The future is now: Salmon aquaculture embraces precision farming

COURTESY OF COOKE USA

From afar, the series of 100-meter rings that constitute an Atlantic salmon farm site in the Gulf of Maine appear unchanged since the transition from steel cages to high-density polyethylene pens in the late 1990s and early 2000s. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Atlantic salmon aquaculture has been practiced in Maine since the late 1970s and early 1980s, with the first commercial lease being issued by the Maine Department of Marine Resources for a farm site in Cobscook Bay near Eastport in 1982. The industry has evolved and modernized tremendously since then, with the adoption of precision farming defining the last 20 years or so.

So what is precision farming? Also known as precision agriculture, precision farming refers to the use of advanced technologies and data analysis to optimize farming practices. Farmers who embrace precision farming, in theory, increase efficiency and productivity and minimize environmental impact.

For aquatic farmers, that translates to more precise and scalable ways to feed fish and to monitor fish health and growth, ocean conditions and water quality.

Cooke USA has been farming Atlantic salmon in Maine since 2004, celebrating 20 years of aquaculture operations in the state last year. Today, Cooke USA’s operations consist of marine farm sites in Downeast Maine, a processing plant in Machiasport, and three land-based freshwater hatcheries in both the eastern and western parts of Maine. Its fresh farmed Atlantic salmon is sold at supermarkets and restaurants throughout New England and the United States.

It was around the early 2000s that the company, and the industry by and large, began embracing precision farming. It’s what a passerby on a boat or an onlooker from the shore can’t see that’s revolutionizing Atlantic salmon aquaculture in Maine and globally — hardware such as underwater cameras and sensors, which have been used for years, and the AI-enable software behind the hardware.

Case in point is feeding. For finfish aquaculture, one thing remains constant — feed amount and timely feeding are critical to the success of a farm. Feed represents around 50 percent of a farmer’s costs. Overfeeding leads to higher ammonia levels, which can negatively impact the environment. Underfeeding leads to slow fish growth. Forty years ago, fish were fed manually by hand from a barge, with no visibility beneath the surface. Years later, barges were equipped with blower-based systems, allowing fish in multiple pens to be fed simultaneously.

Next came underwater cameras. Farmers observe feeding behavior and stop feeding when fish stop eating, resulting in better fish health and less uneaten feed. Then came oxygen and temperature monitoring. Today, farmers are aligning environmental conditions with optimal feeding schedules, further minimizing the environmental impact.

Feeding is far from the only practice that Cooke is embracing with precision farming. For Cooke’s operations in Maine, Atlantic Canada, and Scotland, an AI-enabled system is being piloted to monitor individual fish in pens in real time, executing tasks such as measuring fish weights and monitoring fish health, giving fish health technicians more time to analyze data.

In Maine and Atlantic Canada, Cooke is trialing an AI-enabled smart measuring system for algae detection. The system monitors and identifies microscopic algae species in real time, categorizing densities and identifying species as harmful or harmless. Benefits include faster and more accurate detection of harmful algae blooms around the clock, giving farm managers time to mitigate the effects before fish are harmed by algae blooms. It’s yet another tool in the fight against climate change.

It doesn’t stop there. Seal predator detection and deterrent and net cleaning are also among the practices where precision farming is being applied in aquaculture.

Globally, Maine represents only around 1 percent of Atlantic salmon production. But the state can have — and is having — an outsized effect on the advancement of aquaculture abroad. Over the years, Maine has been a hotbed for aquaculture research and development, and numerous innovative, pioneering farming practices were developed in the state, embraced by Cooke USA and adopted by sea farmers worldwide. These practices include the introduction of farm site rotation and fallowing, development of the world’s first containment management system, and introduction of non-chemical animal health support systems, all done in cooperation with state and federal regulators, academia, and environmental and non-governmental organizations.

All these advancements have enabled salmon farming to become one of the healthiest and most efficient ways to feed the population with minimal environmental impact, the lowest freshwater use, and one of the lowest carbon footprints of any animal protein.

Cooke operates in full compliance with the laws set forth by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, and its operating permits. Salmon farms are routinely inspected by state regulators and subject to regular monitoring reports. These laws are designed to protect Maine waters as well as Maine’s heritage fisheries.

Finfish aquaculture has coexisted with lobstering in Maine waters for more than 40 years. Lobster landings are not negatively affected by Atlantic salmon farms. In fact, lobster gear is set alongside and within aquaculture lease boundaries.

By capitalizing on precision farming and embracing the tools needed for more precise and scalable ways to feed fish and to monitor fish health and growth, ocean conditions, and water quality, Maine can continue to be a nest for Atlantic salmon-aquaculture research and development among strong working waterfronts in rural coastal communities.