Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) is a rapidly evolving, non-invasive technology that has been extensively applied to both freshwater and saltwater fish, from juvenile to adult stages, to estimate body composition and key health-related biomarkers. This technique measures the electrical properties of tissues, providing insights into physiological parameters such as fat content, water distribution, protein density, and overall condition. Unlike traditional methods that require destructive sampling, BIA offers a fast, repeatable, and non-lethal approach to assessing fish health in real-time.
The simplicity of BIA’s hardware and software integration makes it an accessible tool for researchers, fisheries managers, and citizen science initiatives. Using a portable, field-ready device, users can quickly obtain measurements, which are then transmitted to a cloud-based data analytics dashboard. This digital integration allows for real-time monitoring, automated analysis, and long-term data tracking, facilitating large-scale ecological studies and fisheries management. The technology has been validated across diverse species and environments, showing high correlation with traditional body composition methods.
This talk will cover the fundamental principles of BIA, detailing its successful applications in fish biology, including monitoring growth rates, detecting physiological stress, and assessing energy reserves. Additionally, we will explore how researchers and citizen science groups are leveraging BIA to collect extensive datasets across different aquatic ecosystems. By democratizing access to advanced fish health monitoring, BIA represents a transformative tool for fisheries research, conservation, and aquaculture.
Attendees will gain an in-depth understanding of how bioimpedance works, what it measures in fish, and its emerging role in large-scale ecological and management programs. The session will highlight ongoing research efforts, case studies, and future directions for expanding BIA’s use in fisheries science.