Badinotti mourns knotless net developer Mazzucchelli
Aquaculture supplier Badinotti Group has paid tribute to the developer of its knotless net, Enrico Mazzucchelli, who has died.
“Enrico was a loyal employee and friend of our Company for his entire working career. Hired at the age of 15 years old, in 1949, he accompanied our family and our Company on a long journey full of accomplishments,” said a statement from the Badinotti board posted on LinkedIn.
“Enrico was a real visionary, pioneer, and inventor. He was a lifelong learner, always optimistic, and ready to accept challenges.
Legacy lives on
“In 1960, Enrico developed the first knotless net in the world. His creation was manufactured with Raschel machines, built by German producer, Barfuss. Decades later, the term “Knotless Net”, is still commonly used in the fishing and fish farming industries to his credit.
“Enrico was a major contributor to establishing our operations in Italy, Peru (1963), and Chile (2001).
“Enrico’s legacy lives on. He was part of our family and, we will miss him deeply.”
Cotton to nylon
In a history of Badinotti on its website, the company relates that its owners were keen to switch from cotton to the new, more durable material of nylon for nets in the late 1950s but ran into the problem that nylon didn’t hold a knot very well.
Badinotti discovered a knotless net made by a Hawaiian engineer but the price he wanted for the patent was too high, so the Italian company developed its own using the same Raschel loom as the engineer, and successfully avoided being sued after discovering an expired US patent for a knotless net design dating from the 1850s.
According to the Badinotti history, it was the first company to introduce the knotless net into the market. With its new machines, Badinotti could lower its production costs, produce more volume, and expand, making it easier to make nets for fish farming, but also others such as safety nets and nets for volleyball and tennis.
