Forecasting software is a tool that is now being considered to improve efficiency and sustainability within fish farming. While this industry has often been associated with more traditional practices, this could be the solution that helps modernize aquaculture management and change the face of marine farming. With the increasing value of data in the industry, predictive analytics can work to reduce the chance of disease or toxic algae bloom in the future.
Companies work to create forecasts for fish farms by researching the likelihood of a specific disease occurring in the future. We all know how illnesses such as Pancreas Disease can impact salmon growth, so by predicting the probability of this disease, fish farmers can minimize the risk factors associated with this illness. Algorithms can then be used to assess the relationship and chance of this occurring in the future. Therefore, fish farmers are equipped with the knowledge they need to manage their daily farm activities to prevent illness and disease. This technology allows fish farmers to make more educated decisions and maintain fish welfare to the best of their ability.
Improving Aquaculture Management and Fish Welfare with Digitalisation
How Else Could Going Digital Benefit Fish Farmers? | Increased Product Transparency for Consumers
Benefits of Increased Digitalisation for Sustainability in Fish Farming
Improving Aquaculture Management and Fish Welfare with Digitalisation
When we discuss fish welfare, it generally comes under three categories. As far as assessing fish welfare, the presence of diseases, the environment, and the fish itself need to be considered. Fish become sick or die when the conditions of any of these areas go beyond the ideal level, such as when the water temperature is too high or too many bacteria are present. When fish farmers better understand these factors and how they can impact their fish, it helps them take preventative measures to keep their fish healthy. This is a much better way to work than leaving it until they find their fish in a vulnerable position.
Most fish farmers already perform some form of analysis in this area in their heads, thanks to the many years of experience they might have in the industry. However, our minds can only make certain calculations, and there are limits to the success of human estimations. Therefore, computers and data science can be combined with human knowledge to offer fish the best possible living situation.
How Else Could Going Digital Benefit Fish Farmers?
As well as working to maintain fish welfare, going digital offers many other benefits to fish farms. When it comes to making high-stakes decisions, data offers fish farmers more certainty. Digital solutions can also be used to speed up daily or regular tasks, such as reporting, assessing fish health, and production planning. This will make any fish farm run much more smoothly and efficiently, with potential reductions to the operating costs. Within large teams, it can also help to improve communication. It also allows everyone in the industry to benefit from the experience of everyone who’s been working in the industry for the past decades.
Increased Product Transparency for Consumers
As well as offering a wide range of benefits to fish farms, with more data, we can expect consumers to benefit from this as well. They’ll be able to learn where the product they are consuming comes from and anything that’s happened to it in the past. As well as that, blockchain will help to minimize change or corruption within data and offer more transparency to individuals looking to make conscious choices when it comes to purchasing and consuming fish.
When it comes to the concerns about digital solutions taking jobs away from people in the industry, this doesn’t seem to be too much of a concern currently. Most fish farmers are considering how AI will benefit them in the future and how they will be able to use it to improve their ways of working. Farming is always going to need farmers, and many things could never be replaced with technology in this industry. A computer can never replace the farmer’s intuition and touch, so this is a reassuring thing to keep in mind for fish farmers who are concerned about their future.
Benefits of Increased Digitalisation for Sustainability in Fish Farming
There are many ways in which digitalisation can help to improve sustainability. By keeping these in mind when considering digital options, you’ll find that it can offer many benefits to how fish farms operate in the future.
Increased Transparency
A lot of the concerns surrounding sustainability are in regards to the wrong information being shared. By offering consumers more information about the food they are consuming, they’ll be able to make more conscious decisions when it comes to the fish they are purchasing and eating in the future. Digitalisation helps to share facts with individuals both inside and outside of the industry.
Improved Efficiency
With more data, fish farmers can work to become more efficient. They can identify the good and bad areas of their operations, and then work to overcome these issues before it impacts their production processes further.
Stop Fish From Getting Sick
By predicting health issues in advance, farmers can reduce the damage to their fish. With informed management, this can help to make operations more profitable for fish farmers in the future.
More Sustainable Practices Can Be Implemented
With more data about how fish farming impacts the environment, fish farmers can work to implement more sustainable practices in the future. There are so many reasons why fish farmers are looking to consider adding digital solutions into their daily practices, and as you can see, they offer many benefits to people both inside and outside of the industry. With more data available to both fish farmers and consumers, we can work together to make more sustainable and conscious choices in the future. The great news is that technology is unlikely to replace the role of fish farmers in the future, and instead, will only work to improve their production processes and efficiency. We expect technology usage in the industry only to continue to increase in the upcoming years, and we are excited to see the positive changes it will offer to the fish farming industry.
