FISHFACE: USING TECHNOLOGY TO CHANGE

THE WAY FISHERIES ARE MANAGED

BACKGROUND ON THE ISSUE Fish stocks around the world are declining—with an estimated 90 percent of the world’s fisheries over or fully exploited. In developing countries, like Indonesia, the decline of a fishery can have severe consequences, as nearly 40 percent of the population lives just above the poverty line, fishing is a way of life and fish is an important source of protein for millions of people.

A key challenge in addressing overfishing is the scarcity of data on the condition of fish stocks. In complex multi-species fisheries, like the ones in Indonesia and in many other tropical developing countries, data limitation on the type of species fished and the size of individual fish make sound management almost impossible. In fact, some 90% of fisheries globally are lacking in stock assessment data. Traditional stock assessment methods are prohibitively expensive, and in the majority of fisheries in the developing world, the condition of stocks is not known.

WHAT WE ARE DOING To this end, the Conservancy is developing methods and tools to assess stocks inexpensively, and with the engagement of fishermen, government and industry so we can begin to put in place science-based management.

Our staff in Indonesia is working with PT. Primo Indo Ikan—a local seafood processing company and Norpac Fisheries

Export—a seafood trading company on reforming the large deep water snapper and grouper fishery on the Sahul Banks which is located in the Timor Sea (see map). Originally this fishery was thought to have around 20-30 species, however, the Conservancy developed a fish ID guide and discovered that there are more than 120 species in this fishery, many of which are very similar in appearance. In addition to understanding diversity of species, a critical challenge was how to assess the condition of each stock in a fast and inexpensive way. The Conservancy wanted to use a methodology based on the size of fish being caught to assess the condition of the fishery, but needed a solution to measure each fish without delaying the processing of the fish at the plant—essential for a fresh, perishable commodity.

To solve this challenge, together with the company Insight Solutions, we developed a technology we call the Smart Weighing Scale, to quickly measure each fish and barcode them accordingly as they are processed at the plant. Fish are sorted by type and barcoded, fish are then weighed on the digital scale and passed on to the system’s unique measuring board, where barcodes are scanned and data is uploaded to a digital database. Tracking information taken from a GPS device on the fishing boat is also linked to the database, allowing us to understand where fish are being caught. New barcodes with this information are printed and sent along with the fish as they are packaged and delivered to the next buyer, creating a traceability system from landing to exporting.

Fig 1: Indonesian Species ID Guide

The result is that we are able to apply our stock assessment approach to this data-poor fishery through the landings at PT Primo Indo Ikan almost automatically as fish get landed and processed. This information not only allows us to improve fisheries management decisions, it is also a market-based solution to overfishing, as the traceability system can actually help companies save money by becoming more efficient and better manage their inventory. Our partner, Norpac Fisheries Export has reported the ability to pay higher wages and increase their bottom line due to the efficiency gained through using this system versus the legacy system it replaced.

WHAT’S NEXT The next step for this project is to make this system even more efficient by piloting the technology to collect species type and length automatically as fish are landed.

The Nature Conservancy’s Indonesia Fisheries program is working with 2 technology companies that use machine learning to sort and recycle cell phones to develop a prototype, called Fishface, that applies this same technology to species identification for fish. The ultimate goal is to build this technology into a smart phone app that could be used on fishing boats throughout the region and eventually be deployed around the globe. Through the use of affordable image recognition software that will detect species and length from photos, much faster and more accurate sorting of fish will be possible at the processing plant, or even as it is landed on the boat and entering the hold.

Ultimately, the pilot of the Fishface technology described will offer a low-cost assessment of fish stocks, which is couched within a larger Conservancy strategy to design a framework for fisheries assessment and management for data poor fisheries. The framework envisioned will be applied across these types of fisheries in a multitude of geographies, with the potential to impact the some 260 million people who depend on fish for income and food.

Some third party arbiters of sustainable seafood, including the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch program and Fair Trade, USA are considering using the framework for their decision criteria. By providing tangible demonstrations of the success of our approach, we aim to advance sustainable fisheries management for all coastal nations suffering from the effects of poor data and management.

Fig 4: Data is automatically entered into database

Fig 2: Workers label each basket with a barcode sticker containing

information about the catch (species, total weight, number of fish,

vessel name, user)

Fig 3: Fish length easily and efficiently quantified