Oman starts an 18-month AI aquaculture system project focused on feed efficiency

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources and Sultan Qaboos University signed an 18-month project to develop an artificial-intelligence system intended for commercial application in fish farms. The specified components include underwater imaging, non-contact weight and biomass estimation, analysis of feeding behaviour connected to automated feeding, integrated data collection and a cloud dashboard. The official account says feed represents 50–70% of aquaculture operating costs, defining the economic problem the system is designed to address.

The architecture creates a relevant map for underwater cameras, sensors, computer vision, data engineering, cloud software, automation, aquaculture operations and research validation. It does not prove that a system has been built, that the models work across species and water conditions, or that automated feeding reduces cost without harming growth or welfare. “Commercially applicable” is a project objective rather than evidence of product readiness, procurement or a customer contract.

Horizon will monitor named pilot farms, datasets, accuracy thresholds, feed-conversion results, welfare measures, intellectual-property ownership and the commercial route. A technology provider should identify whether any requirement is open and who owns it before approaching the project. Evaluation must separate research milestones from procurement and measure error, reliability, integration, feed savings and total operating cost against a baseline rather than relying on the broad feed-cost range.