50 Industry Review
An update on the marine ecosystem landscape Masahiko Yamada talks on industry’s uptake of Umitron’s innovations and what’s next on its agenda
I
n the September/October 2020 edition, we published an interview with Masahiko Yamada, the co-founder/ Managing Director of the Singapore/Japan deep tech company UMITRON Pte Ltd. He and his team have been making waves with a series of developments and solutions in addressing difficult problems to accelerate sustainable mariculture using computerised technology. Back then, Masahiko said that he and Umitron’s founders have experiences in both the aerospace industry and software engineering. Consequently, Umitron took the marine aquaculture path considering that “since oceans cover 70% of the earth’s surface, advances in satellite observations and data analytics could potentially have a huge impact in this area”. Since 2016, Umitron has launched several innovations; the first was an IoT based smart feeding system for cage culture. The company followed this with the world’s first real-time ocean-based fish appetite detection system, FAI or Fish Appetite Index, an algorithm that automatically evaluates feeding conditions using artificial intelligence (AI). In the marine ecosystem landscape, Umitron launched PULSE, a worldwide high-resolution satellite ocean data map for aquaculture farmers. Since its first release in 2019, the service has undergone a few significant updates. It now incorporates a more comprehensive dataset, allowing users to access more environmental parameters and long-term historical data. More recently, the company finally disclosed information on the development of technology for shrimp, which is the world’s first real-time AI-based analytics solution for shrimp farming to keep track of the shrimp production conditions.
Feed efficiency
AAP: With feed costs rising, feed efficiency becomes critical. There are also environmental sustainability practices being promoted. How can the UMITRON CELL and FAI help marine cage farmers in these aspects?
Umitron’s Masahiko Yamada: We are big on sharing knowledge and promoting the value of data to producers
feed wastage that pollutes the site and adversely impacts production costs. When used in combination with UMITRON CELL, FAI helps the farmers keep a close eye on what’s happening during the feeding process across the entire site and notifies them of any changes in the feeding behaviour, allowing them to make quick adjustments. Our bespoke AI algorithms are already automating the feeding process to automatically adjust and streamline the protocols based on said behaviour. Since fish are fed based on their appetite level, there is minimal feed wasted, and any pellets dispensed go straight to growth conversion (resulting in improved FCR). The benefits extend to other areas as well. For example, the extra time gained by offloading the feeding process to AI means that employees now have more time to focus on other more if not equally important tasks, such as improving fish welfare and disease mitigation.
Ocean aquaculture and ecosystem
AAP: The UMITRON PULSE is now available for free to users. Tell us how is the uptake and how do you gather information from users to improve on your data analytics? Masahiko: The response has been good so far. We now have over 600 users worldwide. We are fortunate to have highly motivated partners who provide feedback to us regularly, based on their user experience via dedicated feedback sessions and other means. Meanwhile, UMITRON PULSE has undergone an overhaul and now boasts a brand-new UI, two new parameters and long-term access to historical data. With wind and ocean current data included the number of parameters available for users to access is now seven instead of the previous five.
Masahiko: Feeding has always been a vital part of farming operations and makes up a significant portion of daily work. Poorly executed protocols can result in unnecessary March/April 2022 AQUA Culture Asia Pacific
