Greece, technology drives aquaculture competitiveness: automation and data for Europe's sea bream and sea bass industry

Greek aquaculture faces rising costs and competition. Monitoring, automation and efficiency take centre stage at AquaFarm 2027 in Pordenone, 17–18 February.

PORDENONE, ITALY, October 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Greece is one of the Mediterranean's leading aquaculture producers. In 2024, national production reached almost 141,000 tonnes, worth €789.7 million. Sea bream and sea bass accounted for 114,500 tonnes and €721 million, placing Greece third in the EU by production volume and first by value¹. The industry comprises 73 companies and groups, over 280 farming sites and 12,000 direct and indirect jobs. Exports dominate: preliminary ELSTAT data show that sea bream and sea bass exports reached 97,400 tonnes and €672 million in 2025².
Yet production remains constrained. Following a 5.5% decline in 2024, volumes were expected to stabilise in 2025. Delays in spatial planning limit expansion, while rising costs and warming seas increase operational pressures. In 2024, Greek waters recorded their highest temperatures in forty years³.
With limited room to increase production, competitiveness increasingly depends on producing more efficiently: optimising feed, reducing losses and improving environmental monitoring.

Monitoring water in a warmer Mediterranean - Rising temperatures reduce dissolved oxygen while increasing fish metabolism and exposure to pathogens. Multiparameter sensors monitor temperature, oxygen, salinity and turbidity continuously, allowing operators to adjust feeding, postpone handling and respond rapidly to critical conditions.
In Greece, the European UNITED project deployed underwater sensors, cameras and remotely operated vehicles at a sea bass and sea bream farm, providing real-time information on fish behaviour and environmental impacts where aquaculture and tourism coexist⁴.

Inside the cage: acoustics and artificial intelligence - Accurate biomass estimates are essential for feeding, treatments and harvest planning. Within the European PerformFISH project, the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research tested echo sounders to estimate fish density without physical contact⁵. AI-powered stereoscopic cameras can also assess fish size, weight distribution and behaviour, reducing reliance on manual sampling.

Underwater robotics for maintenance - The University of Thessaly developed Kalypso, a hybrid underwater vehicle tested at commercial farms in Kefalonia. Designed for inspections and maintenance, including removing debris and repairing nets, the prototype costs approximately €4,000⁶, suggesting potential applications beyond large operators.

Precision feeding: where margins are won - Feed represents 40–60% of production costs in intensive aquaculture⁷, making feeding efficiency one of the industry's most important competitive factors. Automated feeding systems combine underwater cameras, environmental sensors and dispensers to adjust rations according to fish appetite, water temperature and oxygen availability. Feeding can be reduced or suspended when conditions deteriorate or fish stop consuming feed. This approach can improve feed conversion ratios, limit unnecessary expenditure and reduce nutrient releases into surrounding waters. Precision feeding therefore addresses two challenges simultaneously: protecting operating margins and reducing environmental impacts.
For smaller Greek producers, however, adopting these technologies also requires integrating equipment and software from different suppliers and developing staff expertise. Greece's €519.6 million Fisheries, Aquaculture and Sea programme for 2021–2027, including €363.7 million in EU funding, could support this transition, although the allocation specifically dedicated to farm digitalisation remains uncertain⁸.

AquaFarm 2027 brings technology developers and users together
The tenth edition of AquaFarm, taking place in Pordenone on 17 and 18 February 2027, will devote part of its programme to precision aquaculture technologies. Topics currently being developed include sensors and Big Data, remote sensing and water quality monitoring, observation of fish behaviour, high-resolution weather forecasting and systems to identify environmental threats and invasive species in real time, as well as precision feeding, functional feeds, microbiomes and animal physiology.
“Greece has built one of Europe’s strongest marine aquaculture industries and is now entering a phase in which competitiveness depends less on volumes and more on the quality of management. Warmer seas, higher costs and more demanding markets require farms that can understand what is happening underwater in real time and respond accordingly. These are challenges shared across the Mediterranean, and AquaFarm aims to be the place where we address them together,” says Renato Pujatti, President of Pordenone Fiere.
AquaFarm is organised by Pordenone Fiere in partnership with API – the Italian Fish Farmers Association – and AMA – the Mediterranean Aquaculture Association. The 2027 edition is supported by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA). The conference programme is being updated and will be finalised in the coming months.

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