Advanced Fishing Tech is Paving a New Path for Conservation

The way that we fish has become far more sophisticated as time has gone on. Fishermen now have several options when catching fish, but unfortunately, other forms of wildlife are often caught accidentally. This is known as bycatch, and it’s not just problematic for animals; it’s an issue for fishermen too, as equipment can be destroyed or damaged, which costs time, energy and money

Increasing Awareness of Commercial Fishing

There’s now more awareness of commercial fishing than ever. The Science of Fishing podcast on Spotify is one example, where experts from the fishing industry give their take on commercial fishing while sharing great stories. 

Websites like Life on the Bank also offer advanced tactics that cover every aspect of fishing, and Seaspiracy on Netflix examines mass-scale fishing while highlighting important considerations. Fishing is also a big theme in iGaming. 

The best online casino options are often home to titles from the Big Bass franchise. Big Bass Blast is one example, and highlights blast fishing, a fishing practice where dynamite or explosions are used to stun fish. It’s a practice still used in villages or more isolated regions in the world, showing how far fishing has come, but at the same time, how essential it is to many parts of the world.

As tech advances, so do innovative fishing solutions. Protecting marine wildlife and supporting sustainable fishing as a whole has become an achievable goal, but this is only because conservationists are working with local fishing communities and researchers to reduce bycatch. 

So far, the results have been incredibly encouraging. Scientists say that one of the most promising aspects of tackling this is that it not only helps to support long-term fish stocks but also helps to protect marine ecosystems.

A Range of Techniques are Being Developed

Rather than trying to impose a single solution, researchers are trying to find an easy way to develop a range of techniques that can be tailored to different species. One of the greatest success stories is to be found with sea turtles. Decades of collaboration have led to TEDs, or turtle excluder devices. 

These provide an escape route for turtles that might have been caught in trawler nets. Recent statistics put the success rate at around 97%. 

Attaching green LEDs to gillnets has also been effective at helping turtles to avoid the nets. Studies in Peru have found that bycatch has been reduced by up to 60% with this alone. As a way to build on this success, scientists have also developed solar flashing lights which reduce the need for battery replacements.

In experiments carried out in the Gulf of California, scientists found that nets reduced bycatch by 63% and did not affect how many targeted fish species were caught. As the equipment can be incorporated into existing fishing equipment, the results are incredibly promising. 

Marine animals are also able to benefit from acoustic pingers. This alerts dolphins and porpoises that fishing is taking place nearby, with a study in Norway finding that bycatch was reduced by 94%.

For smaller fisheries, low-cost solutions are very encouraging. By attaching smaller plastic bottles to gillnets, it’s easy for dolphins to detect the bottles via echolocation, showing how significant investment is not required.