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AQUACULTURE

AI in Aquaculture: East Coast Innovation’s Digital Transformation Through Digital Boost 3.0

CYBER, DATA, AI
January 23, 2026

Challenges

  • Manual, time-consuming video analysis
  • Limited data accessibility and governance
  • No AI or cybersecurity framework in place

Services provided

  • AI, data, and cybersecurity assessments
  • Digital strategy and implementation roadmap
  • AI recommendations for SmoothMove technology

Results

  • Defined AI use cases for fish welfare
  • Clear data and security roadmap
  • Foundation for scalable innovation
Aquaculture Meets Digital Innovation

East Coast Innovation (ECI) is a lean, dynamic corporation based in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, focused on solving complex challenges within the aquaculture sector. Known for designing and manufacturing durable, purpose-built equipment, ECI develops innovative solutions that optimize operations and enhance fish welfare. One of its most forward-looking innovations is SmoothMove, a novel fish loading system designed to reduce stress during fish transfer by minimizing crowding and improving flow control.

As ECI entered an aggressive growth phase, the company recognized that its digital infrastructure needed to evolve alongside its products. While SmoothMove generates large volumes of video footage through underwater cameras, accessing, managing, and analyzing this data was a manual and time-intensive process. Leadership identified the need to strengthen data management, security, and explore AI-driven opportunities to support innovation and scalability.

Bringing a new product to market is an exciting time but also comes with many challenges. We recognized that as more of our SmoothMove products enter the market, we would quickly become overwhelmed with the quantity of data being produced. Our data processing and management tools needed to evolve with the growth of the company.
— Siobhan Neil, Managing Director at East Coast Innovation

To support this work, ECI participated in Digital Boost 3.0, a digital transformation program that offers funding support to New Brunswick based businesses. Digital Boost 3.0 has a two-phase approach, the first consisting of a comprehensive assessment to determine current capabilities and identify opportunities in the areas of cybersecurity, data management, and artificial intelligence (AI). The second phase supports the implementation of solutions identified during the assessment phase to improve the company’s productivity, security risk, and innovation. The program also helps to offset some of these costs while working with New Brunswick based technology providers.

Through Digital Boost 3.0, ECI partnered with IPSG Technology to assess its digital readiness and define a clear path forward.

Assessment Phase

IPSG Technology conducted a comprehensive assessment across three streams: AI, data management, and cybersecurity. The AI assessment focused on identifying opportunities to apply artificial intelligence within the SmoothMove technology, particularly to automate fish counting and biomass density calculations using video footage captured during operations. The data assessment examined how video, research, and operational data were currently stored and accessed across the organization. Findings highlighted the absence of a centralized, secure “system of record,” as well as manual processes that limited efficiency and real-time insight. The cybersecurity assessment evaluated ECI’s digital infrastructure, identifying risks related to access control, data protection, and the lack of formal policies and procedures. Together, these assessments resulted in a clear set of recommendations, supported by a practical roadmap aligned with ECI’s growth strategy.

Implementation Phase

Following the assessment, IPSG Technology worked with ECI to advance the highest‑priority AI enhancements for the SmoothMove system. This work involved upgrading the underwater camera technology to deliver clearer video, introducing AI‑driven fish counting to eliminate manual tracking, and creating an integrated database connected to the AI model to centralize analytical data and enable faster, more accurate, and more efficient analysis.

These improvements are designed to enable near real-time insights during fish transfer operations, reduce manual effort, and support healthier outcomes for fish. The implementation also laid the groundwork for better data retention, analysis, and reporting, ensuring the technology can scale as adoption grows.

The Results

As a result of Digital Boost 3.0, ECI now has a clear digital roadmap that aligns technology with its business and innovation goals. The organization is positioned to leverage AI and a consolidate integrated analysis database to improve operational efficiency, enhance fish welfare, and deliver greater value to aquaculture operators.

With stronger data management practices and a defined cybersecurity strategy, ECI has established a solid foundation to support future growth, commercialization of SmoothMove, and continued innovation within the aquaculture sector.

Programs like Digital Boost are instrumental to assisting start up companies like ECI realize their growth potential. Not only did this leave us with a clear path forward, but it also provided a great opportunity to connect and work with another NB company.
— Siobhan Neil, Managing Director at East Coast Innovation
Digital Transformation Digital Boost IPSG East Coast Innovation