Blue tech company Radmantis says its underwater monitoring system reconstructed the mix of brown and rainbow trout with 99% accuracy in a US hydropower research study conducted at Verdantas Flow Labs in Holden, Massachusetts.
The two-month validation study tested whether the system could distinguish between the visually similar species as they moved through a laboratory channel, including in dense groups. Verdantas knew the number of each species in 40 single-blind trials, while Radmantis analysed underwater video without that information.
According to Radmantis, the system identified the exact species mix in 36 of the 40 trials and came within five fish in the remaining four. On a separate held-out validation set, it recorded 95.5% detection performance measured by mAP50, with 89.8% precision and 90.0% recall. The 99% figure refers to its reconstruction of the species mix across the trials, rather than its detection score.
“Hydropower is essential to our renewable energy goals, but maintaining fish passage is critical to preserving aquatic biodiversity,” said Dan Giza, Department Lead for Aquatic Resource and Bioengineering at Verdantas Flow Labs. “This collaboration brings new, data-driven tools to better inform fish passage decisions and conservation efforts aimed at protecting endangered species while enabling better management of invasive ones.”
The study involved the Hydropower Testing Network, ENERGYWERX in collaboration with the US Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office, and Verdantas. Radmantis’ platform uses underwater cameras and AI-based analysis to detect and classify fish, with the aim of providing species-level data for fish passage monitoring.
“This validation shows that smart underwater imaging can make hydropower structures both more sustainable and responsive to ecosystem needs,” said Dr. Robert Huber, Technology Lead at Radmantis. “By providing clear, continuous insight into fish passage, we’re helping operators balance clean energy production with healthy river systems.”
Radmantis said it is seeking hydropower and research partners for further field validation across other species and operating environments.
