Digital tool sought to protect salmon during crowding | The Fish Site

The Norwegian Seafood Research Fund is offering up to eight million Norwegian crowns to fund a new digital tool aimed at protecting Atlantic salmon during crowding operations at sea. Crowding fish prior to treatment and transport is a highly demanding process that poses serious risks to fish health, welfare, and production performance.

While previous efforts like the CrowdMonitor project established visual guidelines using surface observations and underwater remotely operated vehicles, current decisions about crowding and treatment still rely heavily on operators' subjective experiences. To address this, the new funding call seeks objective, data-driven solutions that can operate in real time.

The objective is to create a decision-support tool utilizing machine vision, sensor data, and artificial intelligence. This technology will monitor crowding conditions continuously, alert operators when fish approach critical stress levels, and allow for real-time adjustments during the marine production phase.

This initiative matters because treatment-related mortality and stress during crowding are major challenges for the aquaculture industry. By financing one comprehensive project through this call, the research fund aims to replace subjective guesswork with precise technology to safeguard fish welfare and reduce losses during essential sea operations.