Density Control Maximizes Fish Welfare

VAKIs Density Control feature for its SmartFlow SystemTM is a gamechanger as it automates, controls, and monitors fish density to maximize fish welfare, and to enhance fish handling processes in aquaculture.

The advantages of this technology are numerous. „The main benefit of this unique equipment is the ability to monitor, control and optimize the balance of live fish and water into a fish handling system at the outset when moving fish for transport, counting, grading, or vaccination,“ said VAKI managing director Benedikt Hálfdanarson.  The Density Control feature maintains a consistent and pre-set ratio of live fish and water during the fish handling process. The regulator thins out the flow if the volume of fish in the pipeline surpasses a certain density, eliminating overcrowding.  

Density Control is an integral part of the SmartFlow System, where it can be controlled automatically or manually. „The reason why we developed Density Control is to maximize fish welfare and optimize the transportation of fish,“ said Benedikt. „This gives the user many features like minimizing the changes of the pumping speed. It simply runs at the same speed the whole time while the density control is in charge.“ The outcome is a very even fish flow which optimizes the capacity of both grader and counter and the outcome is more accurate than ever.

Indeed, VAKI‘s SmartFlow System allows customers to gather and store information about all measured fish for easy comparisons of size and number. This technology facilitates the optimization of every operation as VAKI devices can be controlled and fine-tuned using SmartFlow in order to achieve high levels of efficiency and accuracy.

Density Control comes in handy for different areas of aquaculture. For instance, when vaccinating, you can control the number of fish that flow into the vaccination station, which enables maximum capacity to be utilized. The entire process can be automated as users can simply enter the value and the system takes care of the rest. This ensures that there will be no black pipes of fish, and this reduces stress on employees. „In the end of each session the system then generates a detailed report which shows how gently the system has been running,“ said Benedikt. „It proves that you have been running the fish transfer under maximum capacity and the outcome is lower stress on the fish.“

Developing new products that advance animal welfare is critical to VAKI’s business. „VAKI´s density control system demonstrates that we place fish welfare as a priority and it enables fish farmers to do better, in a faster and more accurate way,“ said Benedikt.

VAKI, which is part of MSD Animal Health, is being recognized by the industry for its commitment to quality and development. It was recently announced that the company‘s Density Control feature is one of the three finalists for the Aqua Nor Innovation Prize 2021. The prize is awarded at the Aqua Nor Exhibition in August 2021, in which VAKI and MSD Animal Health will be exhibiting on site.