Researchers at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) have developed a fish breeding system that increases production 10-fold while requiring 60 percent fewer workers than traditional methods, offering a crucial tool to help solve labor shortages in the aquaculture industry.
A recipient of this year’s Future Tech Award from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the system is the result of more than three years of research led by NCKU Department of Biotechnology and Bioindustry Sciences director Chen Tzong-yueh (陳宗嶽).
Twenty researchers were involved in developing the nation’s first fully automated fish breeding system, as it involved expertise across fields including biotechnology, mariculture, automation and telecommunications.
Photo courtesy of National Cheng Kung University
Its automation is what sets the system apart, with the ability to detect fry size and distribute the proper amount of algae and other food, the university said.
The system can automatically raise fry from the time they are a mere speck in the water to when they are a few centimeters long, it said.
The system has also proven to be more than 10 times as effective at rearing fry, with a success rate of 3 to 5 percent, compared with only 0.3 percent using traditional methods, it said.
Each traditional aquaculture farm requires three or four people to run it, but this intelligent system reduces the number, Chen said.
Now, one person can run three or four farms using a smartphone, he said, adding that this could help ease labor shortages common in the industry.
The system also moves breeding tanks inside, allowing operators to work in a more comfortable environment, he said.
Additionally, new personnel do not require a wealth of knowledge, as the system remembers what to do, opening up the industry to young newcomers and helping address the issues of the industry’s aging workforce, Chen said.
One company has already signed on to upgrade its system, with another three in talks, NCKU said.
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