Networked Nets, Lines and Traps: A Path to Sustainable Fisheries

The collective tracking, monitoring, and communications technologies that are often called to the “Internet of Things” or “IoT” impact nearly every aspect of our personal and professional lives. We can track everything: from steps taken in a day to our car keys’ distance from a car to shipping containers on their global journeys. The resulting treasure trove of data has fueled vast improvements in operational efficiency across the global economy. 

The global fishing industry, however, is still waiting for the IoT revolution. While vessel navigation technology has improved dramatically in recent years, most fishing gear has been fundamentally unchanged since the 19th century. Fishing boats deploy arrays of traps, nets or longlines in the open ocean for days or even weeks at a time, marked only by rubber or foam buoys or floats. In the time between deployment and recovery, gear may be dragged or submerged by currents or tides, entangled with boats or wildlife, or even poached – all unbeknownst to the vessel captain until he or she tries to retrieve that gear.  In this time of increasing focus on the health of our oceans, the $200B+ fishing industry’s technology gap presents a rare opportunity to make an immediate and broad reaching positive environmental and economic impact.  

The Persistent Problem of Ghost Gear

Aside from the wide-ranging impacts of climate change, arguably the most significant anthropogenic threat to ocean health is ocean pollution. Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear or ‘ghost gear’ comprises an increasingly large and destructive portion of that pollution. At least 640,000 metric tons of fishing nets, lines and traps are lost each year, accounting for at least 46% of global floating macroplastic by weight. This lost gear also has a direct impact on the survival of countless species that become trapped in nets and lines that continue to fish for years after they are lost. Ghost gear affects over 40% of all marine mammal species and is responsible for as much as a 30% decline in many fisheries stocks.

From a human perspective, fisheries support the livelihoods of 10-12% of the world’s population and provide as much as 70% of the protein consumed in coastal communities, especially among the developing world. Preservation of fishery resources will be a critical component of the sustainable growth necessary for seafood to continue to support the world’s nutritional needs.

Gear loss also represents a direct challenge to the well-being of fishers and their businesses. Whether subsistence fishing for blue crab in Indonesia or harvesting tons of king crab in the Bering Sea, fishers spend vast amounts of time and money searching for gear that is lost or just temporarily missing due to storms, currents, tides or entanglements. 

Fixed gear fisheries, where traps, pots or longlines are set out and harvested periodically are heavily impacted by lost gear, losing 10-30% of their equipment annually, accounting for millions of pieces of ghost gear currently scattered around the ocean floor. For most fishers, the search and recovery of gear is time-intensive, risky, and expensive. Even for the largest vessels, locating and retrieving gear is closer to hunting than gathering. Captains head towards the spot where they left a pot or trap hoping that it has not been pulled out of visual range or underwater by waves, currents, or tides. When this process is repeated for several hundred buoys, multiple times a week, it becomes a primary source of wasted fuel, time and money.

The Opportunity for Change

Fortunately, we have clear evidence that corrective practices can create rapid and significant positive change. A Chesapeake Bay-based study found that 10% reduction in lost gear can lead to up to a 40% increase in local fishery stocks, creating healthier ecosystems and more prosperous fishing markets.

There is no single solution for the lost gear problem, but we do have a toolbox of solutions capable of working together to mitigate the issue as much as possible. Best practice guidelines, such as those put forth by the Global Ghost Gear Initiative, have established a framework for setting gear to help minimize the problem. Education, monitoring and clean-up efforts can make a big difference, particularly when supported by economic incentives to collect and recycle discarded nets for applications in the apparel or consumer products sectors. Recovery programs such as those in the California Dungeness crab fishery have resulted in hundreds of traps recovered off-season. Many fisheries have added requirements that traps include wildlife-friendly features like escape vents or rapidly decaying cords that allow a door to open if a trap is left unharvested. These features have made a material impact in mitigating the damage from gear is already lost.

What Comes Next?

The implementation of technology such as IoT-style gear tracking addresses the problem at its source as well as laying the groundwork for a new path to significant, sustainable growth. For example, at Blue Ocean Gear we are partnering with fishers to not only help track their equipment at all times but also gather critical operational and environmental data. Our networked buoys and supporting software are designed to allow faster, more efficient daily fishing while also identifying more significant problems like lines that are drifting or entangled before they become ghost gear. To date, we have tested our products across multiple North American fisheries, supported by several public/private partnerships eager to find ways to fish smarter and eliminate the multiheaded threat of lost gear.

The ability to capture real-time, persistent data at the level of individual fishing buoys will also allow access to the real game-changer – the application of data analytics. A recent report by McKinsey & Company suggests that the application of advanced analytics can drive a $53B increase fishery profits while also allowing a 100% increase in stocks. Individual fishers will be able to plan their daily routes and seasonal movements, saving fuel and generating a larger catch with less effort or lost gear. Highly granular, trap-level location and environmental regulators to develop and implement policies that ensure sustainability while also supporting all of their stakeholders. 

Building a data network in a cold, wet, salty environment is not an easy task, but for those willing to brave the elements the chance to make a lasting positive impact on the Blue Economy will be well worth the effort.