Monsoon Aquatics adopts digital platform to streamline coral tracking

Monsoon Aquatics, a major supplier of coral, fish, and marine life in Australia, has adopted a new software solution from TechConnect aimed at improving coral lifecycle management and research efficiency on the Great Barrier Reef.

The new software enables Monsoon Aquatics to track the lifecycle of tens of thousands of individual corals cultivated for commercial distribution through a digital, automated platform. Traditionally, this process has relied heavily on spreadsheet-based, manual record-keeping, which has been time-consuming and increasingly impractical as the business expands its aquaculture operations.

The system, which is hosted on Amazon Web Services, supports the company's Conservation Aquaculture programme by managing information on coral propagation, health metrics, exports, mortality, and development. This migration to a cloud-based automated workflow aims to improve data accuracy, provide real-time analysis, and automate identification through digital scanning. It also helps Monsoon Aquatics comply with regulatory requirements for tracking and reporting coral stocks.

Monsoon Aquatics has been scaling up its land-based coral aquaculture capacity through methods such as asexual propagation and coral spawning. These efforts aim to supply both the aquarium trade and future initiatives focused on reef rehabilitation. The increased volume necessitated a more robust management solution capable of handling a large and growing volume of records and transactions each day.

Early pilot deployments of the TechConnect solution have led to significant reductions in time spent on data entry and record management. According to Monsoon Aquatics, automating the coral analysis process has already saved at least five hours of manual work per week. The company expects further efficiency gains as the system matures, with additional automation and intelligent analytics set for future phases.

TechConnect's roadmap includes integrating the software with live data feeds from coral tanks via underwater RFID technology to improve production scalability and traceability. This is designed to replace manual tracking, streamline operations, and support future research goals. The system will also serve as a foundation for more complex analysis, such as genomics research on coral resilience and lineage, with potential benefits for reef restoration efforts.

“Coral Aquaculture is in its infancy; there is tremendous potential for digital solutions and AI to improve the space and the outcomes for the reef. There are many possible collaborations with TechConnect that we don't even realise yet. By partnering with TechConnect, we have already reduced manual effort by at least five hours per week through digitising our coral analysis processes and removing spreadsheet-driven workflows. As we will start to introduce advanced automation and AI capabilities into the platform, we expect to unlock even greater efficiency gains, scale our analysis further, and improve data accuracy and better decision-making,” said Daniel Kimberley, Director, Monsoon Aquatics.

Since early 2025, Monsoon Aquatics and TechConnect have worked together to identify opportunities in data automation and regulatory compliance. The software’s design leverages database management and AI features, offering Monsoon Aquatics researchers and management real-time insights on operations. These changes are expected to allow marine scientists and staff to focus on value-added research rather than administrative tasks.

“As an Australian company, we are excited to be able to play a small part in supporting the success and growth of Monsoon Aquatics. We are proud to be collaborating with Monsoon Aquatics, to not only provide an industry leading solution but to support their role in preserving one of the world's most iconic environments,” said Mike Cunningham, CEO, TechConnect.