The project
Traditionally fish in pens are handled as a homogenous group, not individual fish. For example, when treating for sea lice the entire pen is treated. Similarly, the whole pen is emptied when it is time to harvest, even though some fish are well below the ideal size or have ailments which make them unsuitable for human consumption.
BioSort iFarm is a system in development for better utilization of resources in salmon farming. Through disease control, lice count and accurate biomass measurements on an individual level. This is achieved by regularly 3D-scanning every fish in the pen. Machine vision is used to recognize the fish and a health journal is created for each one, which can be monitored over time. Automatic sorting of sick and harvest ready fish will be part of the system.
Naturally, salmon regularly need to come up for air to fill their swimming bladder. Their journey to the surface brings them into range of the iFarm system which is an opportunity to log and sort out the fish. Using nature as a driver removes the need for many of the traditional operations which is stressful for the fish.
