Feeding requires precision

Feeding is one of the most important tasks in fish farming – and also one of the most difficult to get right. OptoScale is now stepping up its efforts in this area and Sigrid Venås is joining the team. The aim is to link real-time data more closely to the feeding work in the cage.

More data into the feeding process

Sigrid Venås comes to OptoScale from the technology company Spillfree, where she has worked with analysis and development related to feeding systems in aquaculture. She will now contribute to strengthening OptoScale’s work on how real-time data can be used more actively in the feeding work out in the cages.

– When it comes to feeding, there is great potential in using real-time data more intelligently. When data on weight, health, behavior and lice can be more closely linked to the feeding work, it opens up for even more precise decisions in the cage. It’s precisely this type of technology that made me curious about OptoScale,” she says.

OptoScales has a 180° liner camera with precise pellet detection

From analysis to cage edge

Venås has worked closely with both data and production in the aquaculture industry, and has gained solid insight into how technology can support decisions in daily operations.

At OptoScale, she will help to strengthen the company’s focus on feeding-related solutions – an area where the company already has large amounts of real-time data from the cages.

OptoScale’s cameras continuously collect information about the development and condition of the fish in the cage. When this insight is linked more closely to the feeding process, it opens up a new understanding of what actually happens in the cage during feeding.

More precision in decisions

For breeders, feeding is largely about finding the right balance: enough feed for good growth – but without unnecessary waste or poor feed utilization.

With better insight into how the fish responds to the feed, it is also easier to make adjustments along the way.

– “What makes this exciting is the link between the biology in the cage and the decisions made at the edge of the cage. When you gain better insight into how the fish actually respond to the feed, it becomes easier to adjust the strategy there and then,” says Venås.

An area with great potential

At OptoScale, feeding has been an important focus area over time, and with Venås in place, the focus is further strengthened.

– Feeding is an area where small improvements can have a big impact on production. “With more precise data and more objective insight, fish farmers can use their resources more efficiently and get better utilization of the feed,” says Audhild, Product Manager at OptoScale.

The company has collected large amounts of data from fish farms in Norway and internationally over several years, and works continuously to make this insight more accessible and useful to fish farmers.

OptoScale’s latest 3.0 camera measures welfare, behavior, lice, weight – and now also feeding

A more holistic solution in the cage

– “Sigrid has worked closely with feeding in the industry for many years, both operationally and analytically. She has a good understanding of what actually happens in the cage during feeding, and how technology can support the decisions made at the edge of the cage,” says Product Manager Audhild at OptoScale.

– “We already provide very precise data on weight and weight development. When feeding work can be more closely linked to this insight, the farmer can get a much better basis for decision-making in the cage,” she says.

Audhild also points out that OptoScale wants to gather several functions in one solution.

– When feeding, lice counting and weight monitoring can be combined in a single unit, we reduce both complexity and the number of installations in the pen. This means less equipment to maintain, easier operation for the farmer – and fewer physical obstacles for the fish.