© Grieg Seafood Newfoundland
Dubbed the Enhanced Aquaculture Technology for Marine Health Project, it is being sponsored by Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OSC), and conducted in partnership with Grieg Seafood Newfoundland and will outfit six Grieg sites with a suite of Innovasea’s advanced precision aquaculture technology, software and equipment.
As part of the project Grieg will install Innovasea’s fully automated aeration system, aquaControl, along with Oxygen Forecasts – a new feature that predicts low dissolved oxygen (DO) events for individual pens 48 hours before they occur.
According to Innovasea, real-time information from these systems will be available in the Realfish Pro Platform, enabling Grieg to remotely track, analyse and act on data 24/7. They can even automate various actions to counteract poor water conditions and promote overall fish health and growth.
“Our technology is designed to enable farms to make smarter, faster decisions through real-time monitoring and predictive insights,” said Tim Stone, Innovasea's vice-president in a press release. “We want farms to be able to anticipate issues and respond automatically to address them before they occur.”
This is the second joint initiative between Innovasea and Grieg under the OSC. Previously, the two sides collaborated on a project to better connect land, sea, and processing operations in aquaculture through real-time data and analytics. As part of the project, Innovasea installed aquaMeasure environmental sensors at Grieg’s Red Island farm site in Newfoundland to monitor and capture changing water conditions in real-time. Following the initiative's success, Grieg moved to use Innovasea's aquaMeasure sensors at multiple sites.
“At Grieg Seafood, our values – open, ambitious, and caring – guide everything we do. Thanks to our partners, and the support of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, we’re putting our values into action to enhance fish welfare, create learning opportunities for our employees, and contribute valuable information to help support a sustainable aquaculture industry needed for the world’s food security,” noted Laura Dwyer, R&D manager at Grieg Seafood Newfoundland.
The new project was announced at the OSC’s Ambition 2035 Summit, and is part of the ocean community’s ongoing mission to grow Canada’s ocean economy 5X, to $220 billion, by 2035.
“Sustainable aquaculture is an important economic area of growth globally that contributes to climate action priorities and commitments under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” added Kendra MacDonald, CEO of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster. “By co-investing in innovative technologies that improve fish health, we’re enhancing operational efficiency, creating new revenue streams, contributing to our own food security, and helping feed the world.”
The Enhanced Aquaculture Technology for Marine Health Project will run until October 2027, with the first set of equipment set to be installed later this year.
