An innovative device which could significantly reduce the number of harbour porpoises and other cetaceans caught in fishing nets has won the UK prize in the International Smart Gear Competition, organised by WWF
Inventor, Andy Smerdon of Aquatec Group Ltd in Hampshire receives the $5000 award sponsored by industry organisation Seafish for his ‘Passive Porpoise Deterrent’, an idea which draws on the harbour porpoise’s echolocation system to protect the mammal from getting caught up in fishing nets.
Sally Bailey, North East Atlantic Marine Manager at WWF-UK says:
“More whales, dolphins, and porpoises die every year by getting entangled in fishing gear than from any other cause, so inventions like this are critical for enabling smarter fishing in our seas. Bycatch is a critical environmental and economic problem, but not one without solutions, as demonstrated by the number of entries in this year’s International Smart Gear Competition. The passive porpoise deterrent is simple, cost-effective, and could radically reduce the amount of bycatch in UK fisheries.”
Hundreds of thousands of marine animals are killed worldwide year on year through destructive fishing practices. The International Smart Gear Competition was created by WWF and a diverse range of partners to bring together fishermen, policy makers and scientists to find solutions to reduce the unnecessary decline of vulnerable species due to bycatch.
Since the 1990s, acoustic pingers have been effective in reducing cetacean bycatch. However their relatively high cost has hindered their wider implementation, as have concerns over reliability and whether they cause noise pollution to the animal’s environment in the long term. Developed by Aquatec Group Ltd, the Passive Porpoise Deterrent alerts porpoises to the presence of fishing nets using resonant acoustic reflectors that increase the net’s “acoustic visibility”, and do so in a less complicated way than the currently used pingers. When a porpoise emits a click, the reflectors transmit back a stronger echo, making the reflectors appear to the porpoise to be much larger objects than they are, and thus alerting them to danger.
On winning the award, Andy Smerdon said:
“I’m thrilled that this simple idea has captured the imagination of the judges. Aquatec’s pingers have already shown how technology can be applied to eliminate porpoise deaths in European fisheries. I am confident that this new application of underwater acoustics can bring benefits to fishermen struggling with marine mammal bycatch problems, not only in Europe but throughout the world. I’m delighted to receive the award, which will provide a kick start to setting up a trials programme for the device.”
The Smart Gear Grand Prize went to a team of US Rhode Island inventors for a device aptly named “The Eliminator” which captures haddock while reducing the accidental netting of other marine species. Their invention beat 70 entries from 22 countries to win the top prize. It works by taking advantage of the haddock’s natural tendency to swim upwards, not downwards which is the norm for other fish.
Another Briton, Mike Sharpe from Devon, was given an honorary mention for his environmental beam trawl which applies square mesh panels to beam trawlers to reduce bycatch of invertebrates, fish, and benthos.
Philip MacMullen, Head of Environment at Seafish said:
“Seafish was delighted to partner WWF in this year’s competition and looks forward to future involvement. Fishing smarter is something all fishermen can do and this award helps focus that creative energy. The winning UK entry impressed us all with its simplicity, and the fact that it can be tuned to work for a range of cetacean species.”
