Appropriate husbandry methods during larval rearing and on-growing are of particular importance for the aquaculture industry. At the Aquaculture Technology Laboratory we study the feeding and environmental specific requirements of Mediterranean fish species. Since 2000 we have been interested in the specific diversification of the production. In particular, for the greater amberjack (Seriola dumerili) and the meagre (Argyrosomus regius) successful methods for larval rearing and grow out are developed.

An autonomous stereoscopic camera for monitoring fish growth in cages

The need for better farm management in the framework of precision farming, applying principles of circular economy, represent an important research priority. New tools towards human-free operational schemes have been developed for cage farming such as (a) systems for biomass estimation using stereo­­scopic imaging and (b) image systems for monitoring fish behaviour aiming towards improvements in feeding and husbandry practices, (c) geo-information system for the continuous monitoring of aquaculture units and the surrounding area with in situ and satellite data that records and analyses key parameters related to aquaculture.

One of the research interests of the group is to understand climate change implications for the Mediterranean aquaculture and the definition of species-specific thermal preferences.

Monitoring fish speed during feeding

System Architecture of the AquaSafe Platform