Aquaculture

There are several methods of oyster farming, one of which involves raising the molluscs in floating bags. Those heavy bags need to be frequently flipped over, so a team of MIT students has designed an "Oystamaran" robot to make the job easier.

Pineapple skin waste typically ends up being composted or dumped in landfills. According to new research, however, a feed additive made from powdered skins has been shown to help farmed tilapia avoid infections, plus it boosts their growth.

In order to purify wastewater, chemicals and UV light are commonly used. According to a new study, however, algae may be a more eco-friendly and energy-efficient alternative, resulting in water that's clean enough for use in aquaculture.

Along with its present use in biofuels and fertilizer, algae could potentially be utilized in applications ranging from bioprinted tissue to honeybee feed. That's why a new system is important, as it continuously checks that algae crops are healthy.

The people of Singapore consume a lot of fish, and – perhaps surprisingly to some of us – a lot of frog meat. Scientists have now developed a method of converting the waste from both foods into a material that helps bone to regrow.

As is the case with other types of livestock farming, antibiotics are widely used in aquaculture to prevent disease. There may soon be a healthier and more eco-friendly alternative though, in the form of seaweed added to existing fish food.

So far as feedstocks for the production of biofuels go, kelp is a highly promising one on many fronts, and a new technology promises to boost its credentials even further by maximizing its exposure to both sunlight and nutrients.

It's important for fish farmers to keep track of the number of fish in their pens, but doing so involves going in and actually netting out some of the fish. According to new research, echo-sounding tech could soon serve as an easier alternative.

How hungry are your salmon? It's an important question in aquaculture, and by using a combination of audio sensors and artificial intelligence, the Smart System for Feeding Control (SICA) offers a new way to answer it.

While ocean-based fish farms do help take pressure off of wild stocks, they have eco-unfriendly drawbacks of their own. A new underwater robot is being designed to address that situation, by autonomously inspecting the fish and their pens.

Although ingesting nutrients in tablet form is better than nothing, nutrients are best absorbed if they're part of the foods we eat. With that in mind, scientists have created a supplement for shellfish that boosts their nutritional content.

In recent years, fish farms have increasingly started using underwater ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) for cleaning the nets that enclose their fish pens. A relatively new one, the StealthCleaner, has a unique triangular form factor.