Robots for fishing

Lion fishes (several species of the genus Pterois, especially P. volitans and P. miles) have become a major environmental problem. Originally from the Indo-Pacific ocean, they have now managed to colonize large coastal areas of the Atlantic, including much of the eastern coast of the US, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

In these warmer waters, the animal grows to a size considerably larger than in its natural habitat, giving rise to denser populations of a super predator capable of consuming up to twenty fish in thirty minutes. In addition, it is a prodigious reproducer, lives up to 30years, and sits atop the food chain. Since some of the species it preys on are herbivores that feed on the algae that live on coral reefs, many of these reefs eventually die, resulting in changes to many coastal areas.

To combat the problem, initiatives have been taken to encourage their submarine fishing, or even to invite cooks to invent recipes using their tasty meat, after removing their 18 long poisonous spines. These plans have had a limited effect: divers are only able to reach areas near the coast, catching few specimens per dive, and although the lion fish has become popular in some restaurants in the affected areas, there are not sufficient fish to meet demand and there has been no reduction in their numbers.

So why not let technology have a try? RISE is an initiative created by iRobot, the company founded in 1990 by three MIT engineers whose best known product is the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner. Using some crowdfunding financing, it has come up with an initiative, The Lion fish Project, to produce a robot submarine that could be suspended by a cable from a boat and controlled via a joystick-like interface, could identify lion fishes, stun them with an electric shock and then suck them into a tank. Possibly the most futuristic way ever invented of fishing. But also, potentially, the most selective.

The project will be launched on April 19 in Bermuda to coincide with the America’s Cup, which will be attended by a celebrity chef who will cook scorpion fish in various ways, which will hopefully generate demand that can be met, albeit by robots.

Can we expect to see robots like this in the future, perhaps with greater autonomy, used to selectively capture certain invasive or specific species? Could technology help fix the problems humanity has created?

(En espa?ol, aquí)