By : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Fikri Abdullah

Aquaculture is now viewed as a strong option to increase fish production as it plays a vital role in providing food security in Malaysia. From the total of world fish production, aquaculture production accounted for 40.1 % and 88.5 % of the world aquaculture production is contributed by Asia. With the effort to achieve Malaysia’s smart communities 2050 which in line with National Transformation 2050, Malaysia aquaculture industry has become the fast-growing food industry in the digital revolution that ranked in the top 15 world producers in 2014 with an estimated 521,000 tonnes of total aquaculture production.

Aquaculture industries from satellite image

However, in these recent years, the aquaculture sector in Malaysia is facing serious challenges in environmental issues and managing aquaculture systems during COVID19 outbreak and disaster. This is due to lack of timely shared information among aquaculture players. The amount of digitally available Aquaculture information is growing exponentially, and appropriate steps need to be undertaken to facilitate sharing and consequently reduce costs.

Aquainformatics can be described as the scientific application of Information technology in biological concepts that enhance the productivity and economic viability of aquaculture sectors. It incorporates engineering principles in aquaculture by adapting the advance of information technology. The application maybe in the form of precision farming, analyzing aquaculture information, developing database and algorithms for aquaculture research, analyzing genetic information, transfer of technology, Aqua-business and many more. Various Aquainformatics based tools such as Remote sensing, Geographical Information System (GIS), Decision Support Systems, Fishermen Information System, Management Information System, and Aquaculture databases can provide effective and timely solutions to many problems in aquaculture.

 Sensors mounted on drones for fast  data capture to be used in  GIS

Recently, I-AQUAS, UPM has offered the aquainformatics engineering program as one of their fields of study. In this framework students will focus on engineering principles in aquaculture especially in the design of aquaculture production systems. The emphasis is on the hydraulic and hydrological features involved in the process of obtaining water resources, movement of water for aquaculture activities, designing water treatment systems and automation in aquaculture to enhance productivity efficiency and economic viability of the aquaculture sector. In this regard, the aquainformatics engineering application will be widely used. Applicable applications are including the using satellite imagery and GIS to identify, monitor and reduce habitat loss, imaging and modeling for inaccessible areas and many other more.

The program will also include the development of new strategies to help the development of aquaculture production effectively by emphasizing existing communication technologies and manipulation of information that can be shared and updated at any time through the use of web-based data collection.

Date of Input: 26/11/2020 | Updated: 26/11/2020 | nsyahirah