The latest generation of salmon welfare monitoring technology includes AI-powered underwater cameras, biomass assessment tools and behavioural analysis systems. Their adoption and limitations in 2026 are shaping welfare outcomes.
Salmon welfare monitoring technology has advanced dramatically in the 2024-2026 period, with AI-powered systems capable of detecting welfare problems at cage scale that previously required close individual inspection. The technology itself is not the limiting factor - the challenge is ensuring that welfare data triggers welfare responses rather than being collected and ignored. Regulatory frameworks that require welfare alerts to be acted upon, combined with independent audit of monitoring data, are essential for technology to deliver genuine welfare benefits. The risk is that sophisticated monitoring technology becomes a certification asset rather than a welfare driver - farms that invest in monitoring without responding appropriately to what the monitoring reveals.