March 16, 2020

Aquaculture-raised salmon favour monitoring by small robot

A team of researchers found that salmon raised in aquaculture facilities would rather be monitored by a small robot compared to a human or large robot, reported Phys.org.

The study, led by Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Tallinn University of Technology and Estonia University of Life Sciences researchers, was conducted in Norway using sea cages filled with 188,000 captive salmon.

The research compared which monitoring method would be less stressful for salmon – a human, the Argus Mini undersea robot and a U-CAT, a small robot powered by fins. The research discovered that the fish was least stressed by the U-CAT, followed by the Argus Mini. With salmon, they will stay away from the human monitor (deemed as an intruder) and flap their tails.

Prior research has shown that aquaculture-raised fish are stressed when monitored by a human swimming in their cages. Happy fish are usually healthier and result in better yields. 

-      Phys.Org