Dentsu Utilizes AI-based Tuna Quality Assessment System TUNA SCOPE for Southeast Asia SDGs Fisheries Project

Project deployed in Indonesia adopted as one of JICA's SMEs/SDGs Business Support Projects

Dentsu Inc. (President & CEO: Takeshi Sano; Head Office: Tokyo) announced today that it will harness the power of its AI-based quality assessment system TUNA SCOPE^*1 to implement a pilot project in Indonesia which aims to optimize the export price of tuna and increase added value, and in so doing take on the challenge of contributing to the realization of the SDGs in the fisheries industry in Southeast Asia. This pilot project was selected by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA; President: Akihiko Tanaka ) as a SMEs/SDGs Business Support Project (JICA Biz)^*2 in December 2024.
Although Indonesia is one of the countries with the largest catches of tuna globally, it faces various quality management issues with the caught tuna. One of the factors holding Indonesia back is a lack of local knowledge about how to inspect and assess tuna, and unevenness in inspection standards arising from differences in skills and experience among inspectors. The resulting problem is a lack of consistency in tuna quality and also in transparency, meaning that a fair price reflective of the tuna's true value is not being determined at the time of export.

It is in response to these challenges that this pilot project seeks to introduce TUNA SCOPE to establish highly precise, AI-based processes and reliable quality standards, enabling vendors and buyers to determine a fair price for the tuna sold. In addition, Dentsu Inc. seeks to add value to Indonesian tuna through quality certification backed by its AI technology. By ensuring appropriate compensation for fishers, the company will open up and explore possibilities to improve their income and the sustainable growth of their businesses.

By building new systems for quality assessment through the implementation of TUNA SCOPE as a solution for tuna fishers in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, Dentsu Inc. will contribute to the sustainable development of fisheries in the region.

(TUNA SCOPE app screenshots)

*1 An AI-based quality assessment tool that determines the quality of tuna from tail cross sections, co-developed by dentsu and other group companies of dentsu Japan. Tuna tail cross sections contain a rich variety of information, and based on large quantities of tail cross section images and expert quality assessment data TUNA SCOPE succeeded in passing down the skills of seasoned tuna experts, which had previously been difficult to verbalize and considered as being intuition.
・TUNA SCOPE website https://tuna-scope.com
・Dentsu Showcase https://www.dentsu.co.jp/en/showcase/tuna_scope_2.html
・Dentsu-ho URL　https://dentsu-ho.com/articles/7163

*2 A JICA program to support business creation by Japanese private companies that are contributing to finding solutions in developing countries.