SmartFEEsh

Aquaculture and the Automation of Larval Rearing Processes

Aquaculture has grown and evolved into one of the most prosperous livestock sectors worldwide. However, its main bottleneck lies in the larval rearing phase. The specific biological needs of juvenile fish make this a highly complex stage, where the control of parameters and process variables directly impacts survival rates, deformity rates, and production costs.

Manual feeding practices in hatcheries limit the number of feeding events and dosing precision in each rearing tank. Feeding multiple times a day leads to high labor costs, and irregular administration of large amounts of feed causes water contamination problems.

Each type of fish, whether marine or freshwater, is susceptible to automation, as feeding volumes and cultivated species vary. One advantageous solution is to replace live prey with formulated diets or, at the very least, reduce their use. However, using appropriate microdiets with ultra-fine particles (smaller than 100 µm) complicates the process. Ensuring high sanitary standards and rigorous methodologies is challenging—only automation in its various aspects (monitoring, parameter control, and feeding management) can mitigate the risks associated with manual feeding.

The smartFEEsh solution substantially improves hatchery processes by implementing automatic feeders for live prey (NOVOFEED, with a market price of €70,000) as well as micro-pellets ranging from 75-500 µm (SMARTFEED, priced at €60,000).

It is estimated that within five years of market launch, the accumulated revenue will reach €8.34 million, with a gross profit of €4.19 million, reflecting a 50% profitability rate. Additionally, the workforce will expand with the incorporation of three new employees.