Embracing a culture of innovation

From the editor

Embracing a culture of innovation

Zuridah Merican

Leaving this Covid-19 pandemic temporarily, it is a good time for reflection on the direction and future of Asian aquaculture. How often have we asked ourselves why the financial community is reluctant to invest in aquaculture in Asia? This includes both capital investment and credit lines for operating expenses. Insurance companies tend to avoid protecting shrimp or fish stock against financial loss as we have no compelling disease mitigation process in place. At TARS 2018 on shrimp aquaculture, Tim Noonan presented ‘An investor’s perspective on Asia’s shrimp industry’ and remarked that it was a ‘highrisk, high-return’ scenario akin to a casino. “For shrimp producers seeking capital, there needs to be a focus on management of disease risks, traceability and consumer-driven demands.”

Fast forward to 2020, has there been change? Some may argue the paradigm today is still a large backyard operation pretending to be industrialised. Asian aquaculture needs to move from a highly volatile and disease impacted model to an environment friendly, industrial and predictable model. The past decade of disease impact has provided a lot of data but little of it has been analysed to make cogent operational decisions. The goal would be a data-driven management operation using realtime monitoring and a feedback loop to determine trigger points and drive consistent production.

Innovation is here. Hatch Blue is an accelerator programme that helps aquaculture startups. Their 3rd cohort (2019) can be loosely segmented into artificial intelligence (AI), automation, disease diagnostics, satellite imaging and novel feed ingredients. The first two can be immediate fixes to our problems.

Automation provides real-time monitoring 24/7 and can eliminate human error or mishaps while AI can prove valuable for big-data analyses. The internet of things (IoT) connects the two. With continuous improvement, we can determine trigger points for disease outbreaks. In simple terms, the carrying capacity for any species/density/culture condition can easily be determined and the whole aquaculture operation can be directed from a control room. This is what the investors and insurers look for – risk management.

At Infofish Shrimp 2019, Chelsea Andrews, XpertSea said that “AI can lead the revolution to sustainable production. For example, AI can predict diseases before they happen. AI will not replace farmers but become a key asset in their toolbox.” I reiterate - this is an important assurance for technicians and farm owners. With the current movement restrictions, imagine savings in time, costs and grief if some level of AI innovation had been in place.

Indonesia has a dynamic scene with startups – helped by local events such as Digifish. eFishery and JALA lead in the startup ecosystem and in this issue, we feature Sgara (see p24). The pull factor in Indonesia is the new generation of shrimp farmers looking to change the way farming is done, while requiring some level of predictability in farming using AI. India has two award-winning startups in aquaculture: Eruvaka with real-time analytics to track shrimp feeding and pond conditions and Aquaconnect which uses AI to monitor real time farm operations. Eruvaka’s Sreeram Raavi had a nice story to tell on how a farmer sought his technology back in 2012. Although Eruvaka ran its first pilot project in India, larger shrimp farms in Ecuador have found a stronger product-market fit! Thailand’s Algaeba has an affordable post larvae counting device to ease a hatchery’s workflow. It continues to ask the industry in Thailand and the region to test out its technology.

So where is the resistance and why is the industry slow in embracing innovation? Admittedly, these innovations need to be tried and tested, and both the farmers and innovators need to work together to achieve this. Otherwise we will forever be stuck in a ‘catch-22’ situation. Perhaps it is a question of features and benefits. Traditional farmers continually look for short term cost-savings, not realising that efficiency can provide bigger and better savings. Innovations tend to be costly but prices always come down with economies of scale and competition.

Without doubt, Covid-19 has thrown a spanner in the works for demand, supply and the aquaculture supply chain but it is time to focus on the future. It is time for us to see the forest for the trees.

PS For those startups interested to be featured, please email: zuridah@aquaasiapac.com

September/October 2020 AQUA Culture Asia Pacific

Innovation is here. Hatch Blue is an accelerator programme that helps aquaculture startups. Their 3rd cohort (2019) can be loosely segmented into artificial intelligence (AI), automation, disease diagnostics, satellite imaging and novel feed ingredients. The first two can be immediate fixes to our problems.

Automation provides real-time monitoring 24/7 and can eliminate human error or mishaps while AI can prove valuable for big-data analyses. The internet of things (IoT) connects the two. With continuous improvement, we can determine trigger points for disease outbreaks. In simple terms, the carrying capacity for any species/density/culture condition can easily be determined and the whole aquaculture operation can be directed from a control room. This is what the investors and insurers look for – risk management.

At Infofish Shrimp 2019, Chelsea Andrews, XpertSea said that “AI can lead the revolution to sustainable production. For example, AI can predict diseases before they happen. AI will not replace farmers but become a key asset in their toolbox.” I reiterate - this is an important assurance for technicians and farm owners. With the current movement restrictions, imagine savings in time, costs and grief if some level of AI innovation had been in place.