Aquaculture security and resilient protection with radars

Logan Harris, President, Founder and CEO, Spotter Global reveals how radar has allowed the Multi X salmon farms in Patagonia to protect their locations and stock.

Offshore farming

The Multi X salmon farms and processing facilities in the Chilean Patagonia region provide fresh, sustainable fish protein to over 30 countries.

Altogether, Multi X operates 57 locations and possesses over 38 years’ worth of experience in hatching, nurturing, harvesting, processing and shipping salmon products.

Multi X also has quite the geographical footprint. Its various farms and other facilities are not grouped together, spread out over three of Chile’s southernmost regions.

These off-shore farms and on-shore facilities often experience foggy, rainy or otherwise inclement weather, which affects visibility for both the security personnel and security cameras in place to protect these sites.

Theft and vandalism is a serious concern for all of Multi X’s sites.

Poachers of wild salmon have drastically impacted fish populations in the past, but when lucrative fish populations are concentrated in off-shore farms, the risk of theft grows considerably.

Revenue loss and equipment repair costs in the event of an incident can range into the millions. Inclement weather makes the situation more difficult as it can give thieves the opportunity to evade detection by guards and security sensors, steal significant quantities of fish and leave behind damaged nets and other equipment that allow salmon stock to escape the farm, disappearing into the open ocean.

Key requirements for security projects at these fish farm include:

• Wide area coverage of greater than 100 acres
• All-weather function through fog, rain and salt spray
• Waterproof sensors able to survive many years in a marine environment
• Autonomous operation for detection and event response
• Very low power requirements due to solar system load
• Very low false and nuisance alarm rates to prevent security personnel burnout
• Cost effective solutions that provide high volumetric coverage for not just low equipment cost, but also for low installation and maintenance costs as well as low overall power draw

The security solution

Multi X chose to deploy Spotter Global radars to protect its locations and stock.

There are several features to these radars that make them ideal for use in marine and aquaculture environments.

Firstly, because Spotter Global radars detect targets based on electromagnetic data outside of the visible spectrum, they are able to detect moving targets at great distances through fog, snow, rain, snow, smoke, dust and low-light conditions.

The Spotter Global C20 and C40 have polycarbonate frames, IP67 waterproofing against rain and water sprays and further waterproofing to withstand 3 feet of submersion.

All Spotter Global radar units are small enough to hold in your hand, take less power than a small fluorescent light bulb and many models cover more than 100 acres.

Additionally, Spotter Global radars do not require the installation of additional infrastructure, such as poles or trenching.

The lightweight radar units can easily be installed on existing infrastructure including building sides, existing poles, railings or other on-site fixtures.

All Spotter Global radars are tested for their ability to reliably track and classify over water as well as over land on-foot or vehicle targets.

One Spotter Global radar model, the AX250, is specifically designed to detect and track drone threats.

With the C40 model, smaller boats can be detected at up to 2km away and larger boats can be detected at even greater distances.

All of Spotter Global’s radars and other security sensors integrate with NetworkedIO (NIO), a command-and control (C2) system developed in-house.

NetworkedIO, in addition to gathering data from all on-site Spotter Global devices, also integrates with on-site security cameras, alarm systems and automatable deterrence measures such as floodlights, auditory warning systems, hyper spikes, etc.

The main benefits of NetworkedIO for site security are:

• Seamless coordination between radars and cameras: Whenever a potential threat is picked up by a Spotter Global radar, NetworkedIO tells the nearest security camera to cue to the target, allowing security personnel to visually track and confirm the nature and behavior of potential targets/active threats
• Creation of site-customized security designs: High, mid and low level alert zones can be set up according to client preferences. This allows for better prioritization and response to active threats and other security events as well as more appropriate automated deterrence triggers and responses
• False and nuisance alarm reduction by 90%+: NetworkedIO incorporates 17 layers of behavior filters, machine learning and video analytics to classify target types quickly. Even when the view of cameras is obscured by rain, fog or darkness, radars can reliably detect and classify target types at significant distances. This allows the client to drastically reduce false and nuisance alarms by easily setting their NIO interface to only alarm on certain target types. Movements of harmless wildlife, waves, foliage and fish farm equipment are ignored, but potential threats are quickly detected, tracked and appropriate alarms are triggered

Results

At first, Multi X chose to use both Spotter Global (formerly SpotterRF) C40 radars and another radar provider to watch over their at-risk properties.

However, after a period of experience with both providers, with special attention paid to the false alarm rates, detection success on both overwater and over ground threats and detection success during times of obscuring weather, Multi X decided to replace all their other radars with Spotter Global devices.

To date, one to two Spotter Global radars are used to protect 30 of Multi X’s properties.

The organization’s leadership has expressed satisfaction with the radars’ performance, reduced false alarm rate and overall security system enhancement made possible by Spotter Global technology. Spotter Global and Multi X personnel have discussed partnering together on future projects as well.

Conclusion

Through the combination of a small, low cost, low powered radar with industry-leading NetworkedIO security software, Multi X has attained a robust, multi-layered security solution that meets the specific, difficult environmental and performance requirements involved in protecting aquaculture facilities from intrusion, theft and vandalism.

There is a great deal riding on the success of the world’s aquaculture.

Experts estimate that in the next few decades the adoption of aquaculture over traditional fish hunting will drastically impact the survival or collapse of ocean ecosystems and global food supply.

In order for aquaculture to progress as an industry, aquaculture companies and investors will need to feel secure, knowing that their off-shore and on-land facilities will be safe from security threats.

This article was originally published in the January edition of Security Journal Americas. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.