Scallop Potting Technology
A purpose build light & pot entrance allowing fishers to diversify their traditional crustation landings to include low impact, pot caught scallops!
A purpose build light & pot entrance allowing fishers to diversify their traditional crustation landings to include low impact, pot caught scallops!
Collateral damage to seabed habitats caused by scallop dredging
Scallop fisheries have traditionally relied on mobile gear like dredges, which account for over 98% of scallop landings in the UK as of 2023. While effective, dredging can cause significant habitat damage. The only viable low-impact alternative has been hand diving, which is highly selective but limited to good weather conditions and relatively shallow seas, and is strictly regulated.
ScallopLight & ScallopEye – The Scallop Potting System
Scallop potting, pioneered and developed by Fishtek Marine, offers a transformative fishing method that is accessible to small scale inshore fishers. By using light as an attractant (or bait as it were!), it is now possible to catch scallops in static pots.
After three years of research and development, ScallopLight combines performance and endurance, featuring an internal lens that refracts light above parallel to the seabed for optimal emission, along with extensive battery life, to provide fishers with a simple, robust technology that can be easily integrated into existing potting gear.
ScallopEye is a pot entrance design developed through extensive capture and retention trials, not only for scallops but also for crustaceans such as brown crab. Built on key principles of robustness and suitability for the rigours of UK pot fisheries, it features a wide, low-profile ramp and stainless-steel, gravity-loaded prongs. The design maximises scallop capture while remaining versatile for use in crustacean and even cephalopod fisheries.
TO FIND OUT MORE REVIEW OUR PRJOECTS PAGE
| Feature | Specification |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 173 mm length × 60 mm diameter |
| Dry Weight (with battery) | 385 g |
| In-water Weight | 65 g |
| Depth Rating | 1000 m |
| Battery Type | 1 × Alkaline D-cell |
| On/Off Switch | Automatic immersion switch |
| Attachment Hole Diameter | 8 mm |
| Housing Material | Injection-moulded polycarbonate |
| Feature | Specification |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | Height 225 mm × Width 468 mm × Depth 111 mm |
| Interior Entrance Dimensions | Height 120 mm × Width 365 mm |
| Frame Material | Injection-moulded UV stabilised polycarbonate |
| Prong Material | 316 stainless spring steel |
| Prong Spacing | 40 mm |
| Hexagon Attachment Hole Diameter | 20 mm |
Activates on water contact—no buttons or setup. Compact and easy to clip onto pots without affecting stacking or deployment.
Rated to 1000m depth. Durable polycarbonate housing with double-sealed waterproofing designed for commercial use. Unparalleled battery life for the market lasting up to 1500 hours (water temperature dependent) battery life.
A long-term, low-cost gear enhancement designed to enable an augmented pot fishery
Wide, shallow entrance ramp allows scallops to swim or settle into the pot naturally.
Retains traditional crab and lobster without compromising strength or structure.
Also effective for catching cuttlefish—ideal for the diverse, multi-species fisheries of the UK and beyond.
Developed in close collaboration with inshore fishers across the southwest UK, ensuring it’s practical, durable, and field-proven.
