Controlling parasites in fish farms with machine vision and laser

Sea lice have been a major challenge in salmon and rainbow trout farming for many years. Industry output has not increased much in Norway or globally since 2012 due to these parasites and restrictions to limit them.

New methods for combatting sea lice, however, often involve fish handling or are not sustainable. Furthermore, multidrug resistance has become a pressing problem.

Launched in 2014, Stingray’s technological solution features machine vision, laser and advanced software, and removes and controls sea lice on a continuous (24/7) and preventive basis.

Traditional and alternative delousing methods may include starving, crowding and handling of fish, and are often a reactive approach to outbreaks of sea lice. Treatment with Stingray lasers, on the other hand, takes place inside the fish farming pens without stressful handling.

Stingray’s solution gives fish farmers better production control and improves fish welfare. Reduced mortality, better growth and higher quality of farmed salmon/rainbow trout are already proven benefits.

In addition, the solution is continually upgraded with new software applications.

As of September 2018, Stingray Marine Solutions has produced and sold more than 200 units in Norway in total. There is further room for substantial domestic growth, as there are 4 000–5 000 pens for salmon/rainbow trout in Norway alone. Each pen could potentially hold one to two lasers.

The global market is also very promising, more than double the domestic potential, and the Stingray nodes can be used for other farmed fish as well. The company is an advanced developer of software for machine learning, AI and Big Data, making it well equipped to become a major provider of sustainable fish farming technology worldwide in the years to come.