons of live lobster.

Higher structures can be assembled. The beam position is then adjusted so that adjacent cabinets fit snugly, making compact and sturdy structures. For instance, with a height of 3 meters (9’10”) the 19-trays-high cabinet structure shown below house 540 kg lobster (1188 lb).

• Our cabinet-like structures are now fabricated from Marine grade aluminum entirely resistant to seawater and long lasting.

The Eco Lobster-Condo can be serviced by two types of water-reuse modules: the SEMI-CLOSED module and the CLOSED REBF™ module.

The Eco Lobster-Condo with SEMI-CLOSED module — This module is ideal for you if your installation has access to enough cold seawater to refresh the aquaBiota Habitat™ several times in a day — on, or very close to the waterfront. While this is a lower-cost choice, it nevertheless gives you full control over the required rate of refreshment and oxygen level in each tray without the need for a biofiltration capability. A chilling unit can be added to cool water at critical periods of time, such as when the product is about to be delivered.

The Eco Lobster-Condo with CLOSED REBF™ — This module is the option for you if:
•  Your distribution plant is far from a source of seawater — perhaps servicing a large inland urban distribution centre.
•  You find yourself in a situation in which you need to keep your animals chilled without disturbance over periods of several months.

The CLOSED REBF™ module is designed for full water reuse and complete control over operating conditions, ensuring that the water remains crystal clear and well balanced chemically. The effluent is passed through a seven-stage water filtration process: two stages of particle filtration down to 15µm, followed by a further five stages: carbon dioxide degassing; biofiltration; oxygenation; pH control; and foam fractionation. Note that the biofiltration stage is carried out by Our AquaNit™ trickling biofilters. These biofilters are delivered pre-coated with active seawater nitrifying bacteria. This pre-coating feature — exclusive to Aquabiotech — kick starts the process of lowering the ammonia level in the recycled water to acceptable levels — a tremendous timesaver in the commissioning process.

The minimal water refreshment rate in the system (99.9% water reuse by flow) allows for the economical use of seawater trucked in or made up from a salt mix. The high rate of water recirculation means that the chilling costs can be kept to a minimum. With this system, you can be sure that your lobster storage will give you a service equal to any seaside operation using our Habitat with SEMI-CLOSED Modules.

AQUABIOTECH builds Water Reuse with Biofiltration modules (REBF™). The Modules can be built to your specifications for short-term (less than 2 weeks), medium-term (3 weeks to 3 months), or long-term (up to 6 months) storage of lobsters. The expertise of AQUABIOTECH in the biofiltration and recirculation of water for aquatic and marine systems has been recognized for more than 15 years. There are almost a hundred of these systems in operation in Canada, as well as others in the USA and in Europe.

The Enviro-Monitron™: an OUTSTANDING environmental controller for aquaculture systems

Expressly designed for Aquaculture Recirculating Systems, the new Enviro-Monitron is a full-feature multi-task monitoring and control system.

Experienced aquaculturists and supporters of the KISS principle (keep it simple), the Enviro-Monitron’s designers wanted a system that biologists, researchers, and technicians alike could easily adjust to their own needs without previous programming training. Designed to hold up well under the harsh conditions of most aquaculture applications, this system can grow to handle complex and numerous tasks, while remaining extremely simple to use.

It integrates data monitoring (8 analog inputs, 8 digital inputs and 2 high-speed digital inputs), process control (6 cyclic or proportional outputs, 2 analog 4-20 mA, and 2 on/off outputs), display, alarming, and the capacity to transfer data to a central computer via a radio link.

Enviro-Monitron’s general specifications

• Possibility of continuous monitoring of Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Temperature, pH, Salinity, Conductivity, Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP), and Turbidity.

Other equipment (e.g. flowmeters, level sensors) can be integrated

• Each probe is easily calibrated by one or two points
• Auxiliary I/O supporting 18 Inputs (8 Digitals, 8 Analogs, and 2 Pulses). Inputs can monitor parameters such as pump, chillers and heater’s status, water levels
• Handy for maintaining control over water use, the Enviro-Monitron can monitor and control the level of water exchange in a system. Water inlet can be adjusted as either the % tank volume per day or as % of total flow
• Every unit is built to the client’s specification. The most popular configurations include DO, pH, % recirculation, and temperature control
• 8 Power Switches (International Rectifier) output (5 Amp. 24 Volts DC each).
• Menu-driven programming environment.
• FLASH memory for stocking data (49 152 data for 25 days).
• Battery back-up for monitoring.
• Multi-instrument networking capability (up to 50 apparatus) via an RS485 cable.
• Housed in a 100% polycarbonate non-corrosive NEMO 4-X box (humidity and splash resistant enclosure).