A new method for demand feeding of salmon in sea cages where automatic
feeders are controlled by a 'food detector' is described Hydroacousti
c detection of food pellets at 2.5 m depth was used as an indicator of
reduced appetite. Feeding was terminated when echo energy from food p
ellets sinking through a 360-degrees acoustic beam exceeded a preset t
hreshold. In an 83-day full-scale test, the food intake and growth of
salmon whose feeding was controlled by this method (detector group) we
re compared with those of fish fed in accordance with growth rate esti
mates (control group). The specific growth rates (% wet weight/day) we
re 1.01 and 0.71 in the detector and control groups respectively. This
difference in growth was mainly explained by a considerable higher fo
od intake in the detector group. The results indicate that demand feed
ing by hydroacoustic food detection automatically adjusts food ration
to fish appetite, so that food waste is avoided and the growth potenti
al of the fish is utilized