FishFace – The Nature Conservancy

On 26 October 2016, our FishFace project was announced the winner of the popular vote for the 2016 Google Impact Challenge: Australia. As a result, we were awarded $750,000 to develop this game-changing technology to protect global fish stocks, the livelihoods of coastal communities and provide a sustainable food source for billions of people.

What is FishFace?
FishFace is an idea for a machine learning device that will use facial recognition technology to automate the collation, at sea, of information on the species and numbers of fish caught, and use these data to inform management decisions. Initially, FishFace is being developed and will be trialed in Indonesia’s deep-water snapper and grouper fisheries with the potential to be rolled out for fisheries around the world.

Through FishFace, The Nature Conservancy hopes to make a massive positive difference for global fisheries by collecting, organising, sharing and utilising the data essential for sustainable fisheries management. It will reduce overfishing and sustain the livelihoods of coastal communities worldwide.

Once developed, the FishFace device will be operated by the crew of a fishing vessel, typically at the moment that the fish is transferred from the chiller to the hold of the vessel for storage.

The machine learning engine that powers FishFace is being developed by Refind Technologies. Refind is a Swedish company providing intelligent sorting solutions using machine vision and deep learning. Refind’s aim is to reduce waste through automation, not only in the seas but also in the used electronics industry.