With the total annual aquaculture production contributing to 45% of the world's aquatic product consumption, the importance of aquaculture on the global food market cannot be overstated. As with any food resource, sustainability and animal welfare is a top priority. Keeping infrastructure and equipment in proper operational conditions and ensuring compliance with hygiene and health standards can have critical challenges.
The use of submersible remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) is changing how fisheries are monitoring and maintaining their farms. With an ROV, operators can get eyes underwater quickly to easily inspect and monitor both the farm and the stock.
There are numerous ways in which an ROV can work to monitor the health and welfare of fish on farms. Net health is absolutely imperative to the overall health of farms and stock. With an ROV users can quickly and accurately inspect nets without needing to schedule costly divers. With consistent inspection operators can ensure that their pens are structurally sound and catch minor issues early.
Observing fish behaviour is important as farmers can spot unusual behaviour quickly. By catching odd behavioural patterns early, operators can nip issues in the bud quickly to minimize negative effects.Feeding processes can also be observed and assessed using an ROV. Monitoring feeding processes allows operators to confirm that their processes are as effective as they can possibly be.Retrieving morts quickly allows operators to get effective insight as to how and why fish are being lost and at what life stage. Sampling tools allow users to retrieve water and sediment samplers to ensure quality parameters are being met.
In short, the use of ROVs provides operators with an efficient, safe and effective way to ensure stock health and wellness.