Looking back, thinking ahead: Nathan Pyne-Carter

Ace Aquatec has enjoyed several milestone moments this year, ranging from global processing equipment supplier JBT Marel naming the company as a preferred supplier of stunning equipment in February to a cage camera order from salmon farmer Petuna in Tasmania, and the installation of a smolt culler in Chile, both in October. Has 2025 lived up to Ace Aquatec’s expectations and ambitions? 

Ace Aquatec is in its rapid growth phase, with a 59% increase in turnover from last year, and new key customer accounts growing in regions such as Chile and Australia. Petuna was a big customer endorsement with several of the largest biomass camera companies competing for their business; but Ace Aquatec’s A-BIOMASS provided the best accuracy and performance in these tough conditions at Macquarie Harbour. We have seen similar results in head-to-head trials in Chile and Norway and are pleased to be growing significantly across those regions. We’ve had strong performance confirmed with our health modules (e.g. wounds and maturation), as well as new species modules (seabass in the Mediterranean, yellowtail in Australia, and tilapia in Africa). It’s an exciting time for our AI camera systems, where our unique selling point is outcompeting our nearest competitors in field trials.

Inroads into Norway

We made significant inroads into the Norwegian market this year, not only with our AI cameras, but also with our smolt-culling systems. Customers are now able to make use of large numbers of small fish that would previously have gone to waste. These fish can instead be repurposed into high-end pet food, creating a more sustainable product while reducing both chemical use (the previous method of euthanasia - editor) and waste.

We advanced the scientific validation of our stunners this year. Academic research funded through FHF in Norway, carried out in partnership with (salmon farmer) Bremnes, confirmed in laboratory tests that our system parameters reliably render fish unconscious for the immersion times recommended in Norwegian guidelines. Collaboration with Albin Gräns at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) also reinforced these findings. EEG (electroencephalography - ed) data demonstrated the effectiveness of Ace Aquatec’s stunners in achieving unconsciousness when combining in-water stunning with dead-on-ice methods for salmon and seabass: “In seabass, a 10s stun … followed by live chilling maintained an isoelectric EEG for the 15-min monitoring period (Lambooij et al., 2008)” (Grans et al., 2025).

This represents a significant step forward in further validating the efficacy of our stunning systems for key global species such as seabass and salmon.

Ace Aquatec has brought five species modules to market for its A-BIOMASS camera since it was launched: Atlantic salmon, trout, yellowtail, chinook salmon and char. How is the camera performing in a crowded market, and what advantages does it offer over competitors?

Ace Aquatec developed its systems originally for the tough conditions in the Scottish market. We have prioritised design for rugged conditions, with fully automated control delivered by an intelligent AI winch system to maximise visibility of the full-size distribution. We have multiple pathways to secure accurate biomass measurement (from full segmentation, key point tagging, and access to the full point cloud map), and we have unique sensors able to see in challenging turbid and poor light conditions which sets us apart. So far in field trials, this has yielded continuous high accuracy results, typically within a percentage point of actual average weights. We have worked with key partner Hendrix Genetics to track individual phenotypic advantages, such as growth and susceptibility to disease, and hope to have a genetics module to bring to market in 2026.

There is transition currently in the busy AI camera market, but performance speaks for itself. Backers of Minecraft and Stolt Sea Farms saw the potential in Ace Aquatec’s AI technologies and their competitive advantages, and we are now seeing the market leaders break away from the pack based on performance, value for money, return on investment. Watch this space.

What progress has Ace Aquatec made in developing its A-ELECTROLICER, a sea lice removal system that combines multiple treatment technologies into one modular system?

It was always Ace Aquatec’s plan to launch its E-ELECTROLICER at the end of 2026, to complement the lice detection built within our A-BIOMASS cameras. We are still completing work on the removal technology as part of an European Innovation Council Accelerator grant and are proud to be working with ECI (Canada's East Coast Innovation) to be delivering this critical tool in the fight against sea lice. We believe we have an effective, low cost, low impact method of removing lice, and we look forward to showcasing the technology once we complete it next year.

What developments is the fish farming industry likely to see from Ace Aquatec in 2026?

Next year will see new exciting modules released using its AI cameras to track changes in fish over time, both visual and behavioural. We will release the first prototype E-ELECTROLICER for trials. We will test the first flat fish stunner at partner fish farms, and we will roll out our crustacean stunners to more species like monodon (tiger shrimp - ed) and crab. We will also be deploying more of our stunners into the wild fish sector, particularly seine netters, and we are working with several of the big supermarkets to explore rolling these out the wild catch fleets.

2026 sees us launch our series C raise as we double down on our refined and unique technology stack.

Tomorrow: Sarah Riddle of the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre