Science & Tech · AI · 4 hrs ago
AI system aims to trace individual lobsters from catch to market
Researchers are using AI to identify individual lobsters by the unique patterns on their shells.
The project involves Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and lobster companies in Australia and New Zealand.
A smartphone photo can show whether a lobster is already in a shared database or add it as a new entry.
Tests found the system could recognise lobsters years later, even when their shells had changed or they had been cooked.
The aim is to trace lobsters from where they are caught to where they are sold, helping exporters and consumers check their origin.
Tasmania’s southern rock lobster industry catches just over 1,000 tonnes a year, but has faced trade restrictions and pressure from cheap imports.
Researchers hope consumers will eventually be able to photograph a lobster dish and learn where it came from.
Researchers in Tasmania are developing AI that can identify individual southern rock lobsters by features on their shells.
The system aims to trace lobsters from where they are caught to markets and restaurants.
It identifies lobsters from smartphone photos and adds previously unseen animals to a database.
Researchers say the system can recognise lobsters years later, even with barnacles and algae, after a fresh exoskeleton, or when cooked.
The project involves the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and two lobster companies.
- Who
- Researchers at the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, working with Fiordland Lobster Company and South Australian Lobster Company.
- What
- They are developing AI to identify individual lobsters and track them from catch to market.
- When
- The article was published on October 17, 2026. The sources do not state when the project began.
- Where
- Tasmania, Australia; the database includes lobsters from Australia and New Zealand.
- Why
- The system aims to trace lobsters through the supply chain and address distrust around product misplacement.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Southern rock lobsters were photographed and recorded as part of the Lobster AI program.
ABC Australia published a report on the AI system and its lobster-tracking aims.
- Annual Tasmanian catch
- Just over 1,000 tonnes of southern rock lobster
- Annual catch value
- About $90 million
- AI database
- Includes thousands of lobsters from Australia and New Zealand
- Recognition testing
- Researchers found the AI could recognise lobsters three years later
- Bicheno processing facility
- Exporter Michael Blake processes up to 300,000 lobsters per year
What people are saying
There's no two shells the same.
Now for the first time ever, to be able to trace a lobster from where it's captured … to where it might end up in a market or a restaurant in Sydney or China, it's actually a really big deal.
So, you outlay a lot of money before you go to sea, you can outlay say $50,000 before you even throw the lines off.
It's the most premium-priced lobster in the world.