Finnish RAS trout farmer Fifax trials biomass camera
AI technology is a fantastic opportunity for optimisation and fish welfare, says operations chief
A land-based trout farmer in Finland is to trial Canadian company ReelData’s biomass estimation camera system in its recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility.
Fifax is situated at Eckerö in the Åland Islands that lie in the Gulf of Bothnia between Sweden and Finland, and sells primarily to customers in those countries. It has the capacity to produce 3,200 tonnes of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) annually.
The RAS farmer is ReelData’s first Finnish customer, and it will also be the first time ReelData will be measuring rainbow trout with its ReelWeight technology. The trial is planned to run for several months and will be used to assess average weight estimation and weight distribution accuracy using the AI (artificial intelligence) camera system designed specifically for land-based systems.
Great potential
Niclas Jansson, head of operations at Fifax, said: “We are very happy to be collaborating with ReelData. Fifax’s vision is to be a forerunner in large-scale sustainable fish farming with minimal impact on the environment, and so we are always looking for ways to streamline our practices and improve efficiency.
“We see AI technology as a fantastic opportunity to accelerate that pathway. We believe that ReelData’s biomass cameras have great potential to help us further optimise our practices, while monitoring welfare.”
ReelData technology and innovation manager Tim Trussell said trial at Fifax offers a great opportunity to demonstrate the flexibility of the ReelWeight system to offer value in rainbow trout.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with a company with such a focus on ecologically sustainable fish farming, and we are excited about their strategic position within the Swedish and Finnish markets,” said Trussell.
Jansson said the companies had enjoyed a great start to their working relationship. “The ReelData team has been incredibly responsive. They were able to quickly get onsite with us, working closely to ensure the system will accurately estimate our fish, while understanding our operation.”
ReelData, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said the deployment at Fifax adds to a growing list of existing commercial and trial agreements for ReelWeight, which in recent months has had multiple deployments across Norway, Iceland, Canada, Chile, the Netherlands, and the UK.
Major contract
In July last year, Fifax signed a contract to deliver approximately 1,200 tonnes of gutted fish a year to Finnish processor and distributor Kalavapriikki and made its first delivery to the company in October.
It was Fifax’s first commercial delivery of fish after a break of more than two years. Production and deliveries were interrupted in mid-2022 after infectious haematopoietic necrosis (IHN) was confirmed at the facility. Following a sanitation project, farming activities were restarted in March 2023, when the first batch of eggs was introduced to the Eckerö hatchery.
The company has been building up volume since then and had a standing biomass of around 650 tonnes in October as it continued its journey towards full capacity.
