Blue Star Foods to Enhance Soft Shell Crab Shedding Operations with Artificial Intelligence and UV Light Technology

Core Viewpoint - Blue Star Foods Corp. is implementing advanced technology combining Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Ultraviolet (UV) light to enhance the soft-shell crab molting identification process, aiming to improve operational efficiency and profitability [1][2][6]. Technology Implementation - The integration of AI with UV light technology is expected to automate the identification of molting crabs, significantly reducing labor hours and costs while enhancing operational efficiency and decreasing mortality rates [2][3][11]. - The AI system will continuously monitor crab tanks under UV light, identifying molting crabs based on fluorescence changes, which will improve accuracy in distinguishing between busters and peelers [10][13]. Operational Analysis and Benefits - The new technology is projected to improve yield rates by 50%, leading to an estimated 12.5% increase in profits, approximately $9 per dozen of live soft-shell crabs [8][11]. - The implementation is anticipated to enhance the average biennial survival rates of crabs, which currently stand at 75%, thereby increasing operational profitability [4][11]. Pilot Study and Performance Metrics - A pilot study is being conducted to compare key performance indicators between traditional manual methods and the AI-UV system, focusing on accuracy, labor hours, mortality rates, and costs [5][12]. - Observations indicate that the night shift experiences a 30% increase in molting crabs, but also faces challenges due to worker fatigue, which the AI-UV system aims to mitigate [9]. Industry Context - The soft-shell crab industry faces high labor costs due to the manual identification process, which is time-consuming and prone to errors, leading to high mortality rates and operational inefficiencies [2][16].