DOLPHIN ANTI-DEPREDATION PINGER

Acoustic device designed to scare dolphin from poaching fish and to reduce gear damage/ bycatch.

THE PROBLEMs

Damage or removal of captured fish from fishing gear (depredation) can result in catch loss or a decrease in its economic value and often damages the fishing gear. Depredation by dolphin appears to be growing in frequency, geographic extent, and severity and is responsible for substantial economic losses. Because of this, the fishing industry is in urgent need of mitigation measures that can reduce the frequency and severity of such interactions (Cruz et al 2014).

THE SOLUTION

In some fisheries, the use of alerting devices (deterrent pingers) have been successful in reducing dolphin depredation. However, in many cases the acoustic signals coming from such devices (<150dB) are low in power and after a period of time the dolphin become acclimatised to the low intensity noise and depredation recommences. In some instances, where deterrent pingers have been used to prevent depredation, the depredation observed when they return is much higher than was observed prior to using the deterrent pingers. The anti-depredation pinger is louder than standard deterrent pingers, producing a randomised unpredictable sound that startles dolphins when in close proximity to the net. A 100m spacing is recommended for maximum effect; this can be varied depending on fishing gear, region and dolphin species.

Benefits

Durable

The dolphin anti-depredation pinger is secured in our established super-durable rubber carrier as used by our range of deterrent pingers. The pinger unit has a depth rating of 800m and has been tested to below 1000m. Toughness means longer life, greater reliability and reduced costs.

Easy to use

The pinger unit can be swapped with a spare unit with a fresh battery so that the battery can be changed in a dry place – no untying required! The immersed weight in water is 37g (compared to immersed weights of up to 120g for other pingers on the market) so it can be threaded onto the ropes joining net panels on either head or foot rope without interfering with the set of the net. *It’s no accident the pinger is shaped like a banana! We have engineered the casing to ensure that when the pinger comes back on-board it doesn’t get caught on the rails – the banana shaped casing means the pinger rotates smoothly over the rails on hauling preventing snags and subsequent downtime in fishing operations.

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Reviews

User review of how our anti-depredation pingers, after prolonged use, are continuing to resolve fisher-dolphin conflict in the Mediterranean Sea. Re-iterating feedback we’re getting from around the world in purse seine, longline & set-net fisheries.

Depredation of target fish by cetaceans causes economic hardship for the fishers. See how we’re resolving this fisher-cetacean conflict in the US with our new anti-depredation pinger. Video with Spanish subtitles.