Skaginn 3X was recently awarded a Horizon 2020-funded SME Instrument grant, which will play a key part in further developing SEASCANN, a cutting-edge vision and grading technology. This is expected not only result in optimum product quality and to contribute to preventing overfishing, but also to provide operational savings for users.
As greater emphasis is placed on effective and fast sorting, Skaginn 3X has been developing an innovative vision system designed not only to grade fish, but increase throughput and efficiency. The SEASCANN system is currently integrated into systems on board five fishing vessels in Iceland.
‘Current technology for onboard grading, sorting and tracking fish species is manual or semi-automatic and it’s labour intensive. This is a long process that can lead to bottlenecks. The result is a deterioration quality, leading to fish discards as well as income losses for companies,‘ said Skaginn 3X managing director Ingólfur Árnason.
SEASCANN addresses the main issues faced by fishing vessels such as fish handling time, fish quality and productivity to allow fishing businesses to grow.
He commented that fishing vessel operators can expect to see a considerable increase in income with the integration of SEASCANN. The solution is integrated by a unique vision system that automatically grades fish, scanning size, colour, quality and species, with an accuracy of up to 99%, and a cloud- based communication system that gathers and transfers real-time data to fisheries and other stakeholders such as land operators, fish processors and authorities.
‘SEASCANN allows for real-time data to be reported to shore and helps our customers promote their products and sell them before the fish is landed,’ Ingólfur Árnason said.
‘This will provide European countries’ authorities the means to gather reliable and accurate fisheries-related data.’
Skaginn 3X applied for the grant in early 2017. The process was long and challenging as the competition was of a very high standard. Approximately 1300 companies applied for the grant from various industries, of which 64 were awarded grants. Skaginn 3X received valuable input and assistance from Evris in Iceland and Spanish company Inspiralia.
