Feeding activity and opercular pressure transients in Atlantic salmon (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Salmo salar</Emphasis> L.): application to feeding management in fish farming |
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Authors: | Jo Arve Alfredsen Bård Holand Torfinn Solvang-Garten Ingebrigt Uglem |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Engineering Cybernetics, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway;(2) Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Tungasletta 2, NO-7485 Trondheim, Norway |
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Abstract: | Ecological and economical sustainability of marine aquaculture operations depend on proper feeding management. Feed wastage
from overfeeding is a source of pollution, represents futile use of precious marine resources, and undermines the economic
viability of operations. Additionally, underfeeding reduces growth and fish welfare. Finding an optimal feeding regime in
terms of temporal and spatial distribution of the feed ration require intimate knowledge of the individual feeding behaviour
of fish sustaining intensive culturing conditions. Fish telemetry has proved to be a valuable tool for studying spatial behaviour
in sea cages, however there are currently no practical methods available with respect to detection of actual feed intake in
fish on the individual level. The present study investigates pressure transients arising in the opercular cavity of farmed
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in connection with feeding, and whether such measurements can serve as an indication of feed ingestion. A technical solution
to the sensing problem based on a differential pressure transducer is presented along with typical pressure signal traces
obtained during feeding in a hard wire tank experiment. Measurements showed considerable variation of sub-ambient pressure
transients (1.5 kPa ± 0.95) and their duration (519 ms ± 117), suggesting that the fish modulates its strike intensity depending
on the particular feeding situation. Despite variations in scale, opercular pressure waveforms have distinct structural features
that repeat between feeding instants. From a signal processing point of view waveforms provide sufficient information with
respect to isolation and detection of feeding incidents, which is important with respect to a potential implementation of
the sensing principle in a telemetry tag design. Issues regarding development and application of a telemetry system based
on this sensing principle are discussed. |
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Keywords: | Feeding behaviour Feeding management Opercular pressure Telemetry Atlantic salmon |
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