For the last 13 years, what began life as a largely experimental venture, SafetyNet Technologies’ (SNTech), has been actively developing and testing innovative technologies to improve fisheries selectivity.
SNTech’s profile has been significantly lifted in the last few years thanks to the introduction of CatchCam, a piece of tech the fishing industry had been waiting for – an affordable and reliable camera/lighting combo that could be attached to either trawl or static fishing gears to provide information on what’s happening once the gear has dropped below the surface.
Faced with some challenging market conditions, SN Tech is about to shut down, but fortunately the work is being continued by new entity, CatchCam Technologies (CCTech), founded by a group of SNTech staff with a strong commitment to carrying this forward.
“When we learned that SNTech had run out of money, we put our heads together and agreed that there’s sustainable and more importantly a useful business here and we wanted to see it through,” said Tom Rossiter, who takes over the role of CEO at CatchCam Technologies after having been the visible and energetic face of SNTech for the last few years.
“We have strong products that have proven to be efficient allies for fishers out at sea and now we want to build on top of that, to keep creating well-designed tools for both the fishing industry and research communities.”
CC Tech has also announced a collaboration with New Zealand company SnapCore, a leader in above-water monitoring and AI-driven systems.
“We know we can’t do everything on our own, and we’re always looking to collaborate with complementary technology to better solve challenges in the fishing industry, marine research and now aquaculture,” said Rossiter. “Two heads are always better than one, and we’re excited to start problem-solving together with SnapCore.”
He said the aim is to create more powerful tools for efficient data collection and analysis, enabling users to enhance decision-making in the field.
“This is just the beginning. Both CatchCam Technologies and SnapCore are technically excellent in our fields, and this strong partnership will allow us to tackle new challenges and innovate even further.”
SNTech founders Dan Watson, Nadia Laabs and Aran Dasan are giving the handover their full support and will continue as advisory board members of CatchCam Technologies. This is to ensure continuity – while the ongoing involvement in the new venture of former team members ensures that innovative work and partnerships built over the years will continue to thrive.
“It’s been a privilege to be part of SafetyNet Technologies’ progress over the last thirteen years, working alongside an incredible team of committed people, driven by our mission. I’m proud that it will be taken forward by members of that team under a new banner,” said SNTech Co-founder Dan Watson.
“Chris Lewis, Tom Rossiter and the new approach being taken by CCTech are exactly what’s needed to bring a renewed focus and energy to supporting sustainable fisheries and making a real difference in the industry.”
The intention is to build on existing products such as CatchCam and SeaSensor, integrating real-time monitoring and AI capabilities into these, while providing the ongoing support and honouring existing agreements and warranties during the transition to CatchCam Technologies. Products will continue to be manufactured and assembled in the UK and France. Alongside this, CCTech aims to expand beyond hardware to offer consultancy services for the collection of data in challenging underwater environments.
“The direction of travel is towards doing things better, be that fishing efficiency, environmental impact or the data we base our science on. Products like CatchCam are critical to building this understanding and driving the improvements needed,” Rossiter said.
“The day will come where we will have machines in our gear telling us what is in there and controlling exactly what is caught. But the kit has to be exceptionally well designed to work day-in-day-out and not many companies have the knowhow to deliver this, but CatchCam Technologies does and we love nothing more than solving difficult problems and making the job easier.”
