© Grieg
The solution is intended to increase production efficiency by up to 20 percent and will be fully integrated into Grieg’s automated vaccination process, markings the first time gender sorting is fully embedded directly into an automated vaccination line, enabling earlier biological decision-making without increasing handling. The system operates at commercial speed, sorting up to 10,000 fish per hour per vaccination line.
Gender sorting in particular has emerged as a high-impact biological tool in salmon farming. Industry data shows that males grow approximately 20 percent faster than females, and that females grow around 5 percent more when they are not reared alongside males. By identifying gender before fish are transferred to sea, hatcheries can reduce variability and improve biological stability. Sorting for health indicators and early maturation in the same process allows to , remove fish unlikely to survive to harvest. The imaging and classification methods behind Aquaticode’s system are protected by multiple patents covering both hardware and AI-based phenotyping.
Grieg Seafood’s decision reflects a broader industry shift toward early intervention, reduced biological uncertainty, and data-driven welfare improvements.
“Biology is the foundation of everything we do,” said Kjetil Ørnes, regional director at Grieg Seafood, in a press release. “Earlier, more precise decisions reduce risk throughout the lifecycle, and we believe gender sorting at the vaccination stage offers meaningful biological benefits. Aquaticode’s technology gives us a practical and integrated way to make those decisions exactly when they matter. This is the type of innovation we want to support: Solutions that strengthen fish health and performance.”
Aquaticode is a company which focuses on AI phenotyping for salmon, having scanned tens of millions of fish and holding commercial contracts with some of the largest global salmon producers, covering more than one hundred million fish. Chief executive officer Stian Rognlid sees the agreement as a strong signal of industry adoption.
“This collaboration with Grieg is an important milestone for our team and for the wider move toward early, data-driven biological sorting,” he said. “Phenotyping and sorting is proving to be a powerful first step toward more predictable biology and higher-performing cohorts. We are particularly grateful that Grieg is taking the lead - when a company with their biological focus moves, others follow. It validates both the need and the impact of what we have built.”
