Aquaculture, also known as fish farming or aquafarming, is the rearing of aquatic species in a closed or controlled environment specifically for human consumption.
It is a field that is enjoying a high level of growth. This is unsurprising given aquaculture can directly contribute to solving the world’s need to produce more food. It is proven to generate a healthy, nutritious long-term food source whilst helping protect our dwindling wild fish populations and ensure a healthy food supply for this and future generations.
The need to produce more food is backed up by projections that people will, on average, eat 10% more protein by 2050, not least because the world’s population will have increased by 25% within the same timeframe. This means 35% more protein will need to be produced. If aquaculture, as has been forecasted, doubles its output by 2050 (i.e. in line with living standards and population growth), it could deliver as much as 74 million tonnes of protein per year, making it the world’s fastest-growing food source.
THE BENEFITS OF AQUACULTURE
As the world's population has grown, so too has the demand for seafood. Improving aquaculture techniques can have a hugely positive impact on allowing us to meet this demand by:
- Increasing the production of nutritionally rich/high-protein foods
- Helping restore the health of our oceans
- Restoring depleted fish populations
- Reducing pressure on wild fish stocks
- Expediting the development of the offshore farming industry
- Creating livelihoods and economies for millions of people in many countries
However, the importance of ensuring production remains as sustainable as possible cannot be underestimated. While aquaculture is now an established and important part of the global food system, if it is to have the desired impact on food supply without damaging the long-term health of our water supplies, it must be managed responsibly.
This is where innovation will play a crucial role.
CURRENT INNOVATION TRENDS
- If the aquaculture industry is going to progress, it must develop and adopt new technologies and processes. This will require a continuous innovation cycle focused on:
- Increased production both onshore and offshore
- Lower production costs
- New offshore technologies able to increase yields and reduce space requirements
- Greater transparency and traceability
There are multiple technologies working towards achieving these objectives, and the key innovation trends in aquaculture currently include:
Precision aquaculture
Precision aquaculture uses advanced technologies and data-driven systems like sensors, automation, AI, and data analytics to increase yield by automating more routine tasks and optimising farm environments.
Smart feeding
Sensor and data technologies are being used to monitor and analyse fish behaviour and feeding patterns to produce feed quantities and compositions in a way that will maximise output.
Urban aquaculture
New ways to optimise inner-city environments for the cultivation of all types of seafood are being created to take full advantage of the limited space available. This includes the development of vertical farming systems as well as greater use of techniques like hydroponics and aquaponics.
Data-driven breeding
If aquaculture output is going to grow at the required levels, breeders will need to produce healthier, more productive, and more resilient fish. Data is making this easier by allowing breeders to better predict breeding potential and spot new opportunities.
Increasing system productivity
Some companies are developing new ways to minimise environmental impact and increase production. They are using AI to work out how certain controlled environments can be used to farm more fish within the same physical area, often by employing other innovative techniques like sterilisation and biofiltration.
Alternative foods
Overfishing, environmental impact and sustainability must be at the forefront of every aquaculturalist’s mind. The sustainable seafood alternatives being produced using seaweed, algae, legumes, and plant proteins to mimic the original seafood are definitely helping. The next generation of alternative foods will take this one step further by employing more complex food processing techniques like extrusion, fermentation, and high-pressure processing.
Marine genetics
Marine genetics can be used to improve the genetic diversity, adaptation, and evolutionary processes of marine organisms so they can withstand changing temperatures, salinity levels, and nutrients, as well as provide invaluable feedback to help advance breeding programmes.
Fish therapeutics
Emerging technologies are focusing on improving the overall health of many species. Techniques like polymerase chain reaction and DNA microarrays can quickly identify the pathogens that affect marine life, while other technologies make it easier to administer medicinal solutions.
AQUACULTURE AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
As with any fast-moving, highly innovative and demand-driven sector, those pushing the field forward leave themselves open to their ideas being seized upon and misused by competitors. As such, they need to form and implement an effective intellectual property (IP) strategy as early as possible.
From our experience, there are three key questions to answer:
1. Have you chosen the right rights?
While patents remain the gold standard in terms of IP protection, trade secrets offer an alternative in some circumstances. The decision as to whether you should seek the protection of patents or trade secrets will depend on the answers to these questions:
- How important is the longevity of your protection?
- How quickly do you need your protection?
- Is it possible to avoid public disclosure?
- Is it best to avoid public disclosure?
- How important is total confidentiality?
- Are you planning to license your invention?
- How likely is it that you’ll have to enforce your rights?
- What is your budget?
This picture is tempered slightly when, as is so often the case today, AI is involved.
There are several very specific risks you will need to navigate when it comes to protecting AI-based innovations. These include:
- Finding the best way to ensure you can definitely use your AI for what you want to use it for (both now and in the future)
- Proving you actually own both the data and the algorithm being used to drive the AI
- Making sure the tech and the underlying data in your AI invention are not accessible by your competitors
- It is also important to remember serious questions surrounding the patentability of innovation that uses AI remain unresolved around the world.
Several ‘test case’ applications have been filed around the world listing an AI program called “DABUS” as the sole inventor. The question as to whether an AI can be listed as an inventor has largely been met with a firm “no” by courts. This has led to these applications being rejected. However, appeals are ongoing, so the situation is unlikely to be finally determined for some time yet.
BUT WAS DOES THIS MEAN IF YOU ARE USING AI?
While listing an AI as an inventor for a patent application does not appear to be a good idea (at least for the moment), this does not mean that IP relating to AI/ML cannot be protected. However, care must be taken to ensure that protection can be obtained for the key innovations relating to this subject, and we’d suggest you follow these three tips if you want to develop an effective strategy for protecting IP relating to AI-driven innovations:
- Don’t be put off and act quickly!
- Confirm where the invention is
- Balance the potential for using patents vs. trade secrets
The data used and produced by AI also needs careful consideration and takes us back to trade secrets (sensitive data-driven processes or proprietary databases can be protected as trade secrets). It also introduces copyright into the mix.
Copyright covers original datasets, software, and tools developed for processing data. For example, proprietary machine learning models and their training data may fall under copyright protection.
With so much at play, it is always best to talk through the rights with an experienced IP professional before making your final decisions.
DO YOU HAVE FREEDOM TO OPERATE (FTO)?
Freedom to operate is vital to your success. Having FTO ensures you have the legal right to develop, produce, and sell your technology without infringing on someone else's IP and finding yourself embroiled in a long and expensive legal battle if you are found to infringe another party’s IP rights.
Conducting an FTO analysis will identify any potential risks of infringement early on so you can take steps to address them, for example, by redesigning around the existing patent, licensing in the other party’s technology, or negotiating your use of their ideas with the patent holder.
WILL YOUR IP DELIVER YOUR BUSINESS PLAN?
While creating IP is important, it is crucial your IP strategy maps to and supports your business plan, paving the way to your desired outcome, whether that is to create a direct revenue stream, a partnership or collaboration, to license your tech or to exit with a sale.
Setting the right framework for your IP structure is fairly straightforward; you will need to:
- Audit, identify and catalogue your IP (and identify any gaps).
- Align your IP with your business objectives (including market entry, revenue growth, and future product development).
- Ensure you have the required protection (choose the right rights!).
- Set your patent strategy (when, where and why will you file your patents?)
- Protect your brand.
- Identify and secure your trade secrets (including implementing the required NDAs, contractual stipulations and processes).
- Define the ownership of your IP.
- Set a process for tracking competitor activities for both offensive and defensive reasons.
- Set a process for dealing with IP infringement.
- Assign personal responsibilities within your team to implement, manage, and maintain the different elements of your IP strategy - this is a living document, not a one-off exercise!
We have our own fixed price/fixed outcome model, Kick-StartiP that makes setting the right IP strategy as easy as possible. You can find out more here.
Potter Clarkson’s dedicated food and agritech team is one of Europe’s best-regarded. Our patent attorneys and IP lawyers have extensive experience in identifying, protecting, exploiting and enforcing the intellectual property driving the aquaculture sector.
If you’d like to discuss how we could help you maximise the value of your innovation, please contact us today.
