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FISHTEK MARINE
- NetLight
- PotLight
- Shark Guard
FISHTEK MARINE
NetLight
Bycatch like this damages fishers’ equipment and can lead to expensive replacements, or days of down time spent repairing nets instead of fishing. It is also life threatening for the individual marine animals accidentally entangled and can lead to significant reductions in their local populations. Sometimes the bycatch rate reduces the conservation status of a species, which can lead to the introduction of fisheries management measures such as closing areas to fishing, either seasonally or permanently.
Based on the growing body of evidence that illumination of fishing gear can effectively reduce marine bycatch, Fishtek Marine’s experienced engineers have developed a new, low-cost product specifically designed around the needs of the fishers. The NetLight.
NetLight is a small, long lasting, robust device that can easily be attached to the ropes on fishing nets in order to alert sea turtles, small cetaceans and seabirds to the presence of the net and enable them to avoid entanglement.
Unlike closing areas to fishing, and setting seasonal restrictions, NetLights can be implemented without negative impacts on the fishers’ target catch rates. Moreover, fishers’ needs have been considered in the design so NetLight devices are easy to use, robust, and cheap to buy and maintain.
Given that NetLight is extremely robust, we also can comfortably recommend it’s use for increasing the selectivity of trawls. In the Pink Shrimp Fishery (Oregon, USA), a green LED light is mandated for use in order to mitigate smelt bycatch. LED lights attached to the footrope of the shrimp trawl reduced smelt bycatch by 90%. Fishers in this fishery complain that the existing lights available are expensive and prone to failure. Fishtek’s NetLight offers a viable, robust and cost-effective alternative.
FISHTEK MARINE
PotLight
In a similar story to the crabs, in the Baltic Sea, scientists discovered that illuminating cod traps with green LEDs increased the weight of cod caught by 80% compared to traps without LEDs. For fish, it’s thought that the increased visibility of the cod’s active prey items (krill etc.) draws them into the traps. It is thought that the smell of herring fades after 1-2 days. Therefore, lights enabled to gear to fish for longer. It is important to know you gear is still fishing should you need to leave the grounds and return after bad weather, for example.
Unrivalled by anything on the market. The Fishtek Marine PotLight costs a fraction of the price of its competitors yet outperforms them in every aspect. They go much deeper, shine brighter, have a longer battery life and, most importantly, survive the rigors of the fishing environment by being supremely tough and long lasting.
By combining a low price point with high quality, we believe we can offer fishermen a product that will help them maximise their economic returns on each trip, whilst at the same time not breaking the bank and resulting in conservation outcomes. A product that works for both fishermen and the environment!
- Battery life 500 or 800+ hours (constant or
- flashing)
- Dimensions105mm x 40mm x 22mm
- Weight (with batteries) 105 grams
- In-water weight 34 grams
- Depth rating 1200 m
- Battery type 2 x replaceable AA alkaline
- Immersion switch Automatic immersion switch
- Attachment hole diameter 5.5 mm
- PotLight housing Tough, injection molded
- polycarbonate
- Color options Available in green, white, blue
- (constant) & green, disco (flashing)
FISHTEK MARINE
Shark Guard
SharkGuard can be mass-produced, offering an operationally affordable device. As with all our products, SharkGuard has been designed and tested in close partnership with the end users, ensuring low-cost and minimal inconvenience. The device has already been well received by commercial fishers partaking in our sea trials, who could conduct normal operations without being hindered by the presence of SharkGuard units on their standard fishing gear.
We believe SharkGuard is the only viable shark bycatch mitigation method, other than severe restrictions on longline fishing. Based on results from the commercial trials of the SharkGuard in France and average shark bycatch rates per vessel globally, every pelagic longline vessel fitted with the SharkGuard system would reduce shark bycatch by 2,947 individuals.
SharkGuard represents the only effective and practical method of significantly reducing shark bycatch while still allowing the global pelagic longline fleets to operate.