Toward Intelligent and Deployable Seafood Quality Evaluation: A Review of Deep Learning-Assisted Computer Vision.

Abstract

Seafood provides high-quality protein and essential nutrients but is highly susceptible to rapid postharvest deterioration. Conventional quality evaluation methods are often destructive, labor-intensive, and difficult to implement in real-time industrial and consumer settings. In recent years, deep learning-assisted computer vision (DL-CV) has emerged as a promising technical route for nondestructive and rapid seafood quality assessment in industrial processing lines and retail inspection systems. This review synthesizes recent advances in DL-CV for seafood quality evaluation from both technical and application-oriented perspectives. The technical framework is first clarified by comparing visible-light imaging with other imaging modalities and by discussing the transition from traditional machine learning to end-to-end deep learning-based feature extraction. Recent developments in representative deep learning architectures, such as convolutional neural networks and vision transformers, are then summarized alongside emerging trends toward lightweight design, architectural enhancement, and interpretability. Current application scenarios are further reviewed systematically, with particular emphasis on freshness evaluation, including key image regions and two dominant labeling strategies: storage time-based labeling (STBL) and traditional indicator-based labeling (TIBL). Additional applications such as species identification, weight estimation, defect detection, and quantitative determination of compositional attributes are also discussed. Overall, DL-CV demonstrates strong potential for accurate, nondestructive seafood quality prediction, especially when leveraging visible-light imaging systems that are easily deployable in practical environments. Future research should focus on finer quality differentiation, multidimensional and integrated quality evaluation, and scalable deployment in both industrial processing and consumer-oriented applications.