Real-time Information Tool for Aquaculture Farmers

Aquaculture management software Aquanetix has developed an information tool to provide aquaculture managers the details they need to make decisions on a daily basis to get maximum profits

The founders of aquaculture management software Aquanetix believe feed is the key area in which farmers can maximize performance and margins.

Their cloud-based platform and mobile phone application (app) can save fish farmers between 10% and 40% on feed costs, they say; vital when not only do farmers want better margins, but the sector as a whole needs to be making the most efficient use of feed raw materials.

"The aquaculture sector is growing by 6.7% each year, but demand for feeds is increasing by some 12 or 13%," Diogo Thomaz, one of the co-founders of Aquanetix, told Undercurrent News . "The resources are under increasing demand, so prices will always be increasing - the need to optimize is vital."

Aquanetix is a 'real-time' information tool designed to provide aquaculture managers the details they need to make decisions on a daily, or even hourly, basis. Competing services may only provide monthly reports, meaning the information cannot be used to make decisions on the fly, said Thomaz.

Currently focused on cage farms, and onusers farming seabass, seabream, salmon, as well as some pond farmers producing tilapia and pangasius, Aquanetix has plans to expand in time.

"We want to extend the mobile app to be applicable to all systems of farming - cage, pond, tank - and for more species," Stella Adamidou, the second co-founder, told Undercurrent .

"We've started work on a hatchery model, which requires the same information but is more dynamic, and needs more intensive live information collection. This will then feed into our work to produce shrimp models."

Geographically the company is registered in London and based in Greece, where it started with bass and bream farmers. It also has clients in Mexico, Nigeria, a company on a trial in the UK, and South Korea.

"In time we want to focus on Asia, where we'll need a strong support and sales team," said Thomaz. "That's when we're likely to need investment - we've had interest in investing already, and we might make a decision on who we accept, and how, soon. But we'd like a company from the industry, with connections."

Plug in and play with the cloud

The latest version of the user interface - how workers at the farms input live data using their mobile phones - was released at the end of February. The ultimate aim is to have it so simple that anybody can simply pick up a phone or tablet, open the app and use it.

Cloud technology and the mobile app mean Aquanetix needs no IT support, no servers, and very little time to get up and running; another advantage over competitors, the co-founders believe. Its key selling point is showing managers if their biomass in the water is what they expect it to be, using scientifically built and tested growth models tracking the live information on feed consumption in the water.

"If fish aren't eating, or are full rapidly, then your biomass may be larger or smaller than you thought."

The software is flexible from Aquanetix's point of view, meaning they can add new species and growth models easily.

The beta version was created one and a half years ago, after testing with bass and bream farmers in the Mediterranean. Early feedback was that better management of feed was not only beneficial, it was needed.

Source: Undercurrent News

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Taxonomy

• Aquaculture
• Technology
• IT