AQUAFARMCONTROL

Capsule-based system to enable Precision Livestock Farming and eliminate escapees in marine aquaculture

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The consortium of SMEs in the AQUAFARMCONTROL project will pursue a large innovation and market opportunity through the development and demonstration of an innovative system to enable Precision Livestock Farming in marine aquaculture and to effectively eliminate the mounting and critical problem of escapes from fish pens. The system will be based on a multi-purpose capsule implanted in fish, in combination of both SONAR transmitter and GSM surveillance technologies.

In order to achieve the project objectives, the SMEs that integrate the consortium will collaborate with renowned RTD performers to overcome several scientific and technical barriers. The project targets radical innovation related to sonar technology and real-time surveillance of screening of marine fish pens; micro-electronics and ID capsules – as well as integration and development of appropriate control strategies and systems. The developed and demonstrated system carries a host of benefits and unique selling points to the end-users in the marine aquaculture industry – notably mitigation of severe environmental problems related to escapes as well as large costs and efficiency advantages. The benefits will ensure the competitiveness and viability of European aquaculture – and at the same time allow the SME consortium to exploit a very large, global large market opportunity.

The SME consortium has the capabilities to produce and market the system, but lacks the financial resources as well as the expertise in micro-electronics, materials and IT to enable the required technological development. Therefore, the group has identified the Research for SMEs programme as the suitable vehicle for overcoming the technological and financial barriers of the project.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

The escape of non-native farmed fish to the natural environment is a significant obstacle to the expansion of Europe's aquaculture industry. An EU-funded project is developing new technology that will eliminate this problem by immobilising fish once they are outside the pen.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Escaping fish not only hurt farm profits, they can also spread disease and alter the gene pool of wild fish stocks, presenting a significant barrier to the growth of the aquaculture industry. However, a solution is offered by the AQUAFARMCONTROL project, which is based on a capsule implanted in the fish and surveillance technology.

Project partners are developing a capsule device that can be implanted in the farmed fish and assigned a unique ID. By utilising the same type of equipment used during the automated vaccination procedure, the new technology can be integrated into the production chain.

The capsule's ID enables the farmer to track the individual fish during its life cycle and keep a detailed inventory of the age and distribution of the stock population. This information is vital for improving assessment of feed dosages.

A communication system was successfully tested, which enables an operator to remotely control the capsule through an external control unit. The capsule can then be recovered during the culling of the fish. The control unit system can be linked to an alert system and utilises a wireless Internet protocol, enabling fish farms to respond quickly to any breaches of the fish pen. Implementation of AQUAFARMCONTROL will apply state-of-the-art microcapsule techniques and microelectronics to new areas of the aquaculture industry. This will significantly increase the sector's competitiveness by overcoming problems associated with pollution, ecological effects, disease and feed production.