THE OPPORTUNITY
Our technology can help fishermen become more efficient and more targeted and adopt techniques that are more targeted and with less impact on the environment
Many of our products are designed to make fishing more efficient and more targeted. In this way fishers can minimise effort, time at sea, and impact on the marine environment
Our technology can help fishermen become more efficient and more targeted and adopt techniques that are more targeted and with less impact on the environment
PotLight and PotLight Pro are designed to maximise effectiveness of pot fishing. In quota-limited fisheries, higher catch rates reduce time spent at sea and potential of incidental catches. Pots are acknowledged to be one of the lowest impact gear types, and if they are demonstrated to be commercially viable, then there is more potential for fishers to switch from trawling or gill netting.
The development of our ScallopLight and ScallopEye system opens up a new opportunity for small scale fishers to target scallop species. In the UK, 95% of scallops are caught using a toothed steel dredge, one of the most destructive forms of fishing. New scallop pot fisheries are developing in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Norway and the USA. This new low-impact fishery is supplying a premium product, helping fishers diversify and supplement their incomes and offer potential to reduce the scale and extent of impact from the dredge fishery.
There is growing evidence that the use of netlights in trawls can reduce the quantity of fish discards. Research in a shrimp trawl in the USA reduced bycatch of slender sole and small flatfishes by 69%. It is believed that lights help the passage of fish through bycatch reduction devices. A study in the UK using an otter trawl fitted with a square mesh panel and LEDs found that unwanted bycatch of whiting and haddock was reduced by 86% and 58% respectively.
Emerging research is showing the potential to augment catches of shellfish and to target fish using lights in pots and traps.
| Paper | Location | Product/Model Used | Effect | Species | Gear Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Artificial lights improve the catchability of snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) traps |
Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada |
White LED (Constant) |
77% increase |
Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) |
Pots & traps |
|
The effect of white and green LED-lights on the catch efficiency of the Barents Sea snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) pot fisher |
Barents sea, Norway |
Fishteks white PotLight (Constant) Fishteks green PotLight (Constant) |
52-53% increase 76% increase |
Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) |
Pots & traps |
|
Green lamps as visual stimuli affect the catch efficiency of floating cod (Gadus morhua) pots in the Baltic Sea |
North-western Baltic, Sweden |
Green LED (Constant) |
80-108% increase |
Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) |
Pots & traps |
|
Artificial light in baited pots substantially increases the catch of cod (Gadus morhua) by attracting active bait, krill (Thysanoessa inermis) |
Ramfjord, Norway |
White LED (Constant) |
1700% increase |
Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) |
Pots & traps |
|
Application of Light-Emitting Diode Lights to Bluefin Sea Robin (Chelidonichthys spinosus) Catch in Pot Fishery in the South Sea, Korea |
South Sea, South Korea |
Green LED (Constant) Blue LED (Constant) White LED (Constant) Red LED (Constant) |
13,650% increase 7,850% increase 6,650% increase 500% increase |
Spiney red gurnard (Chelidonichthys spinosus) |
Pots & traps |
| FISHTEK MARINE LED | |||||
|
Scallop potting with lights: a novel, low impact method for catching European king scallop (Pecten maximus) |
Cornwall, UK |
Fishteks white PotLight (constant) |
Ability to actively target scallops with traps! |
King scallop (pecten maximus) |
Pots & traps |