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In an attempt to identify some of the global aquaculture industry’s biggest challenges, Fish Farming International wrote an article that focused on some of the comments made at the Aquaculture Investment Workshop put on by the US Soybean Export Council (USSEC). The workshop provided an opportunity for major fish farming players, mostly in the Latin American industries, to speak about some of the major challenges that they have faced working in the industry.
The challenges that were addressed pertained to feed, funding, technology and talent. Daniel Benetti from the University of Miami moderated the panel and summed up all of the major obstacles into one all-encompassing challenge: the size of the industry.
“Here if you put all of us together, you see how insignificant we are [compared to the aquaculture industry in other nations],” he said. “That is the biggest challenge.”
Read more: Complete list of each panelists’ most pressing obstacles.
At Deep Trekker, we do our part to help improve aquaculture operations around the world. While obstacles pertaining to feed are less in our area of expertise, we do offer a great technology that is used to improve knowledge and maintain infrastructural integrity on the farms.
In many of the panelists’ comments, infrastructure, training/education, and technology were major challenges that they identified the need to overcome.
That is where we come in.
By using mini-ROVs like our DTG2 models, farmers can send the unit down in order to train and educate their employees on the activity taking place below the surface of the water. Around 90% of open net fish farming takes place below the waves and training farm staff is not a new obstacle within the farming industry. Marine Harvest's Campbell River chapter, have identified the ability to teach new farm employees about under water activity as one of the main assets they acquired when they purchased a Deep Trekker ROV.
Related: How Marine Harvest Uses their Deep Trekker ROV.
Challenges pertaining to the available technologies were also mentioned multiple times. It’s pretty clear how we can help here. Deep Trekker ROVs have been made to meet the inspection needs of farm managers around the globe. Not only have DTG2 ROVs proven themselves as handy tools to be used for inspections and training, but through mindful listening, our team of engineers have developed additional tools and add-ons for the submersibles such as the Mort Retrieval System. The mort pusher can be added to any of the DTG2 units and is used to both push the morts into lift-up systems and actually carry a mort up to the surface so that diagnostic testing can be performed.
Learn more: See how the Mort Retrieval System works.
Lastly, outdated infrastructure is another obstacle that was farmers have identified. While deeper infrastructural issues should be addressed to improve the quality and integrity of the farm, Deep Trekker ROVs have been used time and time again to monitor a farm's structural integrity. Farmers are using the ROVs to do daily inspections, check the nets, pens, mooring lines, anchor lines, etc. Regardless of the state your underwater infrastructure, you will never know what needs to be fixed immediately and what needs to be added to the list of long term improvement plans without eyes underwater. Using the DTG2 ROV can help farm managers develop a plan to improve their infrastructure by giving them easily deployable eyes under the water. From there they can evaluate and monitor what needs to be done and when.
Watch Video: Deep Trekker ROV is used to retrieve sunken infrastructure.
While mini-ROVs do not offer solutions to every single challenge that can arise in the aquaculture industry, they do offer the means to improve operations and go about renovations in a more timely and effective way. Regardless of the type of project a farm takes on, whether it be infrastructure renovations, smolt deliveries, checking nets, developing infrastructural plans and more, having a set of eyes below the surface of the water is always advantageous.
Want to know more about how ROVs can help your fish farm operations? Contact Us Today
