Beijing, China — In a groundbreaking development at the National Innovation Center for Digital Fishery, sleek metallic robotic fish are making waves in the world of aquaculture.
“These are the robotic tuna and robotic dolphin we’ve developed,” said Liu Jincun, an associate professor at China Agricultural University. “They represent different swimming characteristics, but their core purpose is the same—to assist in fish farming.”
Liu is part of a dedicated team focused on simplifying the labor-intensive tasks of fish farming through underwater bionic robotics. “We want to make the work of fishermen less difficult,” added team member Wei Yaoguang, who brings over two decades of experience to the project.
Traditionally, inspecting vast seafood farms required divers to spend days checking large net cages, a process that was both time-consuming and costly. To address these challenges, the team introduced underwater robots equipped with sensors capable of monitoring fish and nets. Their initial robot could patrol a 400-meter-diameter net cage in just four hours, a significant improvement over manual methods.
However, they soon faced a new hurdle: fish stress response. “Fish are easily stressed, and if the robots get too close, they will jump out of the water,” Liu explained. To minimize disturbance, the team designed smaller, more streamlined bionic fish that blend seamlessly into the aquatic environment. “When our robotic fish swim, live fish often follow them, creating a natural dynamic where larger fish lead smaller ones,” Liu said.
An additional challenge was the robotic tuna’s tail movement, which caused instability during underwater inspections. The team overcame this by developing a visual stabilization system, enhancing the robot’s ability to observe underwater conditions clearly.
These bionic robots incorporate advanced technologies, including fish-like propulsion systems and flexible dual-drive motors, enabling smoother swimming with minimal disturbance. Equipped with high-precision sensors, they monitor water quality and fish behavior in real time.
By leveraging artificial intelligence, the team developed autonomous motion control algorithms and lightweight AI chips, allowing the robotic fish to swim, analyze, and adapt autonomously in various underwater environments.
Experts believe these robotic fish open new possibilities for fisheries management, such as guiding target fish to designated areas for more efficient harvesting and enhancing feeding strategies. “Traditional feeding methods can result in waste or uneven distribution,” Liu noted. “Our robotic fish, with integrated bait bins and sensors, can deliver food more precisely by analyzing bio-indicators like size, number, and activity level.” This approach reduces bait waste, lowers aquaculture costs, and optimizes the growth environment for fish.
Beyond aquaculture, robotic fish have potential applications in deep-sea exploration and marine resource monitoring. “Traditional underwater equipment is often bulky, energy-intensive, and disruptive to marine life,” Wei said. “Bionic robotic fish, with their quiet and unobtrusive nature, can collect deep-sea data, monitor marine ecology, and assist with topographic mapping without interfering with aquatic ecosystems.”
To date, the team has collected over 200 terabytes of video data on more than a dozen fish species, along with 10 million photos and videos. “This data is essential for training AI models and will contribute to smarter, more efficient fish farming,” Wei added.
The team has also integrated their intelligent aquaculture technology with the Fanli Big Model, an AI-powered system developed by the National Innovation Center for Digital Fishery. Deployed across 23 provincial regions, the technology now manages over 6.3 million square meters of land-based aquafarms and 5.5 billion square meters of pond and offshore aquaculture farms, cutting labor costs by 50 percent.
Apart from robotic fish, the center has developed a range of “AI plus fishery” technologies, including water quality monitoring, fish behavior analysis, intelligent feeding, and disease early warning systems, offering comprehensive technical support for modern fisheries.
Li Daoliang, director of the center and a professor at China Agricultural University, emphasized AI’s transformative role in aquaculture. “AI’s impact on fisheries will be profound, enhancing efficiency while also promoting sustainability. With the global population growing and food safety concerns rising, traditional fish farming faces challenges such as water pollution, resource waste, and drug misuse. AI can address these issues and help achieve precise fisheries management,” he said.
“Our team will continue exploring innovative solutions in underwater robotics to create a more efficient and intelligent future for fish farming,” Li added.
