Alternative methods for providing antifouling properties to fishing nets

One of the most important problems in aquaculture studies carried out in marine ecosystems is biofouling. Biofouling is the attachment of fouling organisms on artificial surfaces immersed in aquatic ecosystems. This event prevents water change by closing the aperture of the nets used for fish farming, and this situation has negative effects on aquaculture due to the decrease in dissolved oxygen. The coating technology used in fishing nets today is based on the use of copper (I) oxide as the basic biocide. Although copper (I) oxide provides an effective solution, it causes serious damage to the environmental ecosystem. This situation has revealed the necessity of developing environmentally friendly formulations for sustainable aquaculture studies in aquatic ecosystems. The aim of this doctoral thesis is to create environmentally friendly alternatives with methods in which capsule-based materials and particle-sized substances are distributed in nano-sized layers that contain less concentration of toxic antifouling agents, rather than applying them directly to fish nets. For this purpose; Microcapsules obtained by using very few active substances to create antifouling effect in fishing nets and different chemicals used to give antifouling effect were transferred to fishing nets by daldırarak kaplama method and multi-layer coating method. Econea, a substance known to provide antifouling effect and does not harm the environment, was encapsulated in studies. In addition to econea, nanoscale zinc borate and zinc oxide chemicals were transferred to fishing nets by the multi-layer coating method. All chemicals used were compared with copper (I) oxide used in this field. It is predicted that the environmentally friendly structures produced can be the substitute of dyestuffs containing toxic copper (I) oxide, have a high commercialization potential and can be an alternative to the conventional methods currently used.