Founder, Bryton Shang, started Aquabyte with a simple ML-based camera in a San Francisco bathtub, and has grown the company into a global leader with advanced technology that makes everyday life easier for fish farmers. Shang, a Princeton University graduate, has already made waves in the sector despite his young age. In 2019 he was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30, and represented Aquabyte at The White House in a discussion on how technology can enable sustainable aquaculture in places like Norway, Chile, and the United States.
We caught up with the team at Aquabyte to find out more about what they do...
What drew Aquabyte to joining Salmon Scotland as a member, and what do they hope to get out of it?
"By joining Salmon Scotland, Aquabyte are looking to tap into the invaluable knowledge and experience of its members, helping us understand the market, and what the market demands and needs.
"Furthermore, relations with the government and regulators are critical, and here Salmon Scotland plays a key role. We are looking forward to receiving critical support when collaborating with the regulatory environment, aiming to accommodate new technology and solutions that will bring the industry forward.
"We hope that Salmon Scotland can facilitate meetings with stakeholders and others, and thus, contribute to our understanding the requirements our solutions would need to comply and deliver on. And, finally, we look forward to joining a relevant network, gaining strategic partners to secure optimum collaborations."
What does Aquabyte do, and how can their technology help fish farmers?
"Aquaculture is a large and growing market, and the world expects a 50 percent increase in seafood demand by 2030. The global industry needs to focus on healthy fish at lower cost, so it's all about higher efficiency and sustainability.
"To do something about it, Aquabyte coupled a smart camera system with a machine learning platform to help fish farmers optimize yield and profit.
"Our platform now enables automatic lice counting, labour savings, less stress of fish, better welfare scoring and biomasses control. All in one solution!
"We believe Aquabyte can contribute to radically better fish farming through data driven and smarter farming decisions.
"Our customers see us as a partner, and take advantage of multiple services of critical value. We have developed a unique all in one platform, and solved global distribution with a self-service model. The platform provides the intersection of computer vision, machine learning, edge processing, and fish biology."
What opportunities do Aquabyte see for their services to be used throughout Scotland?
"Fish farmers need new decision-making tools to unleash the full potential of their farm, as well as to reduce costs, and improve revenue. Aquabyte facilitates the use of data as a basis for fish welfare, production optimisation, and automated fish farming. We work with farmers to develop autonomous units that control production in the pen and deliver decision-making tools that the industry needs.
"The biggest advantage of the Aquabyte platform and the data we produce is our holistic view of fish welfare and growth. Combining insights from our welfare data with growth and feeding performance, we provide unique information about fish production that helps you make better data-driven decisions.
"This will help farmers better understand daily trends and events, enabling faster actions. The product range consists of several software packages that are supported by our all-in-one camera platform, in addition to a winch for easy and efficient operation."
What are some of the biggest achievements for Aquabyte since forming in 2017?
"As a frontrunner, Aquabyte has been always prioritized sound contact with the authorities. As a result, we were the first player in Norway to get dispensation for automatic lice counting with our product Aquabyte LICE. We were first to launch a welfare product - Aquabyte WISE, which gives the farmers automated welfare data on all observable indicators.
"In short, the benefit for the farmer is automated data on lice, welfare and growth, reduced stress and handling of the fish, improved production planning and control. This leads to improved knowledge, better decision making, and increased revenue."
Find out more about Aquabyte by visiting their website here.