Preventing Bycatch with Lights

Applying LED lights onto trawls and adjusting the brightness, colour and flash rates to assess the different behavioural responses in species. When the behaviour of species can be modified, the technologies can be used to catch more precisely and avoid bycatch.

Issue

  • Bycatch is one of the issues preventing the nephrops fishery from gaining Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.
  • It is an issue for fishermen because they do not have quota for untargeted species, so they cannot sell their catch.
  • This also poses a threat if juvenile fish are caught and removed from the ocean and unable to reproduce, causing further economic, environmental and ecological costs.

Solution

  • SafetyNet Technologies are working with the fishing industry to design and trial artificial LED lights to see the effects on species behaviour.
  • The Pisces lights have been trialled on different locations on the fishing gear and can be adjusted with different brightness, colour and flash rates to assess the different behavioural responses in species.
  • If the lights can modify the behaviour of different species, it can be used as a tool to catch target species more precisely and avoid bycatch.
  • The cameras offer visibility of what is happening under the water, allowing scientists to gather visual evidence of how species interacts with lights and behave before they reach the net or in the net.
  • The cameras will show fishermen how their nets are performing in real time. They can then rig their nets to be more efficient and this will improve the quality of the trawl by bringing in their catch in a shorter amount of time (which also saves costs on fuel).
  • The camera provides evidence that fishermen are capable of managing stocks and targeting their primary species without external management interventions.

The Process

  • Partnering with Industry: Ian Whiteman, skipper of Eilidh Anne in the Firth of Clyde, has been working with SafetyNet Technologies for the last four years and has ben instrumental in the design and testing of the Pisces LED lights and SNT camera technologies.
  • Designed & approved by Industry: SafetyNet technologies they have been able to develop a product which is approved by the fishing industry to work on a commercial vessel – the fishermen could show what they needed and what would work on a boat. It is important to create a product which won’t need a lot of fine tuning when it is more widely applied aboard other commercial vessels.
  • Reducing Bycatch: The opportunity to remove unwanted species from the trawl is a win for the fishermen, as it leaves the stock for another day and means they will not be catching species they do not have quota for and will be unable to sell.
  • Tried & tested: In May 2020 an assessment of the artificial lights on the Raised Fishing Line (RFL) of a demersal trawl in the Celtic seas saw a 77% reduction in undersized haddock when Pisces light technology was pointing towards the trawl mouth. A small reduction in catches of whiting occurred when the fishing line was illuminated – showcasing different reactions from different species to the lights.
  • Get in touch: to discuss your needs and see how they may be able to help you. Email enquiries@sntech.co.uk or call 020 7052 3903

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“People have their opinion that we are decimating the seabed, we like to use science and technology such as SafetyNet Technology to prove that we are not.”

Ian Whiteman, Skipper of the Eilidh Anne

“SafetyNet Technologies enabled fishers and scientists to work together and test new devices that could have a major impact on one of the global oceans’ largest environmental problems, unwanted bycatch in fisheries. Their generous approach unlocked innovators in the industry to test the equipment with input from my team and resulted in a scientifically peer reviewed publication which showed the potential of using light to manipulate fish behaviour and reduce bycatch.”

Michel Kaiser, Heriot-Watt University

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