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Light Emitting Diode (LED) Lighting systems for early stage aquaculture
Over recent times
we have noticed an
increasing amount
of media coverage
and industry chatter
regarding the role of
light in aquaculture.
Most of this has been
in relation to the
use of low-energy
technology to reduce
costs, and in this
area almost all the
talk is about LED.
ight Emitting Diode (LED) technology has proven itself in almost every
environment where artificial lighting is deployed, and the various agricultural
sectors involved in intensive food production are no exception.
Fixture longevity and significant reductions in energy consumption have seen
LEDs becoming increasingly common. Less widely publicised, however, is the
notion that emerging lighting technology may offer the aquaculture industry more
than simply a way to reduce operating costs.
Commercial horticulture has long recognised the critical role of light in
influencing product quality and yield. Growers and their suppliers moved quickly
to adapt LED technology to deliver
the precise spectral and intensity
values needed to dramatically improve
production outcomes, effectively
doubling up any cost-reduction
benefits that the new technology
brought.
Now, a UK-based company has
developed a lighting system to deliver
the same benefits to fish farmers.
Tropical Marine Centre (TMC) is best
known in aquaculture circles as TMC
Commercial for their recirculation
filtration systems, which are widely
used by hatcheries around the world.
Over the last seven years, they have
also been developing LED lighting
systems for aquatic applications,
and extensive research and multiple
trials have led to the launch of a new
commercial lighting brand - BioLumen
Lighting Solutions.
We spoke to Gyles Westcott, part of
the lighting development team at TMC,
to get more information about the range.
Hatchery managers have always
known that light is important indeed,
photoperiod and light intensity are part
of every production protocol.
However, light is more than just two
basic variables! In fact, for some time
now, biologists have understood that the
very specific photic conditions of the
aquatic environment are active, biological drivers, particularly in the early-stages of development.
To complicate matters further, these photic drivers are highly variable across different species, across
the different life-stages of those different species, and across the diverse range of biotopes that they might
occupy as they develop.
So, the conditions under which salmon eggs incubate are vastly different to the conditions under which,
for example, Sea Bass eggs incubate. All of this is quite obvious, yet fish farmers have never had a fully
developed system allowing light conditions to track the changing requirements of the chosen culture species.
The reason for this is that previously, there has never been an economically viable technological solution to
delivering such a complex photic solution.
46 | January | February 2016 - International Aquafeed
Image: Light
Emitting Diode
(LED) technology
has proven itself
in almost every
environment where
artificial lighting is
deployed, and the
various agricultural
sectors involved
in intensive food
production are no
exception.
Image: The
Controller allows
users to select
from a number
of setting profile.
The system
matches the
photoperiod
values for a
particular
location,
including
sunrise, sunset
and the
seasonal shift in
noon intensity,
relative to winter
and summer
solstice