The aquaculture industry is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by a data-based revolution. This transformation, often referred to as “Aquaculture 4.0,” harnesses the power of big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to drive sustainable development in aquatic food systems.
Sensors, monitoring systems, and digital tools are generating vast amounts of data and information, presenting an incredible opportunity to optimize production, improve efficiency, and ultimately ensure the sustainability of aquatic food systems.
However, simply having data is not enough. To unlock its full potential, a robust and well-organized aquaculture data ecosystem is required. This ecosystem connects the various industry players, from individual farms to research institutions and policymakers, by facilitating seamless data sharing and collaboration.
In this regard, researchers from Wageningen University and FUTUREFISH published an article in the scientific journal Marine Policy analyzing the current and future potential of “Aquaculture 4.0” to contribute to sustainable development goals by providing nutritious, environmentally sustainable, and socially equitable farmed aquatic foods.
The Potential of Aquaculture 4.0
Aquaculture has the potential to provide a more sustainable and equitable source of protein compared to land-based agriculture. However, to fully realize this potential, a complex set of challenges must be addressed, including disease outbreaks, habitat degradation, market volatility, and food safety concerns. Aquaculture 4.0 offers a promising solution by:
- Enhancing precision and automation: Technologies such as water quality sensors, automatic feeders, and remote satellite monitoring allow for more precise control of farming operations, reducing waste and improving efficiency.
- Improving decision-making: By leveraging large amounts of data, aquaculture producers can make informed decisions to optimize production, minimize environmental impact, and ensure product quality.
- Promoting transparency and traceability: Digital platforms can enhance transparency throughout the supply chain, allowing consumers to make informed choices and support ethical sourcing practices.
The Current Landscape
Despite the promise of Aquaculture 4.0, the industry faces significant challenges. While digital technologies have been adopted in various regions and production systems, the extent of their impact on sustainability remains uncertain. Factors such as the digital divide, data ownership, and the commercial nature of data collection hinder the widespread adoption and utilization of these technologies.
The Current Landscape: A Fragmented Reality
Although the digital landscape of aquaculture is evolving rapidly, a crucial challenge remains. Currently, the ecosystem is highly fragmented. Data tends to be stored in private databases at the farm level, mainly used to optimize production efficiency on individual farms. While valuable, this approach has limitations. For a truly sustainable aquaculture industry, a broader perspective is needed that encompasses social and environmental aspects.
Visualizing the Future: Three Possible Paths
Experts have identified three possible scenarios for the future development of the aquaculture data ecosystem:
- Continued Fragmentation: This scenario represents a missed opportunity. Valuable data remains isolated, hindering progress toward broader sustainability goals.
- Centralization: In this scenario, a single entity controls data collection and management. While potentially efficient, concerns about privacy and data accessibility arise.
- Federated Ecosystem: This scenario is considered the most promising. Here, a network of interconnected platforms facilitates data sharing and integration. This collaborative approach fosters transparency, promotes innovation, and empowers informed decision-making for sustainability.
Building a Federated Future: Three Key Priorities
The study’s authors firmly believe that a federated ecosystem is key to unlocking the full potential of data within the aquaculture industry. To achieve this vision, three critical areas demand attention:
- Enhanced data coverage: A more comprehensive collection of data is needed, encompassing both farm-level production parameters and broader social and environmental indicators. Efforts must also be made to reduce the digital divide between advanced and less-developed aquaculture regions to ensure equitable access to technology and its benefits.
- Improved sharing mechanisms: Secure and transparent methods for sharing data between farm-level and global levels are essential. Establishing clear guidelines for data ownership and sharing is crucial to promoting collaboration, innovation, and the free flow of information.
- Seamless data integration: Robust data integration tools are needed to bridge the gap between different platforms and enable deep analysis across the ecosystem. Developing standardized data formats and analytical tools can facilitate the integration of data from diverse sources, enabling more comprehensive insights and informed decision-making.
To overcome these challenges, a federated data ecosystem is essential. This approach involves collaborative data sharing and integration among various stakeholders, including aquaculture farmers, researchers, policymakers, and consumers. By fostering collaboration and data sharing, a federated ecosystem can unlock the full potential of Aquaculture 4.0 for sustainable development.
Conclusion
Aquaculture 4.0 represents a significant opportunity to transform the aquaculture industry and contribute to a more sustainable future. By embracing digital technologies and fostering collaboration, we can harness the power of data to drive innovation, improve efficiency, and ensure the long-term sustainability of farmed aquatic food systems.
The future of aquaculture is bright: a data-driven future fueled by a collaborative spirit. By working together to build a strong and inclusive federated data ecosystem, we can ensure that aquaculture continues to provide nutritious food for a growing population while safeguarding the health of our planet.
The study was partially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Contact
Sake R.L. Kruk
Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University
Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen 6706KN, Netherlands
Email: sake.kruk@wur.nl
Reference (open access)
Kruk, S. R., Bush, S. R., & Phillips, M. (2024). Federating ‘Aquaculture 4.0’ for data-driven social and environmental sustainability. Marine Policy, 169, 106355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106355
