Technology and cleaner fish projects win £1.1m in funding
Two innovation projects that will look at technology-led environmental monitoring in aquaculture and another that will focus on cleaner fish in salmon farming have won a total of more than £350,000 funding from Scotland’s Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC).
The projects have together attracted total funding of £1.1 million, with the additional funding coming from businesses operating in Scottish aquaculture.
Use of artificial intelligence (AI), 3D modelling, and image-collecting remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) will be included in the monitoring projects. The other project will look at the role of cleaner fish as an effective, sustainable treatment for sea lice.
Leading researchers
In a press release, SAIC said the three projects are expected to commence this summer and will combine expertise from some of the sector’s best-known businesses and leading academic researchers from Scottish universities.
The proposals were assessed by SAIC’s Independent Scientific Panel (SISP) against key priority areas for the aquaculture sector, including continued improvement in fish biology and regeneration and environmental practices.
More details of each project will be announced later.
‘Transformative’ tech
SAIC chief executive Heather Jones said: “In recent years technology adoption across the sector has increased rapidly, but there is still a huge opportunity to use more data-led, intelligent systems to inform better decision making. Greater use of AI, imaging and ROVs for applications such as monitoring and mapping of the seabed could be transformative for reducing the sector’s environmental impact and supporting future regulation requirements.
“Driving improved sustainability, fish health and wellbeing is another area crucial to the growth and development of aquaculture. Through collaborative research in the sector’s core priority areas, we can unlock additional capacity for sustainable seafood production, with Scotland at the forefront of significant developments across the whole supply chain.”
The latest funding awards build on Stirling-based SAIC’s work to date, covering more than 60 collaborative projects with a combined value of £52.7m.
Overall, for every £1 of SAIC funding granted to research projects between its inception in 2014 and February 2021, a further £4.67 was leveraged from businesses in the aquaculture sector and other funding sources.
