A female, buck, and jack coho salmon pass an underwater video camera on the Kitwanga River. (Still courtesy Gitanyow Fisheries Authority.)
It turns out that AI excels at the humble pursuit of counting fish
Drawing on cutting-edge technology, two research groups have independently demonstrated the potential for tracking salmon with AI in one case and DNA floating in the water in the other.
Warren Cornwall, Anthropocene, October 25, 2023
Anyone who has tried their hand at fishing knows how elusive their prey is. Obscured by the water, it’s nearly impossible to catch sight of fish in most circumstances.
Now imagine being an ecologist trying to count them. Scientists have relied on all manner of methods to track fish populations, many of them relatively crude: applying an electric shock to a stream and counting the stunned fish; hauling a large net through the ocean, then calculating entire populations based on the catch; snorkeling down a river; standing at a fish ladder on a dam and ticking off the fish as they swim past.
The results can be vital, helping fisheries managers determine whether to open a fishing season, conservationists gauge the health of a species, and scientists figure out if a restoration project made a difference. But the work is time consuming and plagued with uncertainty.
But some of the latest technological innovations are starting to trickle down to such humble pursuits as counting fish. In the last two months, researchers have independently announced the potential for tracking salmon populations with artificial intelligence (in one case), and DNA floating in the water (in the other).
The results are encouraging, and they could help scientists track their quarry far more easily.