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

在加拿大，水产养殖业已经发展成为一个每年8亿美元的产业。大多数养鱼场都位于沿海地区，在那里，海笼可以降低运营成本;然而，环境足迹可能很高，与海虱流行，营养浓度和逃逸有关的问题影响了自然种群的遗传完整性。Myera集团正在开发内陆循环水产养殖系统，最终在马尼托巴实现全面的循环北极焦水产养殖业务，该业务具有最小的环境足迹，可以在偏远地区运营。北极红点鲑是一种重要的传统生计物种，也是加拿大因纽特人的重要收入来源。封闭罐循环系统中的北极炭对当地环境的影响最小。作为加拿大商业水产养殖的潜在物种，它受到了极大的关注。在任何水产养殖系统中，鱼类都容易受到风险的影响，包括水中不适当的气体，废物，营养或pH值平衡，温度过高/过低或疾病。由于室内水产养殖使用的放养密度高，问题可能迅速升级，威胁到大量鱼类。因此，Myera希望建立一个鱼类行为监测系统。鱼类监测项目将设计和开发一个原型硬件和软件系统，将五个参数（pH值，氧还原电位，溶解氧，电导率和温度）的水质监测与三个参数（鱼数，游泳速度和方向（腹部向上/腹部向下））的鱼况监测相结合。该系统将几乎实时地整合和报告数据。将开发将鱼类行为与水质相关联的算法，以更好地了解鱼类对各种环境条件和鱼类健康的反应，并通过早期检测减轻鱼类损失的风险。Myera的目标是在马尼托巴实现全面的循环水产养殖业务，其水箱比现有系统支持更好的鱼类产量，并具有最小的环境足迹。这将促进经济发展，并为偏远的北方社区提供重要的自我维持食物来源。

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.