Fishtek Marine in the press...
Green lights on fishing nets could slash bycatch of sea turtles, says research
Bycatch in fishing gear is one of the biggest threats to sea turtles. But these creatures are particularly sensitive to green light so they’re less likely to get caught up in fishing nets fitted with green LED lights….
Ocean Awards 2023 winner: Q&A with Fishtek’s Rob Enever on scallop potting
Fishtek: Scallop Lights Breakthrough
2023 Ocean Award Winners!
New gadget could reduce shark bycatch by 90%
‘Scallop Discos’: How some glitzy lights could lead to a low-impact fishery
Innovations keep unintended fish and other animals out of nets
Reducing bycatch, or animals caught by accident, is one of the ways to make fishing sustainable.
Scientists discover that scallops “love” disco lights
The bivalve wonderland appears to get the best of mollusks.
‘Global first’ breakthrough for a low impact scallop fishery
UK marine scientists discover ‘global first’ breakthrough for a low impact scallop fishery.
Accidental discovery that scallops love ‘disco’ lights leads to new fishing technique
Scientists hail breakthrough that could maximise catches while reducing damage caused by fishing.
Fishtek Marine speaks with the BBC World Service
On the southern coast of England, we meet the man who’s designed a hi-frequency gadget which warns dolphins to stay out of fishing nets.
Prize catch – Hookpod invention keeps seabirds safe
It’s not every day that a business finds a big gap in the market and creates a solution to a major environmental issue, but that’s exactly what Devon-based brothers Ben and Pete Kibel did.
Seabird saving device makes finals of European Inventor Award 2021
The Engineer, 5th May 2021
Around 300,000 seabirds, including endangered species of albatross, die annually as marine fishing bycatch. To mitigate the problem and make commercial fishing more targeted and sustainable, British brothers Ben and Pete Kibel, an engineer and fisheries biologist respectively, developed Hookpod, which is a small, reusable device that encapsulates baited hooks.
Floating ‘Wall-E’ scarecrow stops seabirds diving into fishing nets
The Guardian, 5th May 2021
Scarecrows may be outstanding in their field, but now scientists have created an unusual floating version that could help reduce the number of vulnerable seabirds caught by fishing nets.
The device, known as a looming-eyes buoy (LEB), and developed in collaboration with engineers from Fishtek Marine…
Five great new green innovations – from pop-up rodent tents to tyre dust
The Guardian, 3rd March 2021
A sound idea – One of the biggest threats to cetaceans is accidental bycatch in fishing nets. The La Plata or toninha dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei), dates back a million years and is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN red list – its closest relative is the Amazonian pink river dolphin. Found in coastal and often shallow waters in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, these cetaceans are particularly at risk of becoming entangled in nets.
Unusually, one population of up to 80 of these small dolphins lives in the estuary of Babitonga Bay in south Brazil, where fishing is a key industry. A team of researchers at the Toninhas Project is using photo identification to monitor….
Green Britain: Survival chances of Harbour porpoises boosted thanks to marine tech firm
Daily Express, 1st April 2021
Engineer Fishtek Marine, whose fishing net technology is helping save the oceans’ wildlife from accidental slaughter, has landed a major export contract helping to protect harbour porpoises in Norway. The deal, worth thousands of pounds, will supply Norwegian cod fisheries with Devon-based Fishtek’s acoustic banana pingers. These prevent the mammals from being unintentionally caught in fishing gear, an issue known as bycatch….
Research into ‘pingers’ to stop cetacean bycatch shows they are effective
BBC Wildlife Magazine, 6th July 2020
Conservationists are hoping new research into the effectiveness of ‘pingers’ – acoustic devices that deter cetaceans from hunting around fishing nets – will persuade the UK Government to lift its ban on their use in small boats….
A sound idea: ‘Banana Pinger’ audio device could help reduce porpoise bycatch
Marine Stewardship Council, 15th June 2020
In the UK alone, 14% of harbour porpoise and 23% of common dolphin deaths between 2011 and 2017 were attributed to bycatch (accidental and unwanted catch). Research in 2006 estimated global marine mammal bycatch to number in the hundreds of thousands.
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