Former trainee at the Norwegian Seafood Council, Bendik Fredriksen, from CageEye, talks technology and consumer focus in aquaculture.
We can’t all just eat grass and flowers
Bendik Fredriksen
Costumer Success Manager at CageEye
A Career with Fish Running Through it
The line of Bendik Fredriksen’s career has fish running through it. The Tromsø native began with seasonal work after his stint in the military and before his studies, becoming increasingly aware of the importance of fisheries and aquaculture – themes he studied at both undergraduate and masters’ level.
But he was also determined to get real-world experience, working as he studied, with roles everywhere from Salmar (formerly NRS) to the Norwegian Seafood Council and Norcod.
Photo: Trygve Espejord
Tech and Aquaculture at CageEye
Photo: Bendik Fredriksen
Tech and Aquaculture at CageEye
Today, Bendik’s career has brought him to the meeting point of future tech and aquaculture: CageEye.
Describing the company where he serves as customer success manager, Bendik says ‘you could call it an aqua-tech company that combines acoustics and AI – specifically hydro-acoustics, like sonar. One of the goals is to optimise feeding and ensure better conditions for the fish, which can in turn reduce feed waste and promote sustainability.’
He explains that CageEye tech measures fish behaviour 24 hours a day at the facility, giving customers – the fish farmers – a view into changes in welfare and health from day to day and hour to hour.
The Industry Language
For Bendik, starting out with summer jobs, learning knots, boating, operating a winch or a crane – those challenges that are the ‘daily operations of a salmon farmer’ – means he now has the language and the tools to better communicate with his customers at CageEye.
‘Each part of the industry has its own requirements and working methods – and its own language,’ he says. ‘Now that my customers are operators, aqua-technicians and middle management in fish farming companies, I am very glad that I learned their language and culture before I came to CageEye.’
This gathering of nuance and broad depth of industry knowledge, he says, is perhaps the highlight of his career so far.
Heightened Consumer Focus
Bendik also points to the increasingly intertwined world of fish farming, fish health, technology and a heightened consumer focus. Fish farming has always come with high fish mortality, he notes, adding that, while still profitable, no farmer wants to see their fish die.
Still, Bendik says it is increased consumer scrutiny that is a key driving force in change: ‘The consumer is certainly raising the alarm,’ he says.
The fact that so many people have an opinion on the sector – and on what he has studied and does today – is part of this consumer focus as well as something of a surprise for Bendik. ‘I am quite surprised by people’s engagement with the aquaculture industry, both positively and negatively,’ he says. ‘It is good to have critics,’ he states, adding that ‘it is very interesting to ask those most critical about how they think the world should produce food – because we can’t all just eat grass and flowers.’
Photo: Pexels: Eva Bronzini
But he also accepts the need for nuanced dialogue and to be well-informed. ‘All industries need a license to operate or social acceptance, so you have to listen to what the person on the street thinks.’
And for him, technology is a huge part of the solution to consumer concerns around fish welfare. ‘I think that, in the future, we will see much more automated and data-driven aquaculture,’ he predicts.
‘Technology will play a crucial role in ensuring growth in the aquaculture industry and there hasn't been much growth in the quantity of produced salmon in recent years,’ he notes.
‘At the same time, we can better protect the environment and the welfare of the fish. Companies that manage to implement technology that reduces resource consumption and improves fish welfare will not only gain a competitive advantage but also appeal to more conscious consumers.’
