FAO provides an excellent resource for global fishery and aquaculture statistics. The following interactive chart shows how aquaculture has overtaken capture fisheries in recent years globally and in many countries.

Fisheries

Fisheries are often a combination of traditional artisanal fishery systems for the poor and technologically-advanced systems for others.According to FAO, total fish production is expected to increase from 179 million tons in 2018 to 204 million tons in 2030, of which aquaculture is expected to account for 109 million tons. Reports over the last few years have indicated that the proportion of fisheries that are fully fished, overfished, or recovering from overfishing increased from just over 60% in the mid 1970s to 75% in 2005 to almost 90% in 2013. There is a need for significant rethinking to address this crisis.

Technologies could be one part of the solution. The future probably holds improvement of technologies for all relevant stakeholders – be it for fish stock assessments or systems to guide, regulate, and facilitate sustainable fisheries, or to support the fish value chains. Many new technologies are envisaged in this “ smart fisheries ” future, including for fish feed extrusion , blockchain applications in seafood value chains , and earth observation to curtal illegal fishing , especially in the coming years .

Automated Identification Systems have been in used for a few years to help sea vessels locate each other with on-board transponders.

Eyes in the Sky Monitor Fishy Activity

Earth Observations from satellite now provide global consistent coverage for some basic information related to temperature, waves, wind, storms, etc. that could become part of advisories for even poor fishermen. The Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services has been providing such services to farmers

A new range of earth observation tools (including optical nightlights and radar satellite earth observation) are now being explored to observe sea vessels, especially fishing activity.

Global Fishing Watch has developed a free public interactive map to get insights into commercial fishing across the globe by leveraging big data.

Aerial surveys including from aerial drones could also have good potential but are not as used.

McKinsey estimates that US$11 billion could be saved by large-scale fishing companies worldwide with the help of advanced analytics for more “precision fisheries”.

Underwater & Floating Drones

There are many types of underwater vehicles , with a new range of unmanned underwater vehicles being developed for a range of surveying and security applications. These include a range of UUVs (Unmanned Underwater Vehicles) that could include Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROVs) which connected to a ship by cables, and other systems. These are fast becoming a big focus of the application of AI in a partnership across academia, government (e.g. NOC ) and the private sector.

There are also remote systems of solar and wind powered floating ocean drones that can be harnessed to undertake assessments (e.g. bathymetry) with modern sensors (see example ).

The Yara Birkeland will be the world’s first completely autonomous zero-emission cargo ship, including land operations (loading and unloading) that will enter into commercial operations when launched.

Korea: Fisheries Monitoring, Surveillance and Control System

In 2014, Korea began significantly strengthened its Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) capacity and reinforced sanctions on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. South Korea monitors all registered fishing boats operating in international or foreign waters to prevent illegal fishing or any other unwarranted activities through the Fisheries Monitoring Center (FMC). FMC opened in the southern port city of Busan, enabling real-time monitoring of all South Korean vessels engaged in deep-sea fishing. The vessels real-time location allows the government to issue a warning when the vessel appears to be engaged in IUU fishing in foreign waters. Korean fishing vessels are now required to carry Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS), which allow satellites to track their movements. Korean officials monitor VMS from a 24-hour Fisheries Monitoring Centre. From September 2015, all vessels are now required to an electronic logbook system, which allows vessels to share real-time information on catch and fishing operations.

Installing a structure with snare device in the ocean

Analysis on pattern of illegal fishing and occurrences of foreign fishing vessels are conducted and survey on the sea conditions and discarded nets are monitored. Based on the analysis on illegal fishing activities through coordination among relevant organizations and fishermen, locations of structure with snare device are selected. The structures equipped with snare devices attract fishing gears and damages the fishing gears, thus prevent illegal fishing activities by fishing vessels. It has the capability to protect fishing gear of Korean fishing vessels and fishing grounds through preventing illegal fishing by foreign vessels. Thus, it provides habitat for fisheries and contributes to fisheries enhancement.

Research on cutting-edge technologies & eco-friendly fishery

National Institute of Fisheries Science is committed to developing cutting-edge technologies for sustainable fisheries. Below are some of its ongoing research and further information can be found through this link .

Development of resource-managing fishing gear & protection of marine mammals

At present, fishing gear is largely made of synthetic fibers, thus damaging the fishing grounds. The NIFS, to counter such damage, is developing biodegradable fishing gear, resource-managing towed gear that will reduce bycatch of juveniles and nontarget species, while carrying out researches on the protection of endangered species, including bycatch reduction of marine mammals.

Development of energy-saving fishing ships & technologies

The NIFS develops a wide range of energy-saving fishing technology, from hull design of fishing vessels for less resistance and improved safety, to recycling of wasted heat from fishing vessels by thermoelectric modules for reduction of greenhouse gases.

Development of Automation Technology

The NIFS, in order to help the aging and decreasing population of fishers, is developing automation technology for the fishing industry, such as an automated grading system for sea squirts using image processing technology, automated feeding systems based on mobile devices for fish farms, and IoT-based safety monitoring system for fishing vessels. The NIFS performs researches based on technological convergence and the feedback received from fishermen.

Aquaculture

e-Fishery (Indonesia)

eFishery - an aquaculture intelligence company manufactures smart fish feeding machines, which is helping Indonesia’s fish farmers by providing them affordable technology services. It’s a notable example from the developing world on how social and economic inequality can be reduced through an inclusive digital economy in fisheries. The automatic fish feeder machines use a data and intelligence platform to sense the fishes' appetite and feed them until they are full. These machines can be controlled by smartphone helping you to monitor feed output every day without having to manually record. It increases feed efficiency by 28%, shorten the harvest and a 100% increase in profits of smallholder fish farmers. These are then being linked to market value chains for additional services to fish farmers.

Aquaponics

Aquaponics is a new way to combine growing crops with fish in a controlled environment. This has the potential to be more environmentally-friendly and help use 90% less water than traditional farming due to a recycling system with usually low maintenance and no agrochemical or soil use. This is expected to double in value from US$668 in 2019 to about $1,375 million in 2025.

Blockchain for Seafood Industries

Singapore based Eachmile Technologies has come up with an innovative blockchain solution, the Fishcoin project to solve traceability challenges for sustainable seafood. Unlike other blockchain initiatives, it is designed on a decentralized ecosystem that incentivizes data capture so that the stakeholders including companies and 3rd party developers can benefit by adding value to the network. Data sharing is incentivized through transfer of stable coin tokens from buyers to sellers in supply chains, thus rewarding those who make the extra effort to capture and communicate data.

In 2017, the use of blockchain technology was first applied to the seafood industry in South Korea. As a pilot project for the blockchain application to the supply-chain of fish cakes, Samsung SDS, an IT services provider of Samsung, worked with a fish cake manufacturer, Samjin Food, to track production, packaging and delivery of frozen fish cakes using a blockchain app. When blockchain is used in this way, the technology enhances transparency and security of the information about the frozen products' supply chain because it involves distributed ledgers that can be updated in real time and is very difficult to alter data. Samsung SDS has successfully finished this pilot project with Samjin Food, ensuring that the application of blockchain to fish cake products would make the delivery process more transparent for consumers wary of food safety. Each package of frozen fish cakes comes with a QR code and scanning the code will display the entire route from production to consumption.

Korea: Innovative and Eco-friendly Aquaculture Technology

• Smart Fish Farm: Smart Fish Farm is an automation and intelligent technology that combines ICT with the conventional establishment and technology of fishery. The NIFS produces big data on aquaculture and supports designing and establishment of intelligent and automated fish farming.

• Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) IMTA is the most eco-friendly method of aquaculture that prevents pollution of aquafarms by utilizing organic substances including excretion from farm bred fishes and remaining feeding as feeding for shellfishes, inorganic substances as feeds for seaweeds, and sea cucumbers that consume sediment at the bottom of aquafarms as a farm cleaner. The NIFS verifies the effects of the IMTA and analysis on its economic feasibility.

• Biofloc Technology (BFT) Biofloc Technology (BFT) is a new aquaculture technology that purifies sea water by utilizing colony of microorganisms for decomposition of organic matters and requires minimal seawater exchanges or antibiotics. The NIFS succeeded in farming shrimps and is pursuing its R&D works for expansion and commercialization of the technology.

• Recirculation Aquaculture System (RAS) The Recirculation Aquaculture System (RAS) is a form of aquaculture that involves purification of contaminated water in the fish farms by physical, chemical, and biological means for recycling. It can prevent mass mortality while improving growth speed and efficiency. The NIFS also researches commercialization of aquaculture utilizing the RAS for olive flounders.

RFID technology and development of genetic marker for releasing healthy fisheries seeds

Korea Fisheries Resources Agency (FIRA) operates certification system of released fishery seeds and consults on genetic management of broodstock held by local government through RFID insertion and genetic sample collection. FIRA monitors, evaluates and manages genetic diversity of main species for seeds, releasing through development of genetic markers for species to be applied for higher genetic diversity and advanced techniques. It developed microsatellite DNA markers and multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to amplify a segment of genetic markers and analyzed parentage of population structure to increase effectiveness of survey of seed releasing.

In many parts of the world, fisheries have traditionally been integrated with agricultural systems such as flood rice cultivation and these are also exploring new technology-driven approaches. There are also new approaches being explored to integrate fish culture with poultry rearing in transplanted rice. Even more innovative approaches using offshore aquaculture (open ocean aquaculture) are also being explored for their potential if their significant environmental and other risks can be effectively managed. This is true of many approaches to sustainable aquaculture over the years, where the promise has to go hand-in-hand with sustainability concerns including pollution.

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