Pavlov's Fish' Catch Themselves
AP
Posted: 2008-03-27 07:17:44
Filed Under: Science News
BOSTON (March 26) - Call them Pavlov's fish: Scientists are testing a plan to train fish to catch themselves by swimming into a net when they hear a tone that signals feeding time.
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Sea bass - March 26, 2008
Steven Senne, AP
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Scientists in Massachusetts are testing a plan to train black sea bass to swim into a net when they hear a tone that signals feeding time. "It sounds crazy, but it's real," said one researcher. The goal is to defray the cost of fish farming: If the creatures can be trained to return to the farmer after feeding in the ocean, farms could save money on feed.
If it works, the system could eventually allow black sea bass to be released into the open ocean, where they would grow to market size, then swim into an underwater cage to be harvested when they hear the signal.
What's next, teaching them to coat themselves in batter and hop inside a fryer?
"It sounds crazy, but it's real," said Simon Miner, a research assistant at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Wood's Hole, which received a $270,000 grant for the project from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Miner said the specially trained fish could someday be used to bolster the depleted black sea bass stock. Farmed fish might become better acclimated to the wild if they can be called back for food every few days.
The bigger goal is to defray the costs of fish farming, an increasingly important source of the world's seafood. If fish can be trained to return to the farmer after feeding in the open ocean for several days, farms could save money on feed and reduce the amount of fish waste released in concentrated areas.
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