Integrating image characterization of fish behaviour with water quality monitoring to support of fish health

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Aquaculture has grown into an $800M/yr industry in Canada. The majority of fish farms are found in the coastal regions where sea cages can reduce operational costs; yet, the environmental footprint can be high with issues related to sea lice prevalence, nutrient concentration, and escapees influencing genetic integrity of natural stocks. Myera Group is developing inland, recirculating aquaculture systems to ultimately realize a full-scale recirculating Arctic Char aquaculture business in Manitoba that has a minimal environmental footprint and can be operated in remote regions. Arctic Char is a key traditional subsistence species and an important source of income to the Inuit of Canada. Arctic Char raised in closed-tank recirculating systems have minimal impact on local environments. It has received significant attention as a potential species for Canadian commercial aquaculture. In any aquaculture system, fish are vulnerable to risks including improper gas, waste, nutrient, or pH balances in the water, temperatures that are too warm/too cold, or diseases. Because of the high stocking densities used in indoor aquaculture, problems can quickly escalate threaten significant numbers of fish. Thus, Myera wants to pursue a system for fish behaviour monitoring. The Fish Monitoring project will design and develop a prototype hardware & software system that integrates water quality monitoring of five parameters (pH, oxygen reduction potential, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and temperature) with fish condition monitoring of three parameters (fish count, swim velocity, and orientation (belly up/belly down)). The system will integrate and report data in near-real time. Algorithms will be developed to correlate fish behaviours to water quality to better understand fish response to various environmental conditions and fish health, and to mitigate risk of fish loss through early detection. Myera's goal is to realise a full scale recirculating aquaculture business in Manitoba with tanks supporting better fish outcomes than existing systems and with minimal environmental footprint. This will enhance economic development and provide an important self-sustainable source of food for remote northern communities.