Tag Archives: lighting up their nets with LEDs
Illuminating Fishing Nets Prevent Bycatch
Bycatch is an economic and environmental problem for commercial fishing. Large trawlers often scoop up sea-life other than the species they’re targeting, and if there’s too much bycatch fishermen sometimes have to dump their catch. But Bob Hannah of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife may have found a simple, affordable solution. He tells Living on Earth’s Emmett FitzGerald how local shrimp fishermen are eliminating bycatch of an important smelt species by lighting up their nets with LEDs. The waters off the coast of Oregon teem with delectable pink shrimp. But shrimpers often also scoop up fish they don’t want, what’s known as “by-catch”, in particular a smelt called the eulachon. And that is costly – for the eulachon, and the fishing boat operators. But Government scientists have discovered a nifty way to cut the eulachon by-catch using LED lights. Bob Hannah of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife told Living on Earth’s Emmett FitzGerald all about it. Read the story here 19:59
A bright idea could help eliminate a fishing problem
If there’s too much bycatch, the fishermen sometimes have to dump their entire catch back into the ocean, says Bob Hannah of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. And dumping 3,000 to 5,000 pounds of shrimp is an economic and environmental problem for commercial fishing. But Hannah and a team of government scientists may have found a simple, affordable solution. Local shrimp fishermen are eliminating bycatch by lighting up their nets with LEDs. Audio, Read the rest here 14:30
