Minnowtech BRS-2 Sonar Shrimp Biomass Reader

Minnowtech is a Baltimore-based aquaculture technology company founded by Dr Suzan Shahrestani. It addresses a long-standing blind spot in shrimp farming: farmers usually estimate pond biomass by cast-netting small areas and extrapolating, which leads to poor feed and harvest decisions.

Its biomass readers sit under the pond surface and use sonar with AI processing to count shrimp and measure their size directly in murky water. The current BRS-2 collects more than 10,000 samples a day, sends raw acoustic data to the cloud and reports count, average size, density and biomass daily, with an API to push data into farm systems. Minnowtech installs and calibrates the devices with the farm team. Customers include shrimp farms in Ecuador, intensive ponds in Indonesia and indoor RAS facilities in Europe.

• Sonar sensing: acoustic imaging counts shrimp in the water column regardless of turbidity.
• High sampling rate: BRS-2 collects over 10,000 samples per day with 4x higher resolution than BRS-1.
• Daily reports: shrimp count, average size, density and biomass throughout the cycle.
• Cloud processing: raw acoustic data is processed by AI models in the cloud.
• API access: direct data transfer into farm management systems.
• Guided deployment: installation guides and on-site configuration with the farm team.

• Intensive and super-intensive shrimp farms tracking biomass daily to adjust feed rations.
• Integrated shrimp companies planning harvest dates and processing intake from pond-level data.
• Feed companies offering biomass monitoring as part of technical service to large farms.

• Replaces cast-net sampling with continuous, direct counts of shrimp in the pond.
• Improves feed planning by giving daily biomass and average size.
• Helps time harvests; in one trial a harvest 11 days late cost an estimated USD 30,000 in value.
• Feeds data automatically into farm systems through an API.

Feed is the largest cost in shrimp farming and most farms still guess biomass, so accurate in-pond counting is a priority for producers under margin pressure. Vietnam and other Southeast Asian producers are intensifying ponds, which makes daily biomass data more valuable for feed and harvest planning.

Minnowtech is based in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, and was founded by Dr Suzan Shahrestani. It sells biomass reader devices with a monthly data reporting fee; devices last three to five years. Hatch Blue, owner of The Fish Site, is an investor. The BRS-1 was covered by The Fish Site in January 2025 and AquaFeed in June 2026.