There are several challenges faced by the Indonesian fishing industry, with one of them being the continuously decreasing number of fishermen working in the country. According to data, the number of Indonesian fishermen has declined to only 1.27 million by 2022, representing a five per cent decrease from the previous year.

However, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries has set an ambitious target for the sector’s contribution to national economic growth. They aim for a six per cent growth in 2023, which translates to a target production of approximately 20.54 million tons of fish and seafood products.

Local startup FishLog wants to help the country achieve that through its integrated fishery solutions.

It aims to improve operations for fishermen indirectly by enhancing the efficiency and transparency of the seafood supply chain. According to the startup, even if fishermen are not the end users of the platform, they benefit in some areas: Reduced waste, fair pricing, streamlined operations, market access, trust and reputation, as well as data for decision-making.

“Compared to existing alternatives which only do trading and supply-demand matching and basic inventory management system, FishLog provides a comprehensive, end-to-end solution that addresses the entire supply chain, making it more efficient, transparent, and equitable,” says Galih Husni Fauzan, Head of Marketing, Communications & Partnership at FishLog in an email to e27.

“It helps build a sustainable seafood industry by reducing waste, supporting fair pricing, and ensuring that fishermen are not left out of the benefits of improved supply chain operations.”

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According to Fauzan, the founders of FishLog–Abdul Halim (CBDO & Co-Founder), Bayu Anggara (CEO & Co-Founder), and Reza Fahlepi (CCO & Co-Founder)–had a background in the seafood industry and are supported by a team with expertise in supply chain management and technology.

They identified pressing problems in the fishery supply chain, such as inefficiencies, lack of transparency, and sustainability, then performed extensive market research to uncover the solutions.

“The development of FishLog’s solutions would involve building or partnering with tech experts or partners to create the blockchain-based traceability system, the B2B marketplace for seafood, and the warehouse management systems. This likely involved software development, hardware integration, and database design,” Fauzan says.

“The plan is to use the existing WMS platform that we have to enable the inventory visibility and then use B2B
marketplace as the solution for the raw material trading and arms it with the smart contract and financing to allow the buyer purchase in more quantity or having better cash cycle management on their side.”

By using blockchain in its Fishlog Trace product, the company wants to make the distribution of fishery products as traceable and trusted as possible.

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Building a more sustainable business

Through a partnership with Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Fishlog is able to secure its partners and visit fishery supply locations, enabling them to discuss pain points and start off collaboration.

Currently run by 154 people, Fishlog–who is an alumnus of the Startup Studio Indonesia programme–has three revenue streams: inventory selling, inventory management and inventory
financing.

“For inventory selling, we simply take margin from our supplier to our customer. Inventory management, on the other hand, we charge a very small percentage from our partner’s inventory, but for now, we partially waive that charge because we want to grow our partner base exponentially. For inventory financing, we simply take the rate between our lender and our borrower,” Fauzan elaborates.

The company is currently raising its Series A funding round and has engaged with global investors, particularly those from the Southeast Asian (SEA) region.

In 2024, Fishlog wants to focus on helping export contribution from 15 per cent to 50 per cent, entering the US market with new categories of tuna and shrimp, and expanding to SEA as a supply country.

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Image Credit: Fishlog

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