A review of automated control systems for aquaculture and design criteria for their implementation

Abstract Agriculture in the United States has become the world leader in productivity through intensification, mechanization and automation. A similar path is appropriate for aquaculture since automation of aquaculture systems will allow the industry to: site production closer to markets; improve environmental control; reduce catastrophic losses; minimize environmental regulations by reducing effluents; reduce production costs; and improve product quality. The history of automated control in aquaculture has been brief; most of the systems have been custom-designed, personal computer systems. The current trend is toward the use of industrial process control systems composed of: sensors/transducers, meters/transmitters, communication multiplexers, actuators/output devices, computer hardware and computer control software. These process control systems can be as simple as one computer or as sophisticated as distributed control systems (multiple networked microcomputers). The choice of the system's architecture should be based on price performance, considering labor, product value, environment and vendor support. Success in designing pragmatic and affordable automated control systems for aquaculture will be widely applicable because it will enhance water management, reduce costs associated with manual monitoring and reduce significantly the chance of catastrophic system failures.