The absence on the market of a floating feeding system for aquaculture in the sea specifically sized for medium and small-sized farms is at the origin of SeaFeed, an initiative of the company Feeding Systems S.L., which the Vigo-based firm will develop in collaboration with the CIMA group and researchers from the Marine Research Center of the University of Vigo and with the companies Engranor, Quantum Innovative and Montajes Cancelas. With a total investment of just over one million euros, of which more than 600,000 correspond to the Conecta PEME program of the Xunta de Galicia and the remaining 400,000 to the companies’ own resources, SeaFeed has a duration of 28 months, which will end in September 2020.
“In the case of offshore feeding, adaptations of high-tonnage fixed boats or vessels are normally used. This type of vessel is made of steel or reinforced concrete and an example of these solutions, called pontoons, are those marketed by the Norwegian group Akvagroup, which manufactures pontoons ranging from 150 to 850 tons”, explains Daniel Burgos, a researcher at the CIMA group, in relation to the dimensions and tonnages of the equipment used for the fattening of salmon aquaculture, which are not compatible with other species, such as sea bass or bream. Burgos is part of the group of seven researchers from the University of Vigo involved in the SeaFeed project, in which CIMA “will participate in the design and development of the autonomous platform and the feeding system and in the development of the energy generation systems”. For their part, the scientists from the CIM, together with the technical staff of the Biological Resources and Marine Cultures Unit of the Toralla Marine Sciences Station “will work in the consortium to define biological parameters of aquaculture species that define the performance and intelligent control of the complex”, explains Burgos.
An automated, intelligent and autonomous solution
The low demand for aquaculture feeding systems beyond salmon farming has been decisive so far in preventing an evolution towards systems adapted to other species, which forces aquaculture professionals to adapt these high-tonnage pontoons to the characteristics inherent to other facilities and species, with the problems that these adjustments may have on production.
“The objective of SeaFeed is to develop a feeding system for aquaculture at sea, whether offshore or near the coast, automated, intelligent and autonomous, installed on an energy-efficient floating platform, which allows for optimizing feeding processes and guaranteeing the technological independence of the Galician industry against technical imports from third countries,” details Daniel Burgos, who points out that the feeder will be marketed through FishFarmFeeder-Feeding System S.L., which as the only Spanish company manufacturing fish farm feeders has a worldwide network of distributors.
Among the technological innovations that the project hopes to achieve are: the development of systems that are capable of learning (machine learning) so that they can generate continuous improvement in feeding protocols and also guarantee that they are stable and replicable; the development of information management systems that allow data to be transformed into knowledge to achieve a competitive advantage and continuous improvement of production processes and advance in the design of floating marine structures that minimize the use of fossil energy, CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and water discharges.
Europe and Latin America, potential markets for the new feeder
Regarding the potential markets for SeaFeed, Daniel Burgos points out that the new feeder is especially oriented towards marine aquaculture that occurs in the Mediterranean and/or Atlantic European region, as well as to the production areas of Latin America, “where the production requirements of species other than salmon cannot be met with the high-tonnage pontoons that are manufactured in Norway and Scotland,” explains the CIMA researcher.
The project was presented this Friday in a session held in the auditorium of the Industrial Technological Research Center, in which researchers from the University of Vigo and managers and representatives of the companies involved in SeaFeed participated.
Source: DUVI
