MMC First Process signs contract with Nova Sea; AZTI develops AI to identify fish schools

SeafoodSource is closely following seafood processing and equipment innovation by compiling a regular round-up of updates from the sector.

– Fosnavåg, Norway-based seafood-processing, -handling, and -cooling equipment provider MMC First Process has signed a deal with Nova Sea on a land-based holding pen solution for fish.

MMC First Process will design and deliver a holding tank system to allow Nova Sea to hold its fish on land rather than in the sea, allowing Nova Sea to keep its salmon in optimal water quality, temperature, and oxygen conditions.

“Our systems make stress-free unloading of the tanks possible and that is the key to achieving the high quality that our customers demand,” MMC First Process CSO Handling Frank Edvard Vike said. “We have been working with Nova Sea for some time on a tailor-made system, which is based on their requirements and environmental considerations. This type of collaboration also contributes to our own further development as a supplier of such systems.”

The project consists of six holding tanks, which will each have a capacity of 2,600 cubic meters of water. MMC First Process said the system will have a total biomass capacity of 2,050 metric tons of salmon.

“From our point of view, this is a big investment in new technology and with MMC First Process’s experience of similar solutions we are in safe hands,” Nova Sea Project Manager Espen Gleinsvåg said.

– AZTI, a science and technology center, has developed a new AI model that it said will identify fish schools to a high degree of accuracy.

AZTI said its team has built an automatic classification model that can identify the main pelagic species in the Bay of Biscay – such as anchovies, sardines, and Atlantic mackerel – based on their schooling behavior. Using acoustic echosounders and an AI model, the technology can identify the different species, which it said will help fishers target the correct species at sea and also enhance surveys performed by scientists.

“Automating species identification not only reduces data processing times for scientific surveys but also provides new opportunities to study the schooling behaviour and develop new technologies for increasing the efficiency and sustainability of the fishing industry,” Aitor Lekanda, a marine scientist doing his doctorate with AZTI.

– Garware Technical Fibers said its passive sea lice prevention solution has been adopted by eight salmon production centers in Chile.

Garware developed a “skirt” surrounding fish pens that allows water to enter but prevents sea lice from penetrating the barrier. Companies have been trialling the technology, and according to Garware, its technology is seeing wider adoption in Chile.

“In Chile there are two centers operating with our Skirt in Cermaq, five in Mowi and one in Salmones Austral, backed by the positive results obtained nationally and internationally, such as in Cermaq Canada, for example, where they have centers equipped with this technology,” Garware Technical Fibres Americas Manager Gopakumar Menon said.

Their operational results will be available within six months to a year, which Garware said will help it verify how effective its skirts are in reducing sea lice and helping companies avoid other costlier solutions. 

“The use of skirts is a non-pharmacological tool, part of an integrated health strategy to reduce sea lice infestations, reducing the need for chemical treatments, which is a contribution that potentially delays the generation of resistance, by helping to reduce its frequency,” Garware Techical Fibers Chile Business Associate Marcos Jofré said. 

According to Jofré, the Garware skirt has roughly the same cost as a single bath treatment, but lasts for two full growing cycles. 

– Food Animal Initiative (FAI), an aquaculture welfare research and development company, has partnered with HydroNeo to integrate the two company’s shrimp welfare technologies.

Bangkok, Tailand-based HydroNeo has created a digital farm management application for mobile phones that can be used to monitor water quality on shrimp farms in real-time. Its Internet of Things-backed system also provides its shrimp-farming clients with access to third-party products with the goal of increasing their productivity and profitability. 

FAI, meanwhile, has created a shrimp welfare assessment framework, which it said can help improve the performance of shrimp farms.

“HydroNeo’s mobile farm management application was developed to help shrimp farmers, especially small-scale operators in Asia, to monitor important production factors such as water quality more easily,” HyrdoNeo Founder and CEO Fabian Reusch said. “Adding FAI’s shrimp welfare technology to our existing free Smart Farm management app was a logical next step. By improving shrimp welfare on farms, we’re not only helping farmers grow happier animals, but they’ll be healthier and perform better too. As well as meeting the evolving expectations of consumers regarding welfare practices when rearing shrimp, we’re also improving overall farm performance.”

– New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Red’s Best is expanding its presence in New Bedford.

SouthCoastTODAY reported the company acquired a seafood processing plant on 11 Hassey Street in New Bedford for USD 2.5 million (EUR 2.2 million) and has since been refitting the facility with USD 300,000 (EUR 268,000) in renovations.

The move will add to its existing processing capacity. Red’s Best was founded in 2008, and has since expanded to four different processing facilities which process, pack, and ship products nationwide.

–  Aquabyte has launched a new biomass measurement and welfare scoring technology for smolt production. 

According to the Laksevåg, Norway-headquartered company, its new camera-based system can measure and score the welfare of smolt as small as 50 grams. The cameras accumulate images and use machine learning and newly developed algorithms to analyze each smolt. 

Monitoring smolt presented a new challenge for the company, according to Aquabyte Senior Data Scientist Mochi Liu.

“Monitoring smolt is different from monitoring fish in pens. The fish are smaller, the fish density in the tank is higher, and the behaviour of the fish is different,” Liu said. “The algorithms used for weight measurement and welfare scoring must be specifically developed for these conditions.”

According to Liu, Aquabyte’s system has a self-cleaning technology to minimize maintenance, and has been adapted to use in smolt facilities to enable farmers to analyze smolt health without needing to handle the fish.

“It’s fantastic that customers can now monitor fish from the start of the smolt phase. For farmers, it’s important to know the size and quality of the fish they receive so they can make the right decisions at the pen from day one, Aquabyte Insight Manager Kristin Aase said.