High-tech solutions like artificial intelligence are making inroads in aquaculture. Can AI drive further growth?

Aquaculture has long depended on the intuition and experience of farmers in areas such as feeding or disease prediction. Today some companies are harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve operations.

In Japan, where the population is aging and the workforce is shrinking, efficient farming operations are crucial. Umitron, an aquaculture technology provider in Japan and Singapore, offers data platforms using IoT, satellite remote sensing and AI. One of its recent solutions is UMITRON CELL (CELL), a smart fish feeder that holds 400 kg of feed and includes a solar-power management system, onboard computer, weight sensors, dispensing motor and a camera for observing fish 24 hours a day. The feeder is remotely controlled and fish videos are monitored with a smartphone or desktop computer.

“CELL’s development came from discussions with farmers who struggled to monitor all their cages and feed the correct amount each day,” said Andy Davison, product manager at Umitron. “They didn’t typically take weekends or holidays since they needed to visit their fish cages every day to feed the fish and monitor their condition. CELL allows them to accurately manage their feed and stay onshore occasionally while still monitoring their fish.”

CELL is installed on cages and allows farmers to check a live stream or saved video data. The farmer can adjust the feeder’s timing and amount settings to fine-tune feeding, and check historical feeding and fish data to see the amount of feed used over the past day, week or month. The system is remotely powered by a solar panel connected to a battery. CELL is now being used in tandem with Umitron’s latest AI-powered algorithm Fish Appetite Index (FAI), a real-time ocean-based fish appetite detection system in which machine-learning algorithms analyze video data collected directly from farm sites to calculate fish appetite. Farmers can check FAI metrics to determine when their fish are hungry or full and adjust feeding accordingly.

“They can obtain more information on their fish’s behavior and move toward data-driven decision-making to further optimize feeding schedules,” said Davison. “FAI reduces wasted feed, improves profitability and environmental sustainability, and offers a better work life by eliminating the need to be out on the water in dangerous conditions. It also reduces the need for every employee to be a feeding expert and frees workers to focus on other tasks that improve fish welfare.”

Japan has a robust environmental regulatory system for aquaculture and requires permits that specify the size and location of offshore farms. Davison says that with more efficient feeding and data collection, it may also become possible to specify precisely how many farms should be located in a given area, potentially allowing aquaculture to use available space more efficiently.

Meanwhile, other firms are also tapping into the potential of AI. Aquaconnect, a startup in India, is helping shrimp farmers predict disease and enhance water quality with its mobile application FarmMOJO. The tool uses machine-learning technology to provide insights and suggest appropriate steps.

“Smart technology is key to better productivity and disease management. It accelerates rapid detection, real-time reporting and data-driven decision-making,” said Rajamanohar Somasundaram, CEO and co-founder.

AI in aquaculture appears promising, but just how far could it revolutionize the industry? Its importance will depend a lot on the species and farming methods involved. Commodity seafood markets like shrimp and salmon, where global competition sets the price, will require data and AI to stay competitive. Countries with strict environmental guidelines and environmentally conscious consumers could use AI to improve product traceability and marketability. However, for lower-value species that are typically consumed locally, investing in AI may not make financial sense.

Davison believes that amidst growing awareness and technological improvements, AI is likely to be adopted in full.

“As soon as its advantages are better recognized, we could see a mass adoption and that may revolutionize aquaculture,” he said. “But adopting new ideas and technologies takes time. This can be frustrating, but what we may consider slow adoption could just be the regular speed of adoption.”

“AI, real-time sensors and IoT have many advantages. They can identify water quality changes at the initial stage and detect changes in the consumption and growth pattern of animals or help farmers take preventive measures before a disease outbreak,” said Somasundaram. “Aquaculture stakeholders should focus on the innovation of affordable IoT devices and farming equipment to facilitate the continuous monitoring of water quality, animal performance and growth.”

But challenges remain. With data security awareness growing, some farmers want to know how their data are being used and by whom. Explaining the specific steps taken to ensure that data are transmitted and stored securely is in itself a challenge, says Davison, with specifics on encryption, keys and HTTPS protocols lost on the average technology user. This makes it all the more crucial for firms to be good stewards of their customers’ data and maintain trust. Somasundaram agrees that technology often poses a steep learning curve among farmers.

“Fish and shrimp farmers have always worked through word-of-mouth advice from their peers and will need to be guided when adopting technology. Incentives, training and adequate exposure may help,” he said. “Data ownership and security haven’t yet gained much attention among farmers, so the government and stakeholders must engage in conversation and create standards for both. This could be a great challenge in future for multinational firms that want to offer their solutions in multiple geographies, where each country may have its own standards.”

A final dilemma, according to Davison, is what to do with all of the data that you now have.

“It’s easy to be overwhelmed with new sources of data but not have established methods on how to process and use all that information to make better decisions,” he said. “All that data is useless unless companies have a way to use it.”

With time, hard work and clever people, many traditional industries including aquaculture could become fully automated. Making good use of the power of science and technology to improve efficiency and increase yields is likely to produce significant results.

“To increase AI’s adoption, we need to appeal to farmers on a rational and emotional level,” said Davison. “When a farmer realizes they no longer need to work seven days a week thanks to AI, that greatly impacts their lives. On the rational level, when we can clearly demonstrate increased profitability with AI data-driven decision making and automation, we’ll see a big uptick in use.”

Source: Global Aquaculture Alliance

Ocean is the asset of all human kinds in the world. Ocean resources bring enormous functions and benefits to human beings, and are the important assets for the living and development of generations of Taiwanese people.

Taiwan is surrounded by ocean. Being an Ocean Nation, ocean affairs has significant strategic implications. The recent confrontation of USA and China with intensive military exercises in the South China Sea has accelerated geopolitical wrestling to an unprecedented level, which further demonstrates the importance of ocean governance and national maritime rights. In April 2018, Taiwan government established“Ocean Affairs Council”, a ministry level agency; in November 2019, the “Ocean Basic Act” is passed and promulgated; and in June of this year (2020), the new edition of “National Ocean Policy White Paper” is issued and released. These consecutive actions strongly demonstrate the government’s emphasis on ocean policy and affairs, its proactive measures to encourage national people to focus on ocean related issues, and its determination to achieve the sustainable development of ocean.

Mediterranean is also an important geopolitical center in the world, and Israel is an important country in the Mediterranean area. Due to the complementary development of technology and economy, there are increasing interactions among Taiwan, Israel and Mediterranean area in recent years. Now it is the best time to connect resources across the regions through the dialogue of ocean.

Mediterranean and Asia Marine Alliance (abbreviated MAMA) is jointly established by Lian Tat Company (LTC) and Tunghai Industry Smart-Transformation Center (TISC), with deep cooperation from Israel strategic partners. This is the first platform initiated and established by private enterprise and organization in Taiwan to facilitate the cooperation and interaction of industry, government, and academic sectors in Taiwan and abroad. The Alliance is founded responding to government’s call and expectation for private sector to assist in promotion of marine related research and affairs, and to align with global ocean trends.

MAMA is composed of six areas of Ocean Policy, Smart Ocean, Ocean Biology, Ocean Resources, Ocean Industry and Ocean Culture. By chaining resources of each area, the Alliance is aimed to promoting ocean related research, providing policy advice, creating cooperation of industry and academia, fostering international exchange and cooperation, and upgrading Taiwan’s world visibility in participation of ocean affairs.

Time: September 23, 2020 (Wed) 2:00 pm
Place: B1 East Gate, Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel
Address: 201 Tun Hwa S. Road, Sec. 2, Taipei

According to the Utrecht Master’s student Björn Kok, his new calculation method shows that 1 kilo of wild fish can yield up to 3 or 4 kilos of farmed fish.

Written by: Arnoud Cornelissen / InnovationOrigins.com

Fish farms were once considered to be one of the solutions for sustainably feeding the world. Until research showed that there was much more feed required in producing this fish than the amount of fish coming out of it. Yet according to the Utrecht Master’s student Björn Kok this has proven not to be the case. It is exactly the other way around he asserts. He calculated with his new measuring method that only 1 kilo of fish goes into production and 3 to 4 kilos of fish come out.

Farmed fish feed includes fishmeal as a source of protein and fish oil as a source of omega 3 fatty acids. Fish meal and fish oil are made from wild fish that are caught, often anchovies. How many kilos of wild fish are needed to produce one kilo of farmed fish is calculated using the so-called FIFO ratio: Fish In – Fish Out. Several methods are used to calculate the FIFO ratio. These methods often result in inaccurate and inconsistent ratios, according to a press release issued by Utrecht University. For example, the university refers to a broadcast of the Dutch TV show De Keuringsdienst van Waarde (a consumer watchdog program that focuses on food quality), in which it was stated that 4 kilos of wild fish are needed to breed 1 kilo of fish.

By-products count as free raw material

Kok’s new method, eFIFO, takes into account the shortcomings of other methods. “In such a way as to do justice to the socioeconomic motives behind catching fish for the production of fish meal and fish oil,” he states. ” It is a consistent and accurate way to calculate exactly how much wild fish you actually need to feed your farmed fish. “

In addition, eFIFO takes into account the use of by-products: fish heads, bones, fins. “Everything except the fillets. Approximately 30% of fish meal and fish oil is produced from by-products. Other methods see this as ‘free raw material’, and underestimate the FIFO ratio. Sustainability labels and certificates still use the old methods for their certification. “They also set their standards based on old FIFO methods, but if the underlying calculation is inaccurate, it is difficult to set the targets correctly.”.

Plant-based fish food

Plant-based sources of protein have also been used since 2000, partly due to the high price of fish meal. The price of fish meal and fish oil tripled between the 1990s and 2015. Soy, on the other hand, went from US$200 to 400 per metric tons in the same period. “A lot of progress has been made in recent years by switching from animal products to plant-based sources,” says Cook. But a good source of omega 3 as an alternative to fish oil is not yet widely available. When plant-based oil is used, the nutritional value of the farmed fish deteriorates.

The FIFO ratio for salmon, for example, has also gone down considerably since 1995. “With that lower FIFO ration due to plant-based feed and my more accurate method, you actually get a salmon FIFO ratio of less than 1:1. That’s a lot lower than the 4:1 ratio that’s so widely reported now.”

Salmon and tilapia most sustainable fish to eat

Salmon is not the only species of fish that Kok has studied. “If you look purely at kilos, carp and tilapia are the most sustainable fish to eat. Pangasius is also doing well. But all three of these fish have a completely different – as in lower – nutritional value than salmon.”

“One of the older methods,” Kok continues, “calculates fish meal and fish oil separately. For example, farmed salmon need a relatively large amount of fish oil compared to fish meal. In order to meet the demand for fish oil, more wild fish must be caught. But the fish meal that is produced at the same time as the fish oil is ignored in these calculations.

‘It looks like you need a lot more fish than is actually the case’

On the other hand, farmed carp do not need any fish oil at all. Then it’s a reverse situation all over again. When calculating the FIFO ratio of carp, fish oil is instead eliminated. “If you look at several species and applications of fish meal and fish oil all simultaneously, you actually count the required amount of wild fish twice in that calculation. Then it looks like you need a lot more fish than is actually the case”.

Another method, developed by Andrew Jackson in 2009, does not take into account the difference in yields between fish oil and fish meal from wild fish. “From 100 kilos of anchovies, you get about 5 kilos of fish oil and 22.5 kilos of fishmeal,” Kok points out.

‘Economic value shall not be taken into account’

“Jackson combines the use of fishmeal and fish oil and adds up the yields from wild fish, whereby the fish used is distributed evenly over the fishmeal and fish oil. However, this does not take into account the differences in yield and economic value between the fish meal and fish oil. Fish oil supplies are often the limiting factor in fish farming. Jackson’s approach glosses over the effect of the growing demand for fish oil. As a result, increasing pressure on the fishing industry to produce fish for fish oil is being presented inaccurately.”

Kok did this research as part of his thesis for his Master Sustainable Development – Energy and Materials at the Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development at the Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University. He worked closely with researchers and experts from the University of Stirling (Scotland), University of Massachusetts Boston (USA), Kafrelsheikh University (Egypt), The University of Edinburgh (Scotland), IFFO, and Harper Adams University (England). During his PhD at the University of Stirling, Kok will continue his research into the environmental effects of fish farming and alternatives to fish feed.

The research was published here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0044848620309741?via%3Dihub

Source:https://aquaculturemag.com/2020/08/15/farmed-salmon-and-tilapia-are-much-more-sustainable-than-previously-thought/