Docapesca – Portos e Lotas, S.A.

Docapesca is the State Enterprise Sector company responsible for the public service of the 1st Sale of Fish at auction and the support to the Fishing Sector in mainland Portugal. Based in Lisbon, it manages all fishing ports in mainland Portugal, from Vila Praia de Âncora to Vila Real de Santo António. It is structured in Directorates, which comprise 23 auctions and 36 posts, the latter of which are smaller in small fishing communities.
Which is?
The Auction on Board is a new digital service that Docapesca makes available to the entire community of fishermen and traders in order to create an increasingly comfortable and secure access to the first sale of fish. It aims to simplify and optimize first-sale processes, while creating new business opportunities, valuing the availability of supply, the quality and freshness of national fish and digital traceability from the sea to the final consumer.
How does the Auction work?
The On Board Auction implements a growing digital auction mechanism where fish buyers can bid on the lots made available by the fleet of participating national boats and takes place in the period between the registration of fish at sea until their arrival on land for sale in a traditional auction. The system implements an auction mechanism that starts with a pre-determined base value and increases progressively as buyers place their bids, and in successive rounds until the best offer wins. To speed up the purchase process, the trader can bid at a higher value than the predefined value or use the Buy Now option at the price defined by the shipowner/fisherman.
Who is it for?
To all participating fishing vessels and to all first-sale fish buyers.
Where is it available?
It is currently being presented at the Fishing Port of Sesimbra, and is expected to be extended to all national fishing ports in the coming months.
What innovations and technologies are used?
By vessel/fisherman: Fishing App
A free application for Android mobile phones designed and tested with simple to use fishermen allows you to record catches and put the fish up for sale in the new On Board Auction.
By merchant/buyer: App Buyer
The buyer via the web portal or mobile application (Android or iOS) can access all the offers of the day at the desired auction or buy directly from the boats via Auction on Board.
By Docapesca: SIP – Ground
An innovative system that, at auction, allows the digital recording of all the fish for sale in a traditional auction, as well as the validation of the sales of the Auction on Board. Equipped with an artificial intelligence system and computer vision, it allows automatic species recognition, avoiding errors and accelerating the weighing process.
Boats with the highest volume of catches: SIP – Mar
An intelligent marine scale that, with a simple touch of a button, registers, weighs and identifies the species of fish, putting it up for sale at the new On Board Auction in a simple and practical way.