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Despite the fact that there are more coral species than the Great Barrier Reef, the waters off Darwin are increasingly threatened by introduced species, overfishing and climate change.
In an effort to better manage and monitor fish populations in the crocodile-invading Darwin Harbor waters, the Northern Territory government has automated the process by transmitting images of buoy cameras to an artificial intelligence platform. .
Scientists from the Department of Natural Resources and Industry (DPIR) have turned to GitHub and Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services to develop the open source solution for artificial intelligence, spending dozens of hours to identify the fish species swimming in the cameras view to form the machine learning program. the platform.
The first iteration of the system was operational in one month and, within six months of its development and deployment, its identification capabilities have been progressively improved to the point where artificial intelligence can now identify a fish with 95 precision. at 99%.
The speed of fish identification has also been accelerated to the point that AI can badyze hours of video in minutes, thus freeing DPIR scientists for more valuable work in ecosystem management.
Dr. Shane Penny, a fisheries scientist with the NIRP, said the system allows them to monitor species at risk of overfishing, such as golden snapper and black Jew, and to better tailor conservation efforts.
"These are two commercially and recreationally important species in the Northern Territory, but research has shown that they have been overexploited in the wider Darwin area," Penny said.
DPIR's Chief Information Officer, Rowan Dollar, is already looking forward to expanding the program based on early successes, including monitoring wild fish in freshwater systems and equipping commercial vessels with cameras.
"We could consider installing a camera on a trawler at sea and identify the catch on the fly in order to start measuring bycatch. We can begin to be able to identify this in real time to help better manage these fisheries, "Dollar said.
Other fisheries around the world could also adopt the system, which has been downloaded on GitHub, to manage fishing stocks in different environments.
In the northern territory alone, the value produced by primary industries, including fishing, is well over half a billion dollars a year.
According to a report released by the United Nations in 2018, demand for marine resources from the NT is expected to grow along with global trends. Fish consumption increased by 3.2% per year.
Other state environmental agencies are also seeking artificial vision solutions for the management of sensitive ecosystems, including the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, which is responsible for tracking plant species. invasive as part of a partnership with QUT.
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