June 29, 2022 – Press Release

FishVue AI will dramatically increase use of AI in fisheries by creating a single platform for AI tools and introduce a revenue model for AI developers

Victoria, BC (June 29,2022) – Archipelago, a global provider of marine resource management products and services, has announced the introduction of their FishVue AI platform to bring together the data analysis needs of fisheries around the world and artificial intelligence (AI) tools developed by software developers.

Many fisheries-based AI tools have been developed through private business, public sector and in academic circles in recent years, but with no clear path to connect fisheries clients with developers, the implementation of these tools has been slow. As well, the business case for developers to create AI tools for fisheries has been difficult as there has been no simple way to monetize their development efforts. “Archipelago is creating the connection between fisheries clients and AI developers to bring these tools to market, pay the developers for the use of their tools, and allow our clients to improve project efficiencies and reduce costs within their programs,” says Archipelago President and CEO, Gord Snell.

The FishVue AI platform is one step of a multi-step analysis model that sees fisheries data pass through numerous AI tools and then ingest those outputs into Archipelago’s FishVue Interpret data analysis application (formerly EM Interpret). Analysis is then completed and validated by an Archipelago Data Analyst and the results are reported to the client. AI developers will generate revenue by working with Archipelago on addressing client needs in their fisheries, delivering the required AI tools and having data pass through them within the analysis model. As the AI tools become more accurate and sophisticated, it is expected that the level of human interaction with the data will be reduced, and significant cost efficiencies will begin to emerge for clients.

“We have been a trusted global leader in EM, data stewardship and data analysis in fisheries for more than 20 years and we have witnessed the explosion in interest in recent years around the efficiencies that AI can bring to this industry. Every day more developers and AI-focused organizations are reaching out to see how they can get involved and how we can utilize their tools for fisheries review,” says Snell. “In order to begin to create the efficiencies our clients are expecting, we need a way to connect the developers directly to the fisheries clients and that is where our FishVue AI platform comes in. It creates a seamless integration of AI tools across one platform and gives our clients access to the world’s best AI tools all in one place. And by allowing AI developers to generate revenue through the platform, it will enable them to begin to provide ongoing support, updates, and improvements to their AI products as they are utilized in operational programs. We see this approach as a win-win for all parties.”

With the FishVue AI platform, it will allow Archipelago clients to run their data through numerous AI tools which in many cases will be developed by various developers. By having one platform to execute multiple AI algorithms on one data set, it avoids the need for clients to move large quantities of data from company to company which will slow down the review process and introduce additional data transfer costs. Clients will also benefit from an at-scale approach to AI that will allow pricing to be managed across the entire platform in a transparent manner, so clients can be sure they are paying a fair rate for the tools they are utilizing.

In addition to the introduction of the FishVue AI platform, Archipelago continues to make advancements to their AI capabilities internally. In the coming weeks Archipelago will be introducing a new release of its data analysis tool, FishVue Interpret (formerly EM Interpret) that will contain its first fully integrated AI feature into the standard EM analysis workflow. This tool, called “SmartEVENT” was developed in partnership with Ai.Fish for longline fisheries and scans the entire data set to locate gear setting and hauling events and creates annotations for the reviewers to immediately begin their data analysis.

“FishVue Interpret is the tool of choice for the EM data analysis of more than 500 vessels worldwide and the introduction of SmartEVENT will immediately introduce at-scale review efficiencies for many of those vessels that are unmatched by any of our competitors, simply due to the volume of data FishVue Interpret is utilized to review each and every day,” stated Mark Sudul, Archipelago’s Product Manager. “Every fishing trip contains set and haul events, and we chose to focus our initial efforts on AI improvements in this area to make an immediate impact on client efficiency for their data analysis. With SmartEVENT we are seeing reduction in review times ranging from 10% all the way to 40% depending on the catch rate within the fishery. This bodes well for our ability to continue to drive more efficiencies within FishVue Interpret and provide even more value for our clients.”

Archipelago has been working on internal AI development efforts for the last two years and closely with fisheries AI development leaders, Ai.Fish, since early in 2021. “We have been collaborating on tools to be utilized within FishVue Interpret such as SmartEVENT and are currently working together on a project to bring AI tools to the Alaska Fixed Gear EM program in 2022,” says Snell. “We have had great success working alongside Ai.Fish to date and expect that we will continue to work closely in the coming years to develop new and exciting AI tools that can be utilized by our EM clients.”

“For more than 3 years, Ai.Fish has been deploying cutting edge technology to the EM space,” said Jimmy Freese, CEO and Co-Founder of Ai.Fish. “Through our established partnership with Archipelago we are excited to see the acceleration in AI development contribute to the ease and adoption of Electronic Monitoring.”

Recently, Archipelago began collaborating with a British Columbia AI start-up called OnDeck Fisheries AI on potential advancements within numerous fisheries along the west coast of Canada where Archipelago operates numerous monitoring programs. “We have been impressed with OnDeck’s outlook for AI in fisheries and the energy that they are bringing to the market,” says Sudul. “They have fresh ideas and a strong desire to see AI tools become commonplace within our fisheries and we are excited to see what we can create together.”

“Archipelago’s global reach will help bring OnDeck’s game-changing AI tools to a massive network of fisheries clients around the world – unlocking tremendous value for fishers and fisheries management alike,” said Alexander Dungate, Co-Founder of OnDeck.

Who We Are

Archipelago pioneered EM in the late 1990’s and have continued to be a global leader in the advancement of the technology for more than 20 years. They currently support 500+ vessels carrying their EM products. Through their data review software, FishVue Interpret (formerly EM Interpret), clients review more EM fisheries data each year than any other software tool in the world.

Visit www.archipelago.ca for more information, follow them online @itsarchipelago or contact Archipelago at info@archipelago.ca.

Archipelago invites any developers who are interested in learning more about FishVue AI to visit www.fishvue.ai