PASSIVE BIOMASS ESTIMATION IN FISH FARMS
DEVELOP A SYSTEM TO MONITOR THE BIOMASS AND CONTROL THE
OPERATIONS IN FISH FARMS (FEEDING, GRADING, HARVESTING, ETC)
TO INCREASE PROFITABILITY AND MINIMIZE THE ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT OF FISH FARMING INDUSTRY
Status > FINISHED - 17-Apr-1994
Technological Area
Market Area
Start Date > 31-Aug-1990
End date > 31-Mar-1994 Duration > 43 Months
Actual cost > 0.25 M€ Participating countries > UNITED KINGDOM, ICELAND | Main contact VAKI-AQUACULTURE SYSTEMS LIMITED
FAXAFEN, 10
108 -REYKJAVIK > ICELAND
Tel. +354 1 68 08 55
Fax. +354 1 68 69 30 DR. HERMANN KRISTJANSSON > GENERAL MANAGER
Organisation type > SME |
Project Description
The main objective of the project is to develope a system
to monitor and control fish farming operations.
The project is divided into four main phases:
Phase 1: Biomass analysis while counting the fish.
This system is based on a soft wear program used together
with VAKI's Bioscanner counter.
The objective of this system is to estimate the size of
the fish as they are being counted with the Bioscanner.
This gives the fish farmer an accurate count and 96%
accuracy of the biomass of the fish in each pen. This
phase is finished successfully and is not considered a part
of this project proposal.
Phase 2: Passive Biomass estimation of netpens.
The main objective of this phase is to develop a measuring
system that gives an accurate estimation of the size and
size distribution of the fish.
With the Biomass Measuring System (BMS), fish farmers
will be able to monitor the growth of the fish at regular
intervals and therefore give food and medicine according to
information on size, size distribution and total biomass.
This also gives vital information regarding the need for
grading and when to harvest the fish.
Phase 3: Adaptation to current methods.
The main objective of this phase is to develop the system
for use in current underwater grading operations.
The system will be used together with current
submerged mechanical graders to monitor all fish passing
through. This yields vital information on the size and
number of fish passing through and also a reference value
for the fish farmer to use in passive BMS.
Phase 4: Underwater grading.
The main objective of phase 4 is to develop an integrated
underwater grader and BMS. This system can be used to
monitor and grade all the fish in the pen on regular
intervals, thus giving vital information about the process
as well as means to control the process accordingly.
Phase 5: Monitoring and control system.
The main objective of Phase 5 is to develop an intergrated
information system and control process based on the BMS.
This system will gather information from the BMS, process
the information and control the operations accordingly.
Control information from the system will be: feed quantity,
grading periods, optimal harvesting time, quantity of
medical dosages, etc... The work in phase 5 will be carried
out parallel with the other phases. During the initial
phases of the project the output of phase 5 will be used
for monitoring the operations in fish farms.
Phase 6: (Provisional) A biomass measurement system for
rivers and streams.
The objective is to monitor returns of fish in rivers and
streams. Information on the feasibility of this
provissional phase is expected to be acquired during Phase
2. not discussed further in this application.
Technological Development Envisaged
There are a number of technical developments envisaged in
the development of this project:
*Development of a technology to measure physical properties
of live fish underwater, with an optoelectronic sensor.
(phase 2)
*Behaviour of the fish in a netpen. (phase 2 and 3)
*Development of a method to process information (images)
from the sensor to estimate and monitor the total biomass
in a netpen. (phase 4)
*Development of a control process for fishfarms (feeding,
grading, harvesting, etc) that uses primarily
information from the above as input. (phase 5)
Main contact VAKI-AQUACULTURE SYSTEMS LIMITED
FAXAFEN, 10
108 -REYKJAVIK > ICELAND
Tel. +354 1 68 08 55 > Fax. +354 1 68 69 30 DR. HERMANN KRISTJANSSON > GENERAL MANAGER
Organisation type > SME
|
Contribution to project
Development work, materials costs (estimated at 43,500 ECU)
Contribution of finances in Phases 3-5 will be decided
during the implementation of each phase.
Expertise
Company with know-how in science, engineering and fish
farming has developed and is manufacturing 'Bioscanner', a
fish counter for live fish in fish farms.
VAKI introduced the first, widely accepted fish counter and
is now a world market leader with over 250 Bioscanner
systems in use when the total number of counters in use
worldwide is approximately 300.
VAKI has also been developing a device and method to
estimate biomass in netpens.
Development, production and marketing of high technology
equipment for acquaculture. World market leader in live
fish counters.
Main contact MARINE HARVEST LIMITED
(NOT AVAILABLE),
PH38 4LZ -LOCHAILORT > UNITED KINGDOM
Tel. +44 1313 361 777 > Fax. +44 1313 365 534 (CONTACT NOT AVAILABLE) >
Organisation type > Large company
|
Contribution to project
Financial contribution to Phase 2: 30,000 pounds sterling.
Work in combination with experiments and trials.
Expertise
Leading salmon farming company in the world which is
putting efforts into R & D to improve the profitability of
its fish farming.
Information on the estimated biomass in the Company's
netpens would improve the profitability of the operations
and minimize the impact of the operations on the
environment.
One of the largest aquaculture companies in the world,
providing a considerable share of the total salmon
production in SCOTLAND.
ICELAND