Internet of Fish: Integration of acoustic telemetry with LPWAN for efficient real-time monitoring of fish in marine farms

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop and test the feasibility of a concept called Internet of Fish (IoF). State-of-the-art acoustic telemetry systems could enable farmers to acquire behavioural data of fish in fish farms, however, the existing systems provide limited real-time access to the telemetry data. Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) are instrumental in the proliferation of the Internet of Things and enables spatially dispersed devices to communicate over long distances for months using dedicated modulations schemes. The IoF concept exploits the harmony in the performance characteristics of acoustic fish telemetry and LoRa (Long Range wireless data protocol with low power modulation) based LPWAN to provide real-time access to the telemetry data. This was achieved by developing a device designated as the LoRa Add-on Module (LAM), which provides LoRa radio support to underwater acoustic receivers. In this study, feasibility of the IoF concept was tested by conducting an experiment in a commercial marine fish farm in Norway. Four LAM and acoustic receiver pairs with a link-length to a centralized gateway of 150 m to 2.5 km were used in the field experiment. The Quality of Service (QoS) of the proposed LoRa LPWAN was determined to evaluate the effect of link-length. The QoS of more than 90% was achieved for all nodes, affirming the feasibility of real-time monitoring in marine fish farms and exposed aquaculture sites based on the IoF concept.