Eight Technologies That Are Transforming Aquaculture
Life on earth began in the deep blue waters. Our common ancestor, of all the living organisms on this planet, can be traced back to the microbes in the deep sea hydrothermal vents.
From absorption of greenhouse gases by phytoplankton to facilitating the majority of the trade across the world, oceans have been a link to all the living organisms on this planet. So, ensuring the normalcy is not an act of altruism but unfortunately an act of dire necessity. The degradation of coral reefs and the news of dwindling marine stocks have been on the rise.
Like other agricultural industries, the technologies being introduced within aquaculture are the focus of interest from the farming community and its investors. According to AgFunder, aquaculture investment increased 271 percent in 2016 over the previous two years.
While the production of fish as a primary protein source is considerably more efficient than other protein sources such as cattle or pork by as much as six and four times, respectively, on a feed conversion basis, much can still be done to improve production and efficiency in aquaculture. In this blog we’ll be discussing eight technologies that are having a profound impact on aquaculture.
3D PRINTING
3Dponics is a company that offers downloadable instructions for printing hydroponic systems. Not only could this technology be used by the aquaculture industry to produce hybrid Aquaponic systems, but it could potentially lead to personal at-home aquaculture gardens. Another example of 3D printing in aquaculture is a fish robot printed by MIT that almost perfectly mimics an actual fish’s motions and movements.
A very different aspect of 3D printing involves the production of seaweed. Algae have been used to create an environmentally friendly, inexpensive material in the form of a gel used to 3D print medical implant devices. The production of human tissue and organs is also already on the agenda ‘algae could lead to the next generation of life-saving procedures.’
ROBOTS
Fish farms are often cramped conditions that can exacerbate issues such as diseases and parasites, leading to lower yields and higher production costs. A remarkable company that is using this technology to actively sort sick or harmed fish as well as those that are ready for processing is Cermaq.
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The future of fish farming could very well lie in giant, autonomous roaming robotic cages, called Aquapods, such as the SeaStation by InnovaSea. The Aquapod is a free-floating fish farm that can accommodate several hundred thousand fish. Norwegian company SINTEF is developing an underwater robot that will be able to examine and repair these nets, providing a safer and more cost-effective way to manage the operation.
Other robotic opportunities in our oceans include SeaVax, which is working to create a large-scale, solar-powered robotic vacuum cleaner that could pick up around 150 tons of plastic from the ocean. OceanOne is a bimanual underwater humanoid that allows for safer underwater exploration. Maritime Robotics and Deep Trekker both provide robotic or unmanned ocean monitoring devices to be used in exploration and aqua farming.
DRONES
Drones can be ultized for monitoring offshore fish farms and can take on any number of tasks that currently require specialized and expensive human intervention, such as inspecting underwater cages for damage or holes.
Companies like Apium Swarm Robotics use drones en masse to survey the ocean and provide analysis through the use of sensor technology. Blueye Pioneer offers live video streaming of underwater exploration through the use of the Blueye app on a smartphone, tablet or with goggles.
Drones are also able to collect information that can be used to create algorithms that further develop the technology or applications available in the production of aquaculture and offshore fish farms. Saildrone, for example, offers data collection, fish stock analysis and environmental tracking and could easily be applied to offshore aquaculture. This aquatic drone connects with a producer’s tablet, smartphone or computer and allows for information to be gathered and analyzed.
SENSORS
Many of the drones and robots mentioned above use sensors to navigate underwater and collect data. Biosensors such as those created by Sense-T are helping to create efficiencies in the industry through the analysis of oxygen levels and water temperature; even heart rate and metabolism can be measured.
One of the coolest technologies is that of eFishery, which uses sensors to detect the hunger level of the fish and feed them accordingly. It can be used in any size farm and can reduce feed costs by up to 21 percent.
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Real Tech uses sensors to monitor water quality and uses ultraviolet transmission to disinfect water of pathogens and clean aquaculture production facilities. Norwegian AKVA Group built an entire cage with cameras, sensors, feeding and re-circulation systems for use in open ocean or inland farming.
Osmobot focuses exclusively on land-based aquaculture and allows for cloud management and mobile connectivity. YSI has an array of handheld sensing devices, automatic feeding technology and transportation tanks that maintain the fishes’ ideal environment.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Many aquaculture technology companies are harnessing the power of AI to improve decision-making. The Yield, an Australian company that provides technologies for all types of agriculture, uses its Sensing+Aqua technology to create predictive analytics for enhanced data-driven decision-making.
A robotic fish known as Shoal uses AI, or Swarm Intelligence (SI), to detect pollution underwater. The robots are sent out as a group and must be able to navigate their environment, avoid obstacles, including those of other robotic fish, recharge themselves at charging stations and generally make decisions autonomously of humans.
The introduction of AI can greatly reduce over exploited fish species through camera and data collection systems that use AI to identify species and enable greater accountability of harvesting practices.
AUGMENTED REALITY
There is great potential for the use of AR in the aquaculture industry. Already the US Navy uses DAVD (Divers Augmented Vision Display), which superimposes high-resolution sonar imagery on a diver’s visual world. NASA has tested Microsoft’s HoloLens in a similar way.
Producers could use this technology to improve the efficiency of operations, analyze mortalities, health status and a variety of environmental parameters.
One of the best ways to incorporate AR into the aquaculture industry is to use it for teaching and instructional purposes. The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) designed an aquaculture simulator using VR and AR, incorporating Oculus Rift’s technologies. The program has been designed to teach about fish welfare, disease prevention, escaping fish and dangerous working conditions.
VIRTUAL REALITY
The opportunities for VR in the aquaculture industry are many, particularly for training and education. VR is being used by NTNU to pique the next generation’s interest in aquaculture. NTNU has developed an aquaculture simulator that uses VR to allow students to virtually visit a fish farm. It is quite clear how such developments could also be used for training purposes in the aquaculture industry.
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BLOCKCHAIN
Blockchain is best known as a financially secure method of payment, which could greatly benefit the aquaculture industry. Due in part to the lifecycle of the fish and in part to the significant values involved in the transactions, the industry suffers from a poor reputation for payment contracts.
This would mean that there would be no need for the exchange of physical money, potentially saving the added expense of transaction and currency exchanges. Furthermore, information about individual harvests and production methods could be stored here and made accessible to other producers and consumers. Privacy is always a critical concern when discussing these matters, but the way blockchain is set up maintains privacy while enforcing transparency.
And connecting all of these disruptive technologies is the Internet of Things (IoT).
CONCLUSION
The adaptation and adoption of these eight digital technologies are occurring at an ever-increasing rate in many industries. Aquaculture has been a relatively late adopter, and what we are seeing is only the tip of the iceberg. When considering that the industry is the fastest-growing sector in Food Production and the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations anticipates that an additional 27 million tons of fish production will be needed just to maintain the present level of consumption in 2030. It should come as no surprise that additional Ag-Tech investments in aquaculture will be at record levels. The future of fish farming looks more sustainable, more traceable and more profitable.
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