A Review of Unmanned System Technologies with Its Application to Aquaculture Farm Monitoring and Management

Naomi A Ubina,Shyi-Chyi Cheng

doi:10.3390/drones6010012

Abstract

This paper aims to provide an overview of the capabilities of unmanned systems to monitor and manage aquaculture farms that support precision aquaculture using the Internet of Things. The locations of aquaculture farms are diverse, which is a big challenge on accessibility. For offshore fish cages, there is a difficulty and risk in the continuous monitoring considering the presence of waves, water currents, and other underwater environmental factors. Aquaculture farm management and surveillance operations require collecting data on water quality, water pollutants, water temperature, fish behavior, and current/wave velocity, which requires tremendous labor cost, and effort. Unmanned vehicle technologies provide greater efficiency and accuracy to execute these functions. They are even capable of cage detection and illegal fishing surveillance when equipped with sensors and other technologies. Additionally, to provide a more large-scale scope, this document explores the capacity of unmanned vehicles as a communication gateway to facilitate offshore cages equipped with robust, low-cost sensors capable of underwater and in-air wireless connectivity. The capabilities of existing commercial systems, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence combined with drones are also presented to provide a precise aquaculture framework.

Highlights

Fisheries and aquaculture play an essential role in feeding the growing population and are critical for the livelihood of millions of people in the world
The different capabilities of drones were identified as a communication gateway and data collector, aquaculture site surveillance, and aquaculture farm management and monitoring
The utilization of technological innovation using unmanned vehicle systems addressed these difficulties to achieve the goal of precision aquaculture

Summary

Introduction

Fisheries and aquaculture play an essential role in feeding the growing population and are critical for the livelihood of millions of people in the world. Strict implementation of fishing regulations and water environment conservation has increased fishery production and sustainability. Despite these developments and with the expected increasing population of 8.5 billion by 2030, the increase in demand for marine commodities cannot be sustained any longer by wild fish stocks. It is the fastest-growing product in the food sector [2] and is emerging as an alternative to commercial fishing [3]. With this trend, the expansion of aquaculture plays a significant role in ensuring food sufficiency, improved nutrition, food availability, affordability, and security

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Conclusion