Globally, an albatross dies on a fishing hook every five minutes, but a clever new invention called the Hookpod has been designed to ensure that fishermen are catching fish and not birds.
Designed by brothers’ Ben and Pete Kibel, based in Devon, UK, and trialed extensively by the RSPB Albatross Task Force on behalf of BirdLife International, it is small in size and it said to have huge implications for saving the albatross from extinction.
The Hookpod has been designed to reduce the number of birds killed in tuna and swordfish fisheries to near zero. It achieves this by enclosing the point and barb of the hook as it enters the water, making it impossible for birds to become hooked. The pod has an air pressure mechanism which opens on reaching fishing depth and the baited hook is released to begin fishing.
In short, it keeps birds off of the hooks, it opens underwater, it has a light in it and means fishermen can catch fish and not birds.
When the fishing is finished, Hookpods are simply pulled onboard, closed up again and stored along with the hooks and line in standard fishing bins ready to be used again. It is very durable and long lasting, meaning there is reduced waste and increased efficiency.
Following successful trials in Brazil, South Africa and Australia, in many cases with the assistance of the Albatross Task Force, an RSPB team of seabird bycatch reduction instructors, the inventors are now seeking funds via the Kickstarter website to start commercial scale production.
All money raised will directly help put Hookpods in the water where they can start saving albatross. The project will be online and available to donate to until August. Inventor Ben Kibel says, “The Hookpod is the result of years of design and feedback from fisheries to end up with something that not only stops birds being killed, but can save fishermen time and money. We’re really excited that using Kickstarter could give us the chance to produce this here in the UK, while saving albatross all around the world.”
To see more about the project, please click here.
