{"id":100935,"date":"2026-02-24T17:00:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/895174153\/uv_HLNJrVydLUZsT"},"modified":"2026-02-24T17:00:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:00:32","slug":"fishermen-tracking-technology-uptime-progressing-through-trials-seeking-funding-for-larger-rollout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/fishermen-tracking-technology-uptime-progressing-through-trials-seeking-funding-for-larger-rollout\/","title":{"rendered":"Fishermen tracking technology Uptime progressing through trials, seeking funding for larger rollout"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The estimated global death toll of fishers around the world for the last few decades has hovered around 24,000 to 32,000 annually, according to a <\/span>FISH Safety Foundation report from 2023<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, that same report stated that those estimates are generally considered to be overly conservative. The report, instead, placed the projected death toll at more than 100,000 fishers per year.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an attempt to improve fisher safety and drive down the jarring death toll statistics, Benjamin So, a New Zealand-based seafood trader, developed Uptime, a range of low-cost wearable tracking devices connected to satellite technology that <\/span>won a <\/span>Responsible Seafood Innovation Award<\/span><\/a> at the 2023 Responsible Seafood Summit. The technology has also been nominated <\/span>for the 2026 Earthshot Prize in the \u201cRevive Our Oceans\u201d category.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the extraordinary death toll that set us down this path,\u201d So said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Uptime functions as a black box for fishermen or gear that goes overboard. Located within a fisherman\u2019s lifejacket, Uptime sends out an alert when it detects a fisherman has left the vessel on which they\u2019re working. The system then uses satellite connectivity to send out data on the vessel’s location and where the overboard fisherman might be.<\/span><\/p>\n

The concept for Uptime \u2013 developed by Zeal Industries, of which So is a co-founder \u2013 came about through work to verify sustainability claims with his export firm 178 Degrees, which supplies seafood to buyers in Hong Kong, according to So.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe task relies heavily on traceability, which in turn is founded upon location data. After some exploratory research, we concluded that the basic technology existed to make affordable tracking feasible,\u201d he said. \u201cDuring the development process, we decided to shift focus to the potential of the technology to improve fisher safety, especially in the under-resourced area of artisanal fishing.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

So told SeafoodSource he then leveraged his existing network in the global fisheries industry to establish partnerships with the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF), WorldFish, and the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) to trial the Uptime technology with small-scale fishers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Uptime\u2019s first at-sea trial was conducted in 2025 in Tanzania, where So also conducted interviews with local small-scale tuna fishers to understand how they could most effectively benefit from technology like Uptime. More trials are now planned in several other African countries, as well as Japan and Portugal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, So said he is looking for financial backers in order to initiate a larger rollout of Uptime devices.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s probable that we will need funding from governments or NGOs to get things off the ground in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Caribbean. Once volumes can be ramped up, these subsidies will be needed less and less,\u201d So said.<\/span><\/p>\n

More specifically, So said he\u2019s planning to approach the United Nations\u2019 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Bank, and Bloomberg Philanthropies to possibly assist in facilitating funding.<\/span><\/p>\n

A site to mass produce the devices hasn\u2019t yet been decided but, according to So, Zeal Industries is \u201ccontemplating a distributed model in which the fisher communities themselves manufacture the devices.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[This would] ease the logistical challenge for us and, at the same time, create economic value at the edges where it is most needed,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

So said interest in seafood traceability from corporate and retail members of the supply chain will be key in driving demand for vessel-tracking solutions like Uptime.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile our motivation comes from a drive to improve fisher safety, we also have to recognize that [seafood] customers \u2013 as opposed to the users, the fishers themselves \u2013 have different concerns. Often, this centers on economic value. Traceability is one way in which this can be created through the adoption of Uptime. Another is to use the data collected to improve operational efficiency,\u201d So said. \u201cThe challenge is that while people like to talk about traceability, actually getting them to pay for it is a different matter. Having said that, we do see a path through which we can create a commercially viable product.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… devices connected to satellite technology<\/span> that won a Responsible … Responsible Seafood Summit. The technology<\/span> has also been nominated … concluded that the basic technology<\/span> existed to make affordable … most effectively benefit from technology<\/span> like Uptime. More …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100935\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}