Thai Researchers Study RFID for Managing Prawns and Other Food Fish

An animal is identified by means of a tag's unique serial number, which is stored in a database, along with other information, such as the animal's breed, growth and diet. Growth is tracked monthly to monitor the animal's overall development, and the software helps researchers analyze the data. If the tags identify that an animal is not growing well, researchers can implement crossbreeding to improve the species.

"The study has provided valuable information on the level of injury, healing of fish tissue at the injection area, stress levels and growth rate after injection," Sharma states. "Now we know where the best place is for injection, and can recommend the implanting of glass tags in commercial farming."

A researcher injects an RFID tag into a walking catfish.

The project has received 3 million baht ($89,000) in funding from the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (Nectec), a research and development agency operating under Thailand's Ministry of Science and Technology that aims to promote the RFID industry in that country.

Nectec spokesman Chaichana Mitrpant says the organization provided the funding because the project would deliver a guideline for employing RFID for small aquatic animals with scientifically verified technology. In addition to investigating the physical effects of implanting RFID tags in aquatic animals, he says, the project will also develop a prototype broodstock farm management system.

"We believe this project is crucial to creating awareness and user acceptance for adopting new technology," he says. "After completion of the project, the broodstock farm management system could be used by local private companies. The knowledge from this research project could be used in medium- to large-size broodstock farms and make developing new breeds easier."

Nectec believes the experiments need to be repeated in order to gain more confidence in the statistics of survival and recovery rates. But once the tests are completed by mid-2009, he says, the center intends to promote the technology and share knowledge with private aquatic animal farms. The project could also help further develop RFID technology in Thailand for use in other operations, such as logistics and food tracking.