The world is a beautiful and amazing place, but sometimes we forget to appreciate it. Aquaculture is one way that we can help to ensure that our future generations enjoy the beauty of the world in all its glory. Being the fastest-growing segment of the global agricultural industry, it has grown from $37.66 billion to $41.45 billion annual growth rate.
Through the tireless efforts of organizations like BioFishency, the future of aquaculture is being redefined, offering a glimmer of hope and a pathway toward a brighter tomorrow.
With CEO Michael Isakov in charge, it is disrupting the aquaculture industry with its cutting-edge electrochemical and biological water treatment solutions for Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS). The goal of BioFishency is to rethink traditional RAS systems by offering fully controlled water treatment solutions that meet existing concerns, pave the path for healthy seafood production, and minimize environmental impact.
With more than a decade of experience in the aquaculture industry, BioFishency has accumulated priceless knowledge about the demands, difficulties, and potential of the market. They have a wealth of experience in fish farming and aquaculture, which has helped them identify a critical “Technology gap” in the sector.
Low yields, wasteful use of water and land resources, and a lack of technological innovation have long plagued traditional aquaculture practices. On the other hand, the complex RAS approach provides high yields and effective resource usage, but due to the high costs associated with advanced technology, it has not been widely adopted.
With patented technologies and data-driven methodology, BioFishency fills this gap. Producers of aquaculture can increase harvests, enhance water quality, and lessen the carbon footprint of the sector thanks to their innovative ideas. BioFishency’s water treatment technologies enable customers globally to produce healthier seafood while realizing considerable cost and resource savings by leveraging big data analysis and ensuring temperature-independent performance.
The effects of BioFishency’s technologies go beyond money-related gains. Aquaculture farmers may grow seafood in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way thanks to their cutting-edge methods. BioFishency is promoting a paradigm change toward a more effective and environmentally friendly aquaculture business by streamlining water treatment procedures.
Join us as we delve into the remarkable journey of BioFishency and explore how their disruptive water treatment solutions are reshaping the aquaculture landscape!
What inspired you to get into aquaculture, and how did your company get started?
After almost 30 years of establishing, managing, and taking technology companies public, I was now in a position to ‘give back.’ I looked for a meaningful way to help future generations, and the aquaculture sector was a natural choice. The demand for animal proteins is skyrocketing, and as someone who loves the African continent, I have seen the demand firsthand. What’s more, I live on the Mediterranean Sea, and I see how overfishing has produced a low local supply of fresh fish. We are more and more dependent on imports from Asia while in desperate need of fresh, local fish. Last but not least, our world is made up of mostly water, and we need to ensure that we keep our planet and our oceans clean.
Joining BioFishency as CEO was a tremendous opportunity to be part of a mission to ‘redefine the future of aquaculture.’ Land-based fish farming is the fastest-growing food production in the world, making up ~17% of the world’s protein, and in some parts of Asia and Africa, it’s closer to 50%. All of this is what led to BioFishency’s founding in Israel in 2013 by two savvy industry experts, a leading agronomist, and a marine biologist. They fused their knowledge together to develop the world’s first-ever electrochemical and biological aquaculture water treatment solutions for Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS). What we’re doing, single-handedly, is disrupting the entire aquaculture industry as we know it. We develop, manufacture, and market disruptive solutions that not only enable the production of healthier seafood products but also optimize RAS and deliver more sustainable and more profitable solutions.
What types of seafood do you produce, and where are your production facilities located?
BioFishency is a global company with activities on four continents. We have a global install base, and we do not focus on the production of a particular type of seafood. Our goal is to enable farmers, entrepreneurs, integration companies, and governments to produce seafood in the most sustainable way possible. We have already successfully supplied and installed systems that support a wide range of fish growing facilities that produce numerous species depending on the region, such as shrimp, Barramundi, Atlantic Salmon, Yellowhead Catfish, trout, Tilapia, and other popular species.
Can you describe your company’s sustainability practices and environmental impact?
When it comes to sustainability, this is what BioFishency is all about. Our patented solutions are based on our unique water treatment technology that’s powered by AI and ML technologies. We take aquaculture from its primary, first-generation level and propel it forward multiple generations. Simply put, we’ve succeeded in demonstrating how technology can overcome the limitations of traditional approaches and present cost-effective operations while maintaining sustainability. Our solutions reuse close to 100% of the water in our treatment processes, lowering the carbon footprint, saving on valuable resources and the space required for efficient fish farming, and eliminating off-flavor, the number one challenge for the world’s fish farmers.
How do you ensure the quality and safety of your products for consumers?
Product safety and high quality are the cornerstones of every BioFishency solution. During all of our technology development processes, we work closely with animal welfare authorities and the leading academic institutes to ensure that we will meet the most stringent industry regulations and standards. We will not and do not compromise on less than the best.
What sets your company apart from other aquaculture companies in the industry?
While pond fish farming still dominates much of the world, so many RAS projects are at a standstill, resulting in slower than anticipated ROI. To meet the surge in demand for fish and rising populations in need of proteins, these projects must deliver shorter ROI. At BioFishency, we understood the need to intensify grow-out, enhance the use of existing land and water, and integrate RAS at a preliminary stage when introducing fish into the ponds. This is where fish can grow out in a fully controlled environment, resulting in stronger, healthier fish in the ponds and a total greater annual harvest. Our pioneering technology is driven by intensification – producing more fish per unit of area and water. With the limited availability of land and water, intensification is the future, and it’s the power behind BioFishency’s solutions.
Can you discuss any recent advances or innovations in your aquaculture practices or technology?
In collaboration with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, our long-time advisors, and development partners, our flagship product, BioFishency ELX™, was recently hailed as the first-in-the-world success in electrochemical removal of off-flavors in RAS. A critical accomplishment for the industry and a disruptive approach that could not be met beforehand, ELX fully eliminates off-flavors in the purging while feeding process with zero water discharge. What ELX does is it transforms ammonia to nitrogen gas, supports a small carbon footprint, requires less space and energy, and operates immediately on power-up. For the fish farmer, ELX helps shorten the time to market, prevents fish biomass loss, and increases annual revenue by at least 5%.
How does your company maintain relationships with suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders in the seafood industry?
BioFishency established a viable go-to-market strategy that is integrated into our ecosystem. We have exceptional suppliers that are able to meet long lead items on time, multiple integrators and distributors who know they can rely on us, and a growing number of OEM partners that enhance their offering while relying on our supply. For our investors and aquaculture entrepreneurs, BioFishency has consistently raised the bar on facilitating RAS projects by driving optimal RAS operations forward to achieve their full potential. Similarly, for our business partners, our solutions enhance existing or new RAS facilities, making them a highly valuable and profitable solution. Lastly, for our customers, BioFishency has proven time and time again that it significantly lowers operational costs, saves on resources, and maximizes RAS ROI.
What challenges have you faced in the aquaculture industry, and how have you overcome them?
The main challenge is that the aquaculture industry is very conservative, and presenting a disruptive technology is no easy feat. The fact that a younger generation is coming into the fold is refreshing, as they are completely different from the fishermen who once ran the business. Now that the demand is moving to fully-automatic and autonomous technology, it is here that we perfectly meet the demand.
Environmental impact is the greatest challenge in aquaculture, followed by disease and water quality management. Hands down, BioFishency’s technology that shifts the water treatment process from bacteria-based filters to a controlled industrialized system dramatically reduces water consumption with full parameter monitoring and control. This helps to lower the carbon footprint in urban areas, yielding significant water and energy savings and reducing greenhouse gas emissions while maximizing fish production and delivering a year-round harvest of high-quality and healthier fish.
What are your company’s long-term goals and plans for growth?
Going forward, Precision Aquaculture will dominate the market. This is new terminology in our industry, and a similar revolution has happened in the Agritech sector. We will focus on expanding our AI and ML technologies, crosscustomer optimization, and more diversified market segments. In addition, we will enhance our current complementary applications that include Live Seafood Holding, easy-to-use holding systems for supermarkets and hotels; Live Seafood Transportation, to facilitate land transport instead of costly air shipment; and Well Boats, zero-discharge water treatment for sea transport.
How do you see the future of aquaculture evolving, and where do you see your company fitting into that future?
The aquaculture industry is expected to grow to provide more sustainable supplies of food for billions of consumers around the world. Its growth rate is phenomenal and is here to stay. But because of the limited availability of high-quality water and the build-up of toxic ammonia excreted by fish, for the industry to survive, it must be able to solve these challenges. BioFishency’s electrochemical and biological aquaculture water treatment solutions for RAS provide market-proven and viable solutions to meet the industry’s challenges today and well into the future.
Please give us a few testimonials from your clients and awards or recognition that accurately highlight your achievements in the corporate niche.
“Once BioFishency was up and running, we saw immediate results, saving 80% in water usage and an increase to 35 3 Kg/m of water, combined with a higher quality of discharged, recyclable.”
– Zhongxin Agricultural Technology, Wujiang, China.
“With the help of BioFishency’s system, we now successfully grow and market 20 tons of tilapia every year, in addition to nearly 100% water reuse for irrigation of other crops in the farm’s open fields.”
– Blaid Farms, Abuja, Nigeria.
“We’ve been working with BioFishency’s systems for several years, and not only have we benefited from zero water discharge, we have been consistently delivering a healthier and larger annual harvest of bass.”
– Organic Green Farm, Netanya, Israel.
