As an Internet of Things (IoT) startup for fish farming, eFishery, an Indonesian startup is tackling one of the supposedly biggest challenges in commercial aquaculture industry. According to the firm, fish feeding traditionally eats up between 50 and 80 percent of all overhead costs in the business. Overfeeding negatively impacts the environment in many ways, says eFishery, as a great deal of fish food ultimately goes to waste. It also harms the health of a farmer’s stock. Over-feeding also directly affects productivity in fresh water fish farming in rural Indonesia, and eFishery aims to solve the problem by providing an internet-based tech to monitor and control feeding. While underfeeding, on the other hand, means fish may not survive.

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eFishery smart feeding device

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The result of unmeasured and inexact fish feeding methods on a large commercial scale means monetary losses for farmers. eFishery offers a very viable automatic smart feeder that uses sensors to measure the fish’s appetite and then dispense food appropriately. Designed for both small and large scale operations, the system can also deliver real-­time reports of consumption straight to the farmer’s smartphone.

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eFishery is also currently developing a technology that is able to detect the “level” of satiety in fishes, based on their behaviour and the ripples they have caused. “The way we see it is that when fishes are moving aggresively, it means they are still hungry, and when the fishes are less aggresie, it means that they are satisfied. From that point we can decided when to stop feeding them,” El Farizy explained.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

eFishery team

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The CEO also stated that in the long run the startup aims to introduce the use of big data in Indonesian fishery sector, with the aim of pushing for a more transparent pricing range. But user acquisition remains the current focus for the startup.

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“The problem that we are solving is the inefficiency of feeding in the fish farming business,” explains eFishery co-founder and CEO Gibran Chuzaefah Amsi El Farizy. “I saw the problem when I was a fish farmer myself. Fish feeding is done inefficiently by laborers, and farmers don’t have any technology to control the feeding yet.”

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According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, more than 96 percent of fish farming activities worldwide are concentrated in Asia. In Indonesia alone, the overall market size for commercial aquaculture is US$5.4 billion. The firm makes money by selling smart feeders to farmers and distributors. It also charges a monthly subscription fee for the mobile software used to monitor and analyze the fish feeding activities in real-­time.

 

On average, eFishery’s smart feeding system reduces the amount of feed used by 21 percent, the startup says. eFishery will also soon develop its software side platform, create a better dashboard for customers, add more features, and include new compatibilities for the device. To do that, the company says it’s looking for the best talent out there.