Norwegian business OptoScale has successfully raised $4.1 million to scale up use of its real-time fish farm monitoring technology in major exporting countries. The proprietary sensors and software that OptoScale leases to fish farmers is revolutionizing how fish producers monitor production pens remotely, in less intrusive ways.
The company, already operating in Norway, Scotland and Canada, will push further into these markets and also expand into Iceland, Chile, and Australia. The market is expected to grow from $10 million today to $400 million by 2030.
The data – which includes accurate and real time average weight as well as the detection of welfare issues like wounds, deformation and lice – helps producers optimise the 18 month production cycle including, among others, fish growth, feed utilization, and treatments.
'Aquaculture being a relatively young sector makes it ripe for innovation,' explained Sven Jørund Kolstø, CEO of OptoScale. 'Before, farmers would have to get in boats once a week or month and manually assess a small selection of fish by hand. Not only is this laborious and stressful for the fish, it is also quite imprecise.'
Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, OptoScale's technology means that producers can now assess up to 200,000 fish each day compared with around 50 to 100 fish using traditional methods. An underwater camera is submerged in each pen and sends real-time measurements guaranteed to be accurate within three per cent on a daily basis.
'In the future, fish farmers will need to spend virtually no time trying to understand what is going on in the fish pens in the water,' said Ragnhild Hollup, CTO of OptoScale. 'All of the data they need will be at their fingertips, meaning that their time may be used for clever decision-making, not tedious sampling.'
With this information available, fish farmers can improve the feed conversion ratio and avoid overfeeding. Accurate feeding can reduce water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from production, which on average produces pollution equal to 100,000 cars annually.
Fish farmers are also able to respond to animal welfare issues quickly and in targeted ways. Detecting diseases early ensures fish are not wasted and can grow to full maturity before being harvested. Automated detection of lice in particular helps avoid manual inspections out of water, which can affect fish health.
'Fish farming is a huge growth market,' said Christian Lim, co-Managing Director of the Blue Ocean fund at SWEN Capital Partners, the lead investor in the round. 'Yet, to realize its potential, the industry needs to considerably improve productivity while solving fundamental sustainability issues. OptoScale provides critical technology to achieve both.'
Demand for so-called 'blue foods' – including fish, shellfish and algae – is estimated to almost double by 2050, with most of the increased supply expected to come from fish farming rather than wild-caught fisheries.
'Farmed fish is already a climate-friendly and nutritious food source,' added Kolstø. 'OptoScale is helping our customers not only improve their margins, but also to contribute to healthier societies while minimising the sector's environmental impacts.'
For more information, visit the OptoScale website, HERE.
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