These ingenious new robots are helping fishing crews catch salmon more humanely and sustainably

Right now, sockeye salmon season is peaking in Alaska. Some fishing vessels in the Cook Inlet have welcomed a new crew member, one who doesn’t complain about swells, eat, or even sleep—yet is able to harvest salmon more rapidly and humanely than any fisherman ever has. The newcomer is PSDN-S, short for “Poseidon,” a robot built by a startup called Shinkei Systems. PSDN-S’s process sounds coldly mechanical but is in fact far more compassionate than the traditional methods,...