Mechanical Harvesting Aids for In-Door, Closed System Tilapia...
1
MARKETING DELAWARE-MARYLAND AGRIBILITY: AQUACULTURE PROJECT OVERVIEW Mechanical Harvesting Aids for In-Door, Closed System Tilapia Production CONCLUSIONS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank the support from Joel Blessing and Blair View Farms throughout this project. The authors would also like to acknowledge the guidance and help of Dave Cowgill and Steve Beard from the Engineering Machine Shops. BACKGROUND FIELD IMPLEMENTATION Harvest crew size reduced by two workers. Worker fatigue significantly reduced. In general, less injury-prone maneuvers performed by the workers catching tilapia and loading basket onto the conveyor. Total harvest time for 4000 lb and 6000 lb loads did not significantly decrease. Zero conveyor downtime after 22 months of operation. Workers in the trailer unloading baskets still subjected to a poor working environment because of the low ceiling height of the trailer. No damage to the harvested fish has been observed. No evidence of stray voltage from the conveyor while in the pond. Total system cost ~ $3,500. Mr. Blessing is now able to fully participate in the harvesting operation. One 3.5-ounce serving has 18 grams of protein, 85 calories and only 1 gram of fat. A Mid-Atlantic Cooperative has developed the Farmer’s Catch Brand for locally grown tilapia. Current Market: Live fish markets in New York and Canada. Tilapia are fast growing white meat fish that are well suited for aquaculture production. These fish are grown in high density indoor closed water systems. Mature tilapia average 1.5 lbs at harvest. Once mature, they are typically harvested and hauled live in oxygenated truck tanks. Tilapia approximately 1.5 lbs just prior to harvest. Greg Stewart, John Armstrong, Jonathan Harp, Don Breakiron, Matt Baker & Gordon Bennett Undergraduate Students Ron Jester & Jim Glancey Department of Bioresources Engineering One regional brand developed for growers in the Mid-Atlantic. TILAPIA AQUACULTURE DESIGN METRICS FOR NEXT GENERATION HARVESTING SYSTEM 2) Loading full baskets onto the prototype conveyor. KEY FINDINGS Cost effective mechanical harvesting aids have been developed for the Blair View Farm Aquaculture Facility. Using a flighted conveyor, several high- stress, injury inducing maneuvers have been eliminated from the previous catch and lift harvesting method. The system accommodates the weighing of filled baskets, and does not induce damage to the harvested tilapia sold as live market fish. PRODUCTION OVERVIEW AT BLAIR VIEW AQUACULTURE FARM Blair View Farm, Inc. is a state-of-the art aquaculture facility with 24 indoor ponds. 10,000 lbs of tilapia are produced weekly. Computerized, fully- automated systems are used for water circulation and feeding. Mature fish are caught and loaded manually using perforated baskets. CURRENT PROBLEMS Joel Blessing, owner and manger, with a basket used to manually catch live fish. The manual harvesting operation is labor intensive and requires workers to enter the tanks, significantly increasing the chance for injury. Worker fatigue and ergonomic-related ailments continue to exist with the harvest crew. Mr. Blessing recently underwent a knee replacement, and can no longer work in the tanks during harvest. OVERAL PROJECT GOAL KEY AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT Improve the ergonomics of harvesting by eliminate high force, high stress maneuvers performed by workers. Reduce the number of workers required for the harvest crew. Maintain quality for live markets by minimizing time-out-of-water and bruising of the harvested fish. Weigh each full basket prior to unloading into the transport truck. Design and implement cost effective mechanical harvest aids for the Blair View Farm Aquaculture Facility that reduce the potential for worker injury while maintaining harvested fish quality suitable for live markets. Elevation view of the basket conveyor used to transport full baskets to the weighing scale. After weighing, baskets are transported and unloaded in the transport truck. Not illustrated are additional conveyors for transporting the baskets into the trailer. Basket Scale Direction of Travel Accumulation Rollers Flighted Conveyor Loaded Baskets Water Level at Harvest Pond Wall Transfer Platform PERFORMANCE CURRENT NEW METRIC SYSTEM SYSTEM Harvesting Crew Size ….. 8 people 6 people Lifting Operations above 1 m ……………… 2 0 Walking Distance with a Full Basket ……………… 3 meter <1 meter Time Out of Water ……… 30 sec 20 sec CONCEPTUAL VIEW OF THE NEW HARVESTING SYSTEM 1) “Crowding” fish with gates prior to harvest to facilitate catching with the baskets. 5) Conveyor-assisted unloading in the transport trailer. 3) Basket weighting and recording. 4) A loaded basket as it enters the transport truck. 6) Conveyor cleanup after harvesting by Mr. Blessing ON-GOING WORK Under development is an alternative to the basket catching technique still being used. A large “cage” style catching device suspended from an overhead boom has been designed and will be tested later this year. If successful, this approach will further improve the work environment and reduce the potential for injury.
Transcript of Mechanical Harvesting Aids for In-Door, Closed System Tilapia...
MARKETING
DELAWARE-MARYLAND AGRIBILITY: AQUACULTURE PROJECT OVERVIEW
Mechanical Harvesting Aids for In-Door, Closed System Tilapia Production
CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe authors would like to thank the support from Joel Blessing and Blair View Farms throughout this project. The authors would also like to acknowledge the guidance and help of Dave Cowgill and Steve Beard from the Engineering Machine Shops.
BACKGROUND
FIELD IMPLEMENTATION
Harvest crew size reduced by two workers.Worker fatigue significantly reduced.In general, less injury-prone maneuvers performed by the workers catching tilapia and loading basket onto the conveyor.Total harvest time for 4000 lb and 6000 lb loads did not significantly decrease.Zero conveyor downtime after 22 months of operation.Workers in the trailer unloading baskets still subjected to a poor working environment because of the low ceiling height of the trailer.No damage to the harvested fish has been observed.No evidence of stray voltage from the conveyor while in the pond.Total system cost ~ $3,500.Mr. Blessing is now able to fully participate in the harvesting operation.
One 3.5-ounce serving has 18 grams of protein, 85 calories and only 1 gram of fat.A Mid-Atlantic Cooperative has developed the Farmer’s Catch Brand for locally grown tilapia.Current Market: Live fish markets in New York and Canada.
Tilapia are fast growing white meat fish that are well suited for aquaculture production.These fish are grown in high density indoor closed water systems.Mature tilapia average 1.5 lbs at harvest. Once mature, they are typically harvested and hauled live in oxygenated truck tanks.
Tilapia approximately 1.5 lbs just prior to harvest.
Greg Stewart, John Armstrong, Jonathan Harp, Don Breakiron, Matt Baker & Gordon BennettUndergraduate Students
Ron Jester & Jim GlanceyDepartment of Bioresources Engineering
One regional brand developed for growers in the Mid-Atlantic.
TILAPIA AQUACULTURE
DESIGN METRICS FOR NEXT GENERATION HARVESTING SYSTEM
2) Loading full baskets onto the prototype conveyor.
KEY FINDINGS Cost effective mechanical harvesting aids have been developed for the Blair View Farm Aquaculture Facility. Using a flighted conveyor, several high-stress, injury inducing maneuvers have been eliminated from the previous catch and lift harvesting method. The system accommodates the weighing of filled baskets, and does not induce damage to the harvested tilapia sold as live market fish.
PRODUCTION OVERVIEW AT BLAIR VIEW AQUACULTURE FARM
Blair View Farm, Inc. is a state-of-the art aquaculture facility with 24 indoor ponds.10,000 lbs of tilapia are produced weekly.Computerized, fully-automated systems are used for water circulation and feeding.Mature fish are caught and loaded manually using perforated baskets.
CURRENT PROBLEMS
Joel Blessing, owner and manger, with a basket used to manually catch live fish.
The manual harvesting operation is labor intensive and requires workers to enter the tanks, significantly increasing the chance for injury.Worker fatigue and ergonomic-related ailments continue to exist with the harvest crew.Mr. Blessing recently underwent a knee replacement, and can no longer work in the tanks during harvest.
OVERAL PROJECT GOAL
KEY AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
Improve the ergonomics of harvesting by eliminate high force, high stress maneuvers performed by workers.Reduce the number of workers required for the harvest crew.Maintain quality for live markets by minimizing time-out-of-water and bruising of the harvested fish.Weigh each full basket prior to unloading into the transport truck.
Design and implement cost effective mechanical harvest aids for the Blair View Farm Aquaculture Facility that reduce the potential for worker injury while maintaining harvested fish quality suitable for live markets.
Elevation view of the basket conveyor used to transport full baskets to the weighing scale. After weighing, baskets are transported and unloaded in the transport truck. Not illustrated are additional conveyors for transporting the baskets into the trailer.
Basket Scale
Direction ofTravel
Accumulation RollersFlighted ConveyorLoaded Baskets
Water Level at Harvest
Pond Wall
Transfer Platform
PERFORMANCE CURRENT NEWMETRIC SYSTEM SYSTEM
Harvesting Crew Size ….. 8 people 6 peopleLifting Operations above 1 m ……………… 2 0Walking Distance with aFull Basket ……………… 3 meter <1 meterTime Out of Water ……… 30 sec 20 sec
CONCEPTUAL VIEW OF THE NEW HARVESTING SYSTEM
1) “Crowding” fish with gates prior to harvest to facilitate catching with the baskets.
5) Conveyor-assisted unloading in the transport trailer.3) Basket weighting and recording.
4) A loaded basket as it enters the transport truck. 6) Conveyor cleanup after harvesting by Mr. Blessing
ON-GOING WORKUnder development is an alternative to the basket
catching technique still being used. A large “cage” style catching device suspended from an overhead boom has been designed and will be tested later this year. If successful, this approach will further improve the work environment and reduce the potential for injury.
