Researchers at the Conservation Fund Freshwater Institute have developed MortCam, an Internet of Things (IoT) based artificial intelligence tool to monitor fish mortality in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).
Mortality, as the authors of this tool point out, is an important indicator for establishing the health and welfare of farmed fish. Being able to monitor in real time can provide valuable information for quick and informed decision making by farm managers.
The MortCam consists of an image sensor integrated with an edge computing device, which is optimized for underwater applications.
Unlike traditional observation of these events, artificial intelligence allows 24-hour monitoring and generates alerts when acceptable mortality thresholds are crossed.
The results of the study have been published in Aquacultura Engineering and had specific objectives to develop a semi-commercial scale monitoring system. Furthermore, train, optimize and validate the model on the central drainage of the system; and develop and implement an email and text message alert system.
As the authors point out, for the effectiveness of this system, the conditions of ambient light and supplementary artificial light must be taken into account, and that the data obtained in the two scenarios intersect.
According to the findings of the study, the model trained with data sets of images with both types of lighting was more robust to changes in lighting conditions.
In the future, such smart devices will help RAS farm managers to effectively manage systems and maintain the health and welfare of fish.
