Down on the (Fish) Farm

Technology Promoting Fish Fitness Bags UK Enterprise Award

Glasgow-based New Zealander Sunil Kadri scooped up the O2 X Male Entrepreneur of The Year Award in London last week. Co-founder of Optoswim Technologies, Kadri is a marine biologist and fish behaviour expert who explores technologies to enhance fish farming. Straddling the realms of business and academia has paid off with his latest venture which is tipped to transform the commercial fish farming industry.

Dubbed the ‘fish disco’ or ‘fish gym’ – the ground-breaking technology comprises of an LED light matrix which encourages regular swimming in farmed fish. Kadri explains that “essentially it’s a system for providing exercise to fish in farms. This encourages the development of muscle over fat – leading to leaner, healthier and tastier fish.”

Entrepreneurial pursuit is centred on opportunity and Kadri is driven by a commitment to the quality of farmed fish, particularly salmon. Testing has also shown that the system leads to enhanced fish welfare (by lowering stress levels) and reduced farming production costs – making it highly popular with participating fish farmers.