NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (hereinafter, DoCoMo) and AquaFusion Co., Ltd. (hereinafter, Aqua Fusion) are ICT services that have an automatic measurement function for fish length, fish weight, and the number of farmed fish using ultrasonic underwater visualization technology *. We have signed a business alliance agreement today with the aim of establishing a new aquaculture management model through development.

In the aquaculture industry, it is important to measure the length and weight of fish and to grasp the number of farmed fish for efficient production control of farmed fish. For fish length and weight measurement, fishermen used to take a few farmed fish from their cages with a tamo net and measure them one by one with a measuring instrument. However, there was a problem that it was not possible to grasp the exact growth process because the farmed fish died due to physical contact and the growth of the farmed fish extracted from the sample varied. In addition, there is a limit to the number of farmed fish that can be grasped by human power, and there is an error with the actual number of fish. It has become.　Therefore, in the field of farmed mackerel demonstration experiments conducted by Docomo with Saba and the group, we will utilize the ultrasonic underwater visualization technology possessed by Aquafusion to verify the fish length measurement of mackerel in a non-contact manner in October 2020. I have been going since the moon, and this time I succeeded in measuring the average value of the fish length of mackerel swimming in the aquaculture with high accuracy. In the future, we will use AI to verify that the fish weight is estimated from the length of the fish.

Ultrasonic underwater visualization technology is a technology that automatically analyzes the reaction of ultrasonic waves transmitted at high frequency to identify whether it is a fish. For the first time in the world, the CDMA system has been adopted for underwater ultrasonic waves, achieving ultrasonic transmission of 40 times or more per second. It has 100 times the resolution of conventional fishfinders, and can identify individual fish even when fish such as farm cages are densely packed. In addition, by using ultrasonic waves, it is possible to measure even at night or when the sea is turbid, and it is a major feature that it does not depend on the measurement environment.

Through this business alliance, the development of a system linkage between the fish length measurement service “Magic Monitor (provisional)” scheduled to be provided by Aquafusion and DoCoMo’s “aquaculture management cloud” that can centrally manage data such as water quality measurement data and work diary in the cage. To embark on. As a result, it will be possible to grasp the accurate growth process as a function of the “aquaculture management cloud”, and it will be possible to provide high-value-added ICT services for aquaculture, such as improving work efficiency and optimizing the amount of feed.

【Attachment 1: Outline of business alliance(https://prtimes.jp/a/?f=d62546-20210308-7773.pdf)】

In addition to mackerel, we will also conduct demonstration experiments to measure fish length and weight of fish species such as yellowtail and amberjack, aiming for commercialization. We will continue to demonstrate a service that automatically measures the number of farmed fish.

DoCoMo and AquaFusion will continue to take on the challenge of ICT in the aquaculture industry and contribute to the development of Japan’s fisheries industry.

* Ultrasonic underwater visualization technology is a patented technology owned by Aquafusion.