Aquaculture Technology Provider UMITRON Launches Fish Appetite Index (FAI), The World\'s First Real-Time Ocean-Based Fish Appetite Detection System

UMITRON PTE. LTD. (Singapore, Co-founder/ Managing Director Masahiko\r\nYamada) launches Fish Appetite Index (FAI), the world's first real-time\r\nocean-based fish appetite detection system. UMITRON FAI uses efficient machine\r\nlearning and image analysis techniques to extract relevant data from video\r\nstreams that can then be used to accurately quantify fish appetite. FAI\r\nsoftware has already been rolled out to existing customers to optimize their\r\nfeeding operations.

Over the past twenty years the aquaculture industry has been\r\nexpanding at an exponential rate with annual production tripling during this\r\nbrief time span. At the same time, however, aquaculture feed prices have also\r\nrisen dramatically. This presents an ever-growing challenge for farmers since\r\nfeed costs account for a majority of their operational overhead. Farmers must\r\nwalk a tight line: underfeeding their fish risks lower growth rates and slower\r\ntime to market, while overfeeding increases costs and potentially harms the\r\nenvironment. New data analytics technologies such as IoT devices and machine\r\nlearning offer farmers a solution to improve their feeding operations.

The FAI algorithm takes in the same visual information that\r\nhumans would and then scores fish appetite and presents it in an easy to\r\nunderstand chart. When used in tandem with a smart feeder such as UMITRON CELL,\r\nthe feed time intervals and amounts can be automatically adjusted with minimal\r\nhuman interference. Farm operators can utilize FAI to fine-tune their feeding\r\nschedules, ensuring fish are always satiated. This is easily done via their\r\nsmartphones with the UMITRON app, where they can check and remotely adjust feed\r\nsettings based on the FAI feedback.

FAI benefits farmers by reducing wasted feed, improving\r\nprofitability as well as environmental sustainability. FAI in combination with\r\ntechnology such as CELL allows farmers to stay onshore during dangerous weather\r\nconditions or holidays while still keeping a close eye on their fish stocks.\r\nFurthermore, it reduces the need for every employee to be an expert at feeding\r\nand instead frees workers to focus on other tasks that improve fish welfare.

Existing UMITRON customers have already begun using FAI\r\nalongside CELL. "Today, there are many companies developing\r\nmachine-learning algorithms for a variety of industries but only testing them\r\nunder ideal conditions. The UMITRON Fish Appetite Index on the other hand is\r\nalready being embraced by our existing customers at their ocean-based farm\r\nsites where it operates under real world conditions. It might be difficult for\r\nsome of our potential customers to completely trust artificial intelligence at\r\nfirst, but FAI is an important tool that can be used to increase productivity\r\nand reduce waste," said Masahiko Yamada, managing director of\r\nUMITRON.  "Our appetite analysis approach is being developed with\r\ncustomer feedback in mind. UMITRON will continue to develop similar value-added\r\nsoftware services that can be automatically rolled out to our existing customer\r\nbase. Also, we are open to developing other practical applications after\r\ndiscussions with potential customers or equipment partners,"  added Takuma\r\nOkamoto, CTO of UMITRON.

UMITRON is looking for partners interested in using FAI for\r\nspecies such as Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, European sea bass, and gilthead\r\nsea bream. Similarly, UMITRON is looking for feeding system manufacturing\r\npartners who wish to utilize data analysis software such as FAI to improve\r\ntheir current products.

UMITRON will participate in AquaNor, which will be held in\r\nTrondheim, Norway from August 20-23, and The Japan International Seafood &\r\nTechnology Expo from August 21-23 in Tokyo, Japan. Interested parties should\r\ncontact UMITRON in advance to set up an informational meeting.

About UMITRON

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UMITRON is a Singapore and Japan based deeptech company\r\nwhose aim is to solve worldwide food and environmental problems by empowering\r\naquaculture through technology. We build user-friendly data platforms for\r\naquaculture by using IoT, satellite remote sensing, and artificial intelligence\r\n(AI). Our technology helps farmers improve farm efficiency, manage\r\nenvironmental risks, and in turn increase business revenues. Our final goal is\r\nto utilize computer models in combination with aquaculture to help the world\r\nsustainably and efficiently deliver protein in a human-friendly and\r\nnature-friendly way. Ultimately, we aim to "install Sustainable\r\nAquaculture on Earth".

Source : PR Newswire