Aquaticode and Cooke España to develop AI phenotyping for sea bass and sea bream.
Aquaticode has entered into an agreement with Cooke España to develop and implement AI-based phenotyping for sea bass and sea bream hatchery production.
The collaboration will focus on applying AI phenotyping to fry at commercial scale, with the aim of supporting earlier and more consistent decision-making in hatcheries. Sea bass and sea bream hatcheries have traditionally relied on manual visual assessments to identify weak or unviable fish, a process that is labour-intensive and variable, particularly at early life stages.
Under the agreement, Aquaticode will work with Cooke España to explore how automated phenotyping can identify developmental issues and weakness indicators earlier in the production cycle. According to the companies, earlier identification could reduce unnecessary feed use, labour, tank capacity, and energy consumption, while contributing to more uniform growth groups and improved welfare outcomes.
Stian Rognlid, CEO of Aquaticode, said the collaboration is intended to assess how AI phenotyping can improve early-stage biological insight, where decisions can have a significant impact on long-term performance and costs.
Alberto Morente, Juvenile Production Manager at Cooke España, said variation in sea bass and sea bream strongly influences long-term performance, and that a technology-led approach could allow resources such as space, feed, and labour to be directed towards stronger groups from an earlier stage.
The agreement represents an expansion of Aquaticode’s species roadmap beyond salmon and aligns with its broader strategy to deploy AI phenotyping across additional species and stages of the aquaculture value chain.
Aquaticode develops AI-based phenotyping and sorting systems for aquaculture and has processed tens of millions of salmon using multi-sensor imaging and deep-learning technology. Cooke España is part of Cooke Inc. and produces sea bass, sea bream, and meagre in Spain. The company operates under the Culmarex and Bandera Bronzini brands and has recently expanded its hatchery capacity in the Balearic Islands.
