Aquaculture is breeding, raising, and harvesting fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants. Basically, it's farming in water. And Pisciculture is the rearing and breeding of fish under controlled conditions. Pisciculture is part of aquaculture.
In this research, we present an automated system to improve technical facilities in freshwater fish farming. That is for an institute where fish are farming for food. We focus on Feeding decision-making, Fish Behavioral Analysis, Analyze the factor that mainly affects the yield, and analyzing the data of the harvest using Machine Learning (ML), Image Processing techniques and Video processing techniques. Our system can help reduce human efforts, reinforce capacity building, and increase fish production as well as market opportunities for fish farmers.
---Main Objective---
While doing pisciculture, all the processes are done by providing human labor rather than using technology. Due to the occurrence of omissions and mistakes in some processes that use human labor, there are strong effects on production. Here, we keep down human labor, provide solutions to facilitate their work and increase production, and provide predictions for data analysis. Furthermore, our system works to reduce the defects caused by the actions carried out from experiences and obtain the correct information.
---Research Problem---
Sri Lanka Aquaculture Development Center is an organization that runs the industry in an orderly and efficient manner. Muruthuwela Development Center is one of its branches. Mainly three types of fish are bred in this institute namely Tilapia, Indian Carps, and Chinese Carps. When we talked with the Officer in Charge (OIC) there, we were able to identify some problems from his comments. During our field visit, attention was drawn to several problems. The problems we identified there were,
They have a problem to determine exactly how much food should be given to each tank when feeding the fry fish. As a result, more food is wasted. When the feeding process is changes, decreased growth and productivity.
At certain times (when in need of food, when feeding, when nervous, when cold) fish show different behaviors. But it has been difficult for this Aquaculture Development Center’s staff to identify the reasonsfor which those behaviors occurred.
Although the Aquaculture Development Center has recoded the harvested data since start. They have a problem with properly processing it and predict the next year harvest.
This aquaculture development center started farming by using only a small number of fish for farming. They have increased the yield day by day. They collect data daily, weekly, and monthly. But they do not know what the factor mostly affects, and what the least influential factor to the yield is.
Our smart system can resolved above mentioned problems and help them to develop their business.
---Individual research question---
*** Member 1 ***
Feeding decision-making
In freshwater fish farming, the nutritional level of the fish has a major impact on the costs of the cultivators. There are different body sizes got fry fish, and they live in the same pond until they are separated by body size. Then it is not possible to change the feeding of fish of different ages. Big and small chicks should be fed separately, the food differences, and food wastes occur when they are fed that kind of tank. Giving more food at sometimes will cause their expenses to increase. And they visually count the fish in the ponds and there have been times when the fish's nutritional levels have changed because of those miscalculations.
*** Member 2 ***
Behavior Patterns Identification
The fish in the fish tank show different behavior patterns at different times. In each season, the way they behave changes in different situations such as when diseases occur, when they get food. It is a problem for the people of Aquaculture Development Center to know what are the cases of such behavior. Identifying what those behavior situations are is done here.
*** Member 3 ***
Analyze the data of the harvest
This institution carries out fish farming on a large scale and harvests the edible fish month after month. It changes from month to month and from year to year. They record this information.
But they do not have the ability and method to process this data and utilize it properly. Based on this data, decisions are also not made according to advanced methods and theories like Data processing. So far, they have taken decisions based on their expertise and experience in this field.
*** Member 4 ***
Factor Analysis
This aquaculture development center started farming by using only a small number of fish for farming. They have increased the yield day by day. They collect data daily, weekly, and monthly as follows
- pH value of the water
- Temperature
- Food amount
- fish count
- level of oxygen
But they do not know what the factor mostly affects, and what the least influential factor to the yield is.
--- Individual Objectives---
Sub Objective 1: Analyze the body size of the fish, calculate the body mass index and predict the amount of food to feed them and their nutritional status can be predicted.
Sub Objective 2: Analyze different types of behavioral patterns from fish school.
Sub Objective 3: Analyzing the harvest and forecasting the next year's harvest to improve the business in the future.
Sub Objective 4: Analyzing the factors and predict the most affected factor to increase the yeild.
