According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, aquaculture in the United States represents a $1.5 billion a year industry. Like terrestrial agriculture, shellfish aquaculture requires healthy seed production to maintain a sustainable industry. Production of shellfish larvae (seeds) in aquaculture hatcheries requires close monitoring to track mortality rates and assess health from the earliest stages of life.
Careful observation is necessary to inform production scheduling, determine the effects of naturally occurring harmful bacteria, and ensure sustainable seed production. This is an essential step for seafood farms, but it is currently a manual process that is time-consuming and prone to human error.
With funding from MIT's Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Laboratory (J-WAFS), MIT Sea Grant is working with Associate Professor Otto Cordero of the MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor Taskin Padir, and research scientist Mark Zolotas of Northeastern University. Institute for Experiential Robotics and others at Aquaculture Research Corporation (ARC) and Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance, to advance technology for the aquaculture industry. Located on Cape Cod, ARC is a leading seafood hatchery, farm and wholesaler that plays a vital role in supplying high-quality seafood seed to local and regional producers.
Two MIT students have joined the effort this semester, working with Robert Vincent, assistant director of advising services for the MIT Sea Grant, through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP).
Freshman Unyime Usua and sophomore Santiago Borrego are using ARC shellfish seed microscopy images to train machine learning algorithms that will help automate the identification and counting process. The resulting easy-to-use image recognition tool aims to help aquaculturists differentiate and count healthy, unhealthy and dead shellfish larvae, improving accuracy and reducing time and effort.
Vincent explains that ai is a powerful tool for environmental science that allows researchers, industry and resource managers to address challenges that have long been critical points for collection, analysis, predictions and optimization processes. of accurate data. “Financial support from programs like J-WAFS allows us to address these issues head-on,” he says.
ARC faces challenges manually quantifying larval classes, an important step in its seed production process. “When the larvae are in their growth stages, they are constantly measured and counted,” explains Cheryl James, ARC larval and juvenile production manager. “This process is essential to promote optimal growth and strengthen the population.”
The development of an automated identification and counting system will help improve this step in the production process with time and cost benefits. “This is not an easy task,” Vincent says, “but with the guidance of Dr. Zolotas of Northeastern University's Experiential Robotics Institute and the work of UROP students, we have made solid progress.”
The UROP program benefits both researchers and students. Engaging MIT UROP students in the development of these types of systems provides insights into ai applications they may not have considered, providing opportunities to explore, learn, and apply themselves while contributing to solving real-world challenges.
Borrego saw this project as an opportunity to apply what he had learned in class 6.390 (Introduction to Machine Learning) to a real-world problem. “I was starting to get an idea of how computers can look at images and extract information from them,” he says. “I wanted to continue exploring that.”
Usua decided to continue with the project due to the direct impacts it could have on the industry. “I am very interested in seeing how we can use machine learning to make people's lives easier. “We are using ai to help biologists facilitate this counting and identification process.” While Usua was not familiar with aquaculture before starting this project, she explains: “Just hearing about the hatcheries that Dr. Vincent told us about, it was unfortunate that not many people knew what was going on and the problems that face.” you are facing.”
On Cape Cod alone, aquaculture is an $18 million-a-year industry. But the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries estimates that hatcheries can only meet 70 to 80 percent of seed demand annually, impacting producers and local economies. Through this project, the partners aim to develop technology that will increase seed production, improve industry capabilities, and help understand and improve the hatchery microbiome.
Borrego explains the initial challenge of having limited data to work with. “At first, we had to go through and label all the data, but that process helped me learn a lot.” In true MIT style, he shares his conclusions from the project: “Try to make the best of what you're given with the data you have to work with. You are going to have to adapt and change your strategies depending on what you have.”
Usua describes her experience going through the research process, communicating as a team, and deciding what approaches to take. “Research is a long and difficult process, but you can gain a lot because it teaches you to look for things yourself and find your own solutions to problems.”
In addition to increasing seed production and reducing the human labor required in the incubation process, collaborators hope this project will contribute to cost savings and technology integration to support one of the most underserved industries in the United States.
Borrego and Usua plan to continue their work during a second semester with the MIT Sea Grant. Borrego is interested in learning more about how technology can be used to protect the environment and wildlife. Usua says he hopes to explore more aquaculture-related projects. “It seems like there are endless ways to address these problems.”
