The cost of feed is by far the highest cost factor in salmon farming. An important element during the feeding is to monitor the appetite of the fish as it may vary a lot from day to day. Traditionally this has been done by observing the behavior of the fish at the water surface, but nowadays, an underwater camera is used to provide a better view of the fish behavior in the feeding zone.
Todays camera helps to optimize the feeding. Camera operators interpret the fish behavior, adjust the feed intensity and stop the feeding when the appetite is below a threshold. Steinsvik AS has been in this market since the start and is selling its Orbit underwater camera for fish appetite monitoring. Going from purely qualitative video today, the project aims to identify parameters that is important for the fish appetite. Later measure some of these appetite indicators to help the camera operators in their decision making regarding feeding intensity. In addition, a lot of data will be collected in a "big data" approach, with the goal of developing artificial intelligence that can guess the optimal feeding intensity.