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Software modeling used in land-based barramundi farming

Works is underway to use software-based digital modelling in genetic research involving barramundi raised in land-based farms. A researcher with the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) of the University of Queensland, in Australia is using the method to run a series of simulations that will eventually provide data helpful in the breeding and production of barramundi, according to the QAAFI.

The research is being done in collaboration with the ARC Research Hub for Supercharging Tropical Agriculture at James Cook University and MainStream Aquaculture Group.

Jessica Hintzsche, PhD candidate from QAAFI, said that she and fellow researchers are creating a “virtual twin” of the land-based barramundi farm. The researchers will use the 3D  digital twin of the farm to run simulations so that they can “test the impacts of different genomic, breeding and production technologies such as parental selection and harvesting options before they are rolled out to the farm.”

“It would allow producers to make decisions about how to take their business to the next level with healthy fish populations,” Hintzsche said. “We are at a tipping point globally where the production of farmed fish is about to overtake wild-caught fish in fisheries.”

Aquaculture in northern Australia is valued at AU$223 million (US$152.7 million). That amount is projected to rise to AU$1.34 billion (US$890 million) by 2030.

To be able to meet the growing demand, genetic tools need to be integrated into breeding programs, said Hintzsche.