Huawei win prize for protecting Norway’s endangered salmon

Huawei and its partners were awarded the Special Jury Prize at the World AI Cannes Festival, for their solution to protect endangered wild Atlantic salmon in Norway.

Wild Atlantic salmon are a fundamental part of Norway’s identity, culture, and economy. The number of Atlantic Salmon has halved since the 1980s due to the increase of Pacific salmon – an invasive species that out-competes the Atlantic salmon.

Huawei’s TECH4ALL initiative, partnered with Berlevåg Fishermen’s association (BJFF) in 2021. Together they’ve designed and installed an AI-based filtering system to prevent the spread of Pacific salmon in Norwegian rivers.

The solution uses underwater video technology and AI to identify Pacific salmon. It then has an automated gate system filtering the invasive species into a holding tank, preventing them from swimming upstream to breed. The system lets wild Atlantic salmon and Arctic red-spotted salmon pass through to complete their breeding cycles.

Besides preserving local biodiversity, the survival of wild Atlantic salmon is crucial to Norway’s fishery industry. This is due to the fact, that the genes for farmed salmon are pulled from wild salmon.

“Norway’s wild salmon are threatened by other species, including Pacific salmon and escaped farmed salmon. The monitoring system using AI helps to stop this,” said Tor Schulstad, Administrator for BJFF.

The solution has only been tested in Berlevåg, but due to the success of the pilot-run, the system can potentially be expanded to Norway’s remaining rivers.

Source: Huawei.com

About Miabell Mallikka

Miabell Mallikka is a journalist working with ScandAsia at the headquarters in Bangkok.

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