P.T. Bali Seafood and Pelagic Data Systems have been awarded for their innovative technology that has the potential to help small-scale fishers across Asia.

USAID Maximizing Agricultural Revenue through Knowledge, Enterprise Development and Trade project’s Chief of Party Tim Moore (left) congratulates Gerald Knecht, CEO of P.T. Bali Seafood (right) and David Solomon, CEO of Pelagic Data Systems. Credit: USAID

USAID Maximizing Agricultural Revenue through Knowledge, Enterprise Development and Trade project’s Chief of Party Tim Moore (left) congratulates Gerald Knecht, CEO of P.T. Bali Seafood (right) and David Solomon, CEO of Pelagic Data Systems. Credit: USAID

The companies were awarded by the U.S. Agency for International Development/Regional Development Mission for Asia (USAID/RDMA) at USAID’s Technology Innovations Forum - Creating a More Sustainable and Responsible Seafood Industry in Asia earlier this year.

The winners developed a low-cost device that monitors small fishing boats and gathers real-time data on fishing practices. This will improve fish product quality, increase incomes for small-scale fishers and collect important data to improve fisheries management. The device automatically collects data from boats including the GPS location, gear type and storage temperature, enabling fishermen to show that their products have been caught legally and handled properly.

This technology could be adapted to a wide range of fisheries. Current data collection technology does not work well for small boats because of the costly and complex equipment. Small-scale fishers represent the majority of the fishing fleet in Asia and can use this solar-powered hardware and low-cost data system. The device works on boats of any size, is user-friendly and removes the need for on-boat power.

P.T. Bali Seafood will use the award money to scale an initial pilot and integrate the data with the Indonesian government’s fisheries management system.

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