To help put aquaculture farming on par with its land-based counterparts, the Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center (AREC) received a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The grant will allow researchers at the seafood AREC to analyze the economics of incorporating smart farming technologies into shellfish aquaculture. Sustainable farming methods for Virginia oyster, mussel and scallop growers will incorporate technologies like robotics, automation, computer sensing and imaging, and artificial intelligence.
Dr. Jonathan van Senten, an aquaculture extension specialist and assistant professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, will collaborate with the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Louisiana State University, Pacific Shellfish Institute and the Fraunhofer USA Center for Experimental Software Engineering. Collectively, they will analyze the economic viability of the technologies developed by the research team.
Van Senten said the current state of seafood markets calls for automation and more precise handling of inventory and stock…
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