Innovasea adds dissolved oxygen prediction to fish farm monitoring package

Aquaculture supplier Innovasea has announced a partnership with French water quality prediction specialist BiOceanOr to add oxygen forecasting to its environmental monitoring solution.

The system uses a combination of regional weather models, physical and biogeochemical oceanographic models and advanced artificial intelligence (AI)-powered algorithms that ingest real-time data from Innovasea’s environmental sensors and open data. This allows for in-pen predictions of dissolved oxygen (DO) levels and can warn farmers of low DO events up to 48 hours before they occur.

Inovasea, based in Boston in the United States, said that users can easily access the forecasts and set customisable thresholds in an interactive chart located in the Environmental Monitoring Dashboard in Realfish Pro, a cloud-based precision aquaculture platform that enables fish farmers to monitor, manage, and control key aspects of their farms.

Low DO levels can be fatal. Furthermore, prolonged periods of low oxygen will stress fish populations, leading to reduced appetites, slower growth, and a negative impact on overall health and welfare.

Proactive approach

“Being able to predict low dissolved oxygen events empowers farmers to determine when to feed with confidence and helps them mitigate against environmental threats before they happen,” said Innovasea vice present Tim Stone in a press release.

“Through this partnership with BiOceanOr, our users will be able to plan feedings better, address changing water conditions, and take a more proactive approach to improve fish health and growth.”

The prediction algorithm, trained on more than 200 million data points to date, was developed by BiOceanOr in collaboration with several international research agencies. The data set allows for more accurate predictions and will continue to improve over time as additional information is collected worldwide.

“Our predictions model is a result of our unique combined expertise in AI-powered analytics, marine biology, fish health and oceanography,” said Gaëtan Fabritius, chief business officer at Nice-headquartered BiOceanOr.

“By integrating predictive services on top of Innovasea’s real-time sensors and operation-driven Realfish Pro platform, we can provide farmers with a more complete and actionable service to improve operations and drive sustainable practices.”

Realfish Pro is currently active on more than 700 sites in 25 countries.