Morenot Canada team members that construct nets
CAMPBELL RIVER – Drones have become part of normal life, surveying the land below from the sky. But how about underwater drones?
Morenot Canada became the B.C. distributor and servicer of Chasing – Innovations Underwater Drones in 2021, which have proven to be versatile and valuable additions to the aquaculture industry, as well as other varied and totally unrelated industries.
“These units are relatively cheap versus their impressive capabilities in the underwater ROV space,” says Doren Anderson, General Manager of Morenot Canada. “All the Chasing ROV’s that we sell today are priced under $10,000, and we offer four models currently that are capable of diving to 100, 150 and 200-meter depths. All with 4-K video, good lights, and the ability to attach additional accessories from a grabber arm to water sampling apparatus.”
Doren adds that a fifth model, as yet unreleased and only known as X today, will be capable of diving down to 300 metres (984 feet).
Morenot Canada General Manager tries out a Chasing-Innovations Underwater Drone in a tank
“In addition to selling these ROV’s, we also have a large tank where we can test and have customers test-drive them to see how easy they are to operate. Most people are surprised to hear that we can also service the Chasing ROV’s that we sell, with a good stock of spare and replacement parts as needed. Prodigious after-care with thorough rinsing, can eliminate many maintenance problems.”
Doren has been with the company since 1989, when they were known as Campbell River Netloft (CRN), which was started in 1987 by a Norwegian company to support the salmon farming industry in B.C. by building and servicing nets. In 1996, CRN was purchased by Morenot, a larger Norwegian fishing gear company, but they only officially changed their name to Morenot Canada in 2019.
“Although we don’t build as many nets as we used to, we still have four women on staff that are the knowledge holders in new net construction for us,” Doren points out. “In addition to new nets for fish farms, we also do service and modifications to the large net system used by ‘The Ocean Cleanup’ mission to clean up ‘The Great Pacific Garbage Patch’.
Doren notes that a section of this net is currently hanging in their shop after modifying for sea turtle extraction. You can see this large net in operation on YouTube.
An M2ROV unit available at Morenot Canada
Morenot Canada has been very welcoming to women in their workforce.
“We are happy when anyone is interested enough to apply for a job with us and we don’t discriminate at all,” he notes. “We are an equal opportunity employer, and all our workers have the ability to excel in every position, including heavy machinery operation. We will always endeavour to place them where their talents and interests intersect.”
The company has grown steadily since 1987, he notes, adding “without so much as a single slow-down, curtailment, stoppage, strike or not even a hiccup through Covid, as food production is an essential service. With the current Federal Government fiddling however, we are all in a, ‘no investment spending’ holding pattern, although ROV’s to a large degree, should not be affected by this.
Morenot Canada’s success comes down to good old fashioned customer service and quality products.
“I think treating our customers well and always focusing on quality products and workmanship to ensure the customers remain happy, has kept them coming back for decades,” he says. “That’s also why I chose to take on the Chasing ROV products, because their quality is very high which leads to a more reliable product. They, like us, also like to innovate and always strive to be better.”
