Can technology help save the worlds oceans?
In a recent blog post, Greenpeaces lead ocean campaigner, Luc McCallum, discussed the need to have all of the worlds oceans managed sustainably and in the public interest. He said that at least 30% should be fully protected from all threats by 2030. Protecting at least 30% is what scientists tell us is needed to restore fish populations and keep our oceans healthy, McCallum noted in the blog post. IBM recently brought together a group of experts to look at how technology can support sustainability initiatives. The panel discussed the role of sustainable value chains and how to engineer sustainability and the collection of data through the fishing supply chain. Luq Niazi, general manager of the global distribution sector and consumer industries at IBM, said: World Oceans Day is an important moment in time to stop and reflect on all that the ocean provides to us and how we can use technology to give back. I truly believe we are at that crucial point where individuals, nations, companies and organisations are starting to engineer sustainability through the aquaculture value chain.  Discussing the global dilemma, panel member Donna Lanzetta, CEO and founder of Maana Fish Farms, said: We need to think about the 10 billion people on earth that are planned to be here, look to protein production and feeding the world and implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.  World Oceans Day is an important moment in time to stop and reflect on all that the ocean provides to us and how we can use technology to give back Luq Niazi, IBM  Lanzetta pointed out that hundreds of millions of people around the world rely on the ocean, ocean production and ancillary businesses for their livelihood. To stop eating seafood is not the solution, she said. Rather, Lanzetta believes businesses and individuals need to act more responsibly. Its a social licence thats needed for operators out there, and it needs to be done transparently in an engaged way with society, she said. Lanzetta called for a commitment to transparency so that policy-makers can base decisions on scientific facts. What we want to do is produce seafood, take pressure off of our wild stocks and be most efficient.  Technology to provide transparency in fishing Looking at some of the technologies being used to monitor oceans and fish stock, fellow panellist John Grant, a professor of oceanography at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, described how the past five years had seen greater use of ocean technology. For instance, wireless sensors for measuring temperature, oxygen and phytoplankton, among other variables in the ocean, provide what Grant described as a dense information and sensor network which is available to the farmers in real time via their smartphones. Using blockchain to support traceability in fishing Seafood company Nueva Pescanova Group has begun working with IBM to deploy blockchain-based technology to help ensure the traceability of products across the supply chain. The IBM Food Trust (IFT) platform supports the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceabilitys (GDST) 1.0 standards. The project will follow the GDST standards, which enable interoperability between seafood traceability systems. IBM said the standards would assist with the documentation of batch and product characteristics, as well as the documents that accredit permits, licences, locations and certifications that prove responsible fishing and farming practices, as well as the evidence of sustainability and the guarantee of food safety. The project has started with the registration and digitisation of two key operations for Nueva Pescanova  shrimp fishing in Argentina and the cultivation of Vannamei prawns in Ecuador  which will be complemented by the companys processing and marketing activities in Spain. Ignacio Gonzlez, CEO of the Nueva Pescanova Group, said: We fish, grow, process and market in a sustainable manner. Through this ambitious project, we want to offer our consumers all over the world rigorous and detailed information on the traceability of our seafood products, from their origin until they reach the table. The GDST standards make this possible. Now is the time for businesses across the seafood sector to begin implementing the GDST standards. These sensor networks have really made a difference. They also make a difference to fish welfare, which is an important concern. The sensors provide alerts to help fish farmers make decisions about feeding, health treatments and harvesting stock, he said. Weve been working recently with surgically implanted, heart rate monitors for fish, so were able to not just detect the environment, but to really learn a lot about how the fish are behaving with respect to various conditions in the ocean. Our fish farming partners have fully embraced this technology and now its spreading throughout the world. The data generated is being analysed with IBM Analytics. For Grant, the question is how best to use all this sensor data to forecast the conditions in the ocean to take pre-emptive or preventive management actions in fish farming. Another use of sensors is on the cages that house farmed fish. According to Grant, these have the potential to detect movement, fish stress and behaviour under storms, which can be used to prevent fish from escaping.