Cascais, Portugal (ots/PRNewswire) – Huawei received yesterday GeSI Digital with Purpose (DWP) Award 2024 and the DWP Biodiversity Award 2024 for its automatic filtration system to protect wild Atlantic salmon in Norway.
The award-winning solution, part of the Huawei initiative TECH4ALL Developed together with local partners Berlevåg Hunter and Fishermen’s Association (BJFF), Simula Consulting and Troll Systems, is able to detect different fish species and filter out pink salmon, an invasive species not native to Norwegian rivers and has a very negative impact on the local salmon.
“Awarding the main prize to Huawei’s AI solution for invasive salmon screening was unanimously decided by all judges. Not only for its innovation, but also for the results that the system has achieved in a short time. This system is an example of how technological solutions can contribute to the sustainability of the planet and the preservation of ecosystems,” said Luís Neves, Executive Director of the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI).
“Huawei joined the Digital with Purpose initiative in May 2021 and is committed to taking practical, larger steps to become a purpose-driven company that has a positive impact on society and our homes,” said Joyce Liu, Director of the TECH4ALL Program Office at Huawei. “The technologies and partnerships that protect biodiversity and ecosystems not only benefit our planet, but also the local communities that depend on natural resources.”
With wild Atlantic salmon being an integral part of Norwegian identity, culture and economy, the urgent need for a solution to the invasive species is recognized at the national level.
Pink salmon was introduced into Norwegian border rivers in the 1960s. Its rapid reproductive cycle means that more and more specimens of this invasive species enter the Norwegian river systems to spawn every two years. They aggressively compete with native salmon for food, introduce disease, and increase nitrogen levels in rivers as they decompose, which in turn leads to the death of other aquatic life.
After two years of development by Huawei and partners, the solution was deployed in pilot projects in Norway’s Kongsfjord and Storelva rivers in 2023. During last year’s breeding season, more than 6,000 pink salmon were successfully diverted from the two rivers.
“The trap has been developed and tested over several seasons and we are confident that our AI-based solution is the recipe for future success. In the thousands of identifications we conducted last year, we identified and caught 100% of pink salmon and had an overall identification rate of 99.98,” said Geir Kristiansen, executive director of the BJFF.
How the solution works
The automatic filtering solution consists of a river-spanning tunnel, underwater cameras, an automatic gate and an AI algorithm trained to recognize different species of fish. When the system detects a pink salmon, the gate remains closed and diverts the fish to a holding basin. The gate opens for wild Atlantic salmon and other native species, allowing them to swim upstream to complete their spawning cycle.
Previously, volunteers had to visually identify and manually remove the pink salmon, a task that is time- and labor-intensive as well as error-prone and results in an average injury or death rate of 30%. In contrast, the automated solution reduces manual labor by 90% and all fish remain unharmed.
In the pilot project at Kongsfjord, the filter system is powered by solar energy and connected via 5G, as the site has neither a power supply nor a grid connection. The success of the pilot projects means that the solution can potentially be expanded to all Norwegian river systems, including those that do not have the necessary infrastructure.
The GeSI Digital with Purpose Global Award aims to highlight and celebrate digital solutions that address human needs, reduce poverty, increase inclusivity and protect nature in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs). and the concept of protecting half the earth.
Information about TECH4ALL
TECH4ALL is Huawei’s long-term digital inclusion initiative and action plan. With the help of innovative technologies and partnerships, TECH4ALL aims to enable integration and sustainability in the digital world.
For more information, please visit the Huawei TECH4ALL website https://www.huawei.com/en/tech4all.
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