In 2022, FISHBIO built, shipped, and installed resistance board weirs in arctic Norway as a management tool to stem the tide of invasive pink salmon. Originally introduced to northern Russia, this species has rapidly expanded westward and been documented throughout the North Atlantic—including in Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the UK, and Scandinavia. This spread has raised great concerns about their effect on fragile riverine ecosystems and valuable native species. In northern Norway, a world-class destination for anglers pursuing large, wild Atlantic salmon, residents and visitors alike now fear that their piscatorial pursuits are tarnished by small, humped, invaders from the East. Beyond social and economic effects, the now-abundant pinks may act as vectors for diseases and parasites, jeopardizing native fishes and the Atlantic salmon aquaculture industry. Furthermore, the large amounts of marine-derived nutrients released by decomposing pinks could cause algal blooms and deteriorate water quality in rivers. At the same time, pink salmon also compete with native species for resources in the marine environment, diminishing their growth and survival.

Local and government engagement to prevent pink salmon from spawning is high in Norway, and weir operation and trapping as the fish return to freshwater to spawn has been effective in removing pinks. About 35,000 pinks were removed in 2023 from the Repparfjord River, where one of the weirs we fabricated is in use. Trapping of all migrating fish species, unfortunately, involves labor-intensive manual sorting of trapped fish, which can cause stress, injuries, or even death. To find a better alternative, the Norwegian government launched a research and development competition with the goal of making the exclusion and removal of pink salmon more streamlined and sustainable, while minimizing the impact on native species. FISHBIO brought the fisheries expertise and teamed up with Simsonar, a Finnish company specializing in underwater video systems. Using AI technology, we began work on a platform that rapidly identifies and selectively sorts passing salmon.

Our team advanced through various stages of the competition, from concept design to detailed plans, prototype fabrication, and ultimately field testing. The final design is able to route native species back into the river and divert invasives into a trap box for removal. This non-invasive method enables real-time monitoring of large numbers of fish, with data accessible remotely. Once built, this new system—the AquaSort—left its birthplace at our Oakdale FabLab in the fall of 2024, and after a layover in a Finnish storage unit for testing and refinements, arrived on the banks of the Repparfjord River near Hammerfest, in northern Norway, in June of 2025. With valuable support from locals, the sorting platform was installed in early July—integrated into the resistance board weir we bid farewell to in 2022!.

Once the system was installed and operating, it wasn’t long before the first invasive pink—still early enough in the season to be ocean-bright (and a culinary delight when grilled!)—was successfully trapped. Over the following weeks, our team repeatedly re-trained the AI software with additional imagery, updated and refined system operations, and spent countless hours in front of our monitors observing fish behavior through the platform. Following a visit from a panel of experts in various disciplines tasked with evaluating the system, we had a short period of standardized operation to quantify performance metrics. Over three days and a cumulative 550 fish passages, the platform achieved a trapping efficiency of greater than 97% for invasive pink salmon, while reducing handling of native species by 94%. We estimate that, with an observed transit time as short as ten seconds, the system can identify and sort several thousand fish per day, greatly reducing the requirements for manual sorting and simultaneously improving the welfare of native fishes.

While we originally planned to remove the system after the competition, our friends at the local fishing association appreciated it so much that they offered to maintain the system after we left. Because of their help, the system continued to do its job long after we had come home. As we implement small tweaks and look towards future deployment of the AquaSort in Norway and beyond, we are also exploring other applications of this novel technology, including selective passage and targeted trapping of species for research—stay tuned!

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Counting fish is no easy task, but it is a key part of research and management for many species. For the migratory salmonids that move through our rivers, scientists employ a variety of strategies to produce estimates of fish numbers, often using some variation of mark-recapture that relies on internal or external tags, manual traps, or carcass collections. Nowadays, modern technology can provide an underwater view of when, how many, and which species of fish are on the move. This allows scientists to collect direct counts of migrating fish in real-time to better inform important management decisions.

FISHBIO has been using camera systems developed by Simsonar, a Finland-based company that combines underwater video, cutting edge software, and neural network (AI) learning to meet management needs. Simsonar’s two main products, the FishCounter and LiteCounter, provide 24/7 video monitoring and automatic fish detection, measurement, and reporting. The FishCounter also offers real-time species identification using a cloud-based AI model trained on tens of thousands of images. Originally developed to recognize northern European species, the AI model is continuously retrained with imagery from FISHBIO’s local installations to identify Central Valley fishes—from Chinook salmon and steelhead to Sacramento sucker and pikeminnow. As we collect additional images of passing fish, the algorithm becomes more refined and able to recognize additional, less abundant species.

A FishCounter functions as part of a weir or similar structure that guides migrating fish through a video tunnel equipped with lights and a camera. This camera is connected to a computer running Simsonar software on-site, collecting live detections and measurements of each passage. When motion is detected in the tunnel, the software captures a brief video clip, determines if it’s a fish (and not woody debris, an otter, or even a beaver!), measures its length, and for salmonids, can record major injuries and adipose fin presence (indicating hatchery origin). On-site internet connection enables AI-driven species identification, remote access and control, and web-based reporting. The LiteCounter operates similarly but without the tunnel, making it useful for environments with preexisting infrastructure or where a tunnel is unfeasible. Their streamlined design and remote accessibility make FishCounters easy to install and use in a variety of field locations.

Underwater fish counters offer a non-invasive approach to fish monitoring by eliminating the stress that fish experience during trapping and physical handling. Other non-invasive methods often don’t capture total or real-time numbers; for example, only a subset of salmonids are acoustic or radio tagged, and an even smaller subset get detected by antennas or receivers. Carcass surveys, while critical for otolith and tag extraction, can only provide count data after spawning is complete and do not account for every fish. FishCounters, on the other hand, collect direct visual counts in real time, telling scientists exactly how many fish and which species are passing a given place at a given time. They are also especially helpful when working with large numbers of fish, which can overwhelm traps and demand around-the-clock labor. For example, this year’s Chinook salmon run on the Stanislaus River reached its highest number since 2017—more than could be reasonably trapped, counted, and measured by hand. Instead, each of these approximately 8,000 fish were detected, identified, and measured by FISHBIO using a Simsonar FishCounter.

Simsonar FishCounters can be customized to a variety of projects, clients, and waterways, from conservation research to construction monitoring. As Simsonar’s North American partner and distributor, FISHBIO currently uses FishCounters to monitor steelhead trout and Chinook salmon populations on the Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers in California’s Central Valley. Simsonar’s 24/7 automated detection and reporting allows FISHBIO to provide real-time data to stakeholders, including resource agencies, water districts, and dam operators to inform crucial management decisions. FISHBIO has also piloted other systems that utilize Simsonar technology. Recently, we teamed up with Simsonar to invent an AI-based fish sorting system as a part of a research and development (R&D) competition hosted by the Norwegian government to tackle the problem of invasive pink salmon in their rivers. Combining Simsonar’s FishCounter capabilities and FISHBIO’s fisheries and fabrication expertise, this system selectively traps invasive pink salmon while allowing native species to pass unimpeded.

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With five dams and power plants along the Iijoki, this project is a significant undertaking. To monitor the project’s success, Simsonar cameras will be deployed at critical points. Two cameras will be positioned at the mouth of the downstream migration channel and one at the fish cage. These cameras will provide valuable insights into fish behavior in the channel, while also supporting the operational management of the migration route.

Learn more about the Simsonar Products and how they could support your salmon restoration or some other fish monitoring project.

Salmon to Iijoki River Project

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