Precision Aquaculture
Services
We provide integrated forecasting services.
Environmental Quality
Fish and shellfish welfare, as well as the quality of aquaculture products depend crucially on the farming environment quality.
We can provide real time infomation on the farming environment quality, based on satellite data.
We can relate welfare ad potential growth rates to the farmig environment quality.
We design bespoken decision support systems, based on state-of-the-art sensors for real-time monitoring of environmental variables, i.e. water temperature, dissolved oxygen …. , and predictive modelling tools.
We can provide site-specific short term forecast of environmental variables, based on data assimilation algorithms: this information can be used for early warning and risk mitigation.
Are you interested in labelling your products with a QR? We can do them, including relevant information about fish welfare and your sustainable farming practices.
Satellite data
Monitoring farming environment quality
Animal welfare and growth
Siting new aquafarms
Short term forecasting of environmental variables
Life Cycle Assessment
Are you products sustainable ? Can you you improve the sustainability of your production processes?
This information is becoming more and more relevant for adding value to your products.
Life Cycle Assessment provides a set of sustainibility indicators, such as the carbon and water fooprint, which are easy to communicate to your costumers and can be included in a QR.
LCA can help you in identifying critical stages and enhancing the sustainability of your production processes.
An LCA model allows you to explore different scenarios of energy use, packaging, reuse of co-products, waste valorization.
LCA is a prerequisite for achieving worldwide recognized sustainability certifications, i.e. Friends of the Sea.
Bluefarm S.r.l. holds a portfolio of LCA life cycle analysis models applicable to the main traditional aquaculture practices present in the Mediterranean (bream and bass farms, mussel and clam farming), and innovative ones (aquaponics and integrated multi-trophic aquaculture). Bluefarm has recently carried out an LCA analysis applied to an aquaponic production (integration between recirculating aquaculture and hydroponic cultivation), commissioned by the University of Liège (Belgium). The analyses are carried out using the SimaPro® version 9.3.0.3 software, and the Ecoinvent ® v3.8 database, acquired for these purposes.
Our tools can valorize the environmental benefits of aquaculture
Carrying capacity
As any other farming activity, aquaculture has an impact on the environment: it is important to identify and quantify such impact, in order to minimize it.
For example, uneaten feed and faeces released from off-shore fish farms could cause excessive organic enrichment of surface sediment.
A poor quality of the farming environment leads to poor quality of the final products and entails also risks for fish welfare and survival. It may also affec the public image of a company. Estimating the “Carrying Capacity” is therefore extremely important for ensuring the long term sustainability of a succesfull business.
Our modelling tools can predict how the ecological quality of water and sediment change in relation to the presence of an aquafarm. On this basis, stocking density and total biomass can be controlled, in order to optimize production, within the limits set by the current environmental legislation.
Furthermore, we can quantify also environmentals pluses of aquafarming, such as:
- Nutrient credits from shellfish and seaweed culture
- Positive impact on biodiversity, due to substitution of wild fish with farmed fish consumption.
Our models are spatially explicit and dynamic: we can map a set of impact indicators in relation to:
Environmental quality
Assessment of the carrying capacity
Compliance with the environmental legislation
Ecosystem services of aquaculture
Valutazione-d’impatto-ambientale-(VIA)-2
Valutazione-d’impatto-ambientale-(VIA)-3
Valutazione-d’impatto-ambientale-(VIA)-4
Valutazione-d’impatto-ambientale-(VIA)-1
Valutazione-d’impatto-ambientale-(VIA)-5
Valutazione-d’impatto-ambientale-(VIA)-6
Acquacoltura di precisione
Il benessere e l’accrescimento degli animali dipendono in maniera cruciale da alcune variabili ambientali.
In alcuni casi è possibile controllarle, in altri dobbiamo invece adeguare i parametri gestionali alla loro evoluzione.
Prevedere le principali risposte fisiologiche degli animali allevati rispetto alla fluttuazione delle variabili ambientali è il cuore dell’acquacoltura di precisione.
I nostri strumenti possono essere facilmente connessi ai principali software gestionali, aggiungendo ciò di cui i produttori hanno bisogno per pianificare al meglio le loro attività, nel breve e medio termine: la capacità predittiva.
Aquacoltura di precisione
Previsione dei tassi di accrescimento
Ottimizzazione di parametri operativi
Valutazione dei rischi
Acquacoltura circolare: l'acquaponica
Con acquaponica si intende la coltivazione congiunta di piante ed organismi acquatici in ambiente controllato, con ricircolo parziale o totale dell’acqua fra i due sotto-sistemi (dedicati appunto alla crescita di piante ed organismi acquatici). Diverse tecniche di coltivazione fuori suolo si prestano a questo tipo di applicazione.
La tecnologia si presenta di grande interesse poiché consente, attraverso un uso razionale di spazi limitati, l’allevamento di specie ittiche e la contemporanea produzione di vegetali.
Questi tipi di colture possono essere impiegate per ridare valore a luoghi abbandonati, ad esempio in un’ottica di rigenerazione urbana. Grazie alla grande versatilità del tipo di coltivazione si può applicarla in aree urbane nelle quali i suoli risultano inadatti alla coltura o all’interno di edifici in disuso.