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First developed in the 1970s, the turtle excluder device or TED allows captured sea turtles to escape when caught in a net (Photo:NOAA)
WWF Announces 2011 International Smart Gear Design Competition to Reduce Fisheries Bycatch
(UNITED STATES, 3/9/2011)
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has announced the launch of the 2011 International Smart Gear Competition, to find innovative ways to reduce the amount of fisheries bycatch. Open to anyone from fisherman, backyard inventors and students, the competition will be open from March 1 to August 31, 2011.
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| Dolphins, marine turtles, seabirds, sharks, juvenile fish, fish with little commercial value, corals, starfish - billions of unwanted animals are caught every year by fishing boats then discarded dead or dying back into the ocean (Photo: WWF) |
“WWF’s goal with the Smart Gear competition is to inspire innovative ideas for environmentally-friendly fishing gear,” stated WWF VP of Fisheries Bill Fox. “In addition to fishermen losing millions of dollars each year due to bycatch, many other species, sometimes endangered marine life are unintentionally and needlessly killed by antiquated fishing gear, and it is jeopardizing their survival. This competition identifies real-world fishing solutions that allow fishermen to fish smarter while helping to maintain ocean health.”
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| The 2009 International Smart Gear Competition awarded Dr. David Sterling a runner-up prize of USD 10,000 for developing the CP2 Batwing otter board, a device that reduces trawling’s impact on the seabed (Photos: David Sterling) |
The 2011 International Smart Gear Competition is offering a grand prize of USD 30,000 and two USD10,000 runner-up prizes. Additionally, in partnership with the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), the competition is offering a USD 7,500 special tuna prize that will be awarded to the idea that will reduce the amount of bycatch found in tuna fisheries. Tuna sustainability is the top WWF global fisheries conservation priority.
“The real work starts the day after the prizes are awarded” said Fox. “WWF then works with each of the winning ideas to bring them to life and implemented in fisheries around the world.”
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| Runner-up 2005 prize winner 1, Dr Norm Holy (Photo: WWF/Suzanne Taylor) and, scientists of the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, India runner-up prize winners 2 in 2005 (Photo: Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin) |
Since its launch in 2004, the Smart Gear competition has grown more competitive with the winning entries gaining traction with many fisheries around the world. Flexi Grids, which won in 2006, are now mandatory in blue whiting fisheries in the Faroe Islands, and are used in an increasing number of countries all over the world. A winning idea from 2007, a net designed to reduce the bycatch of cod, “The Eliminator” is now being used by more than a dozen fishermen in the north-eastern United States haddock fishery, as well as being adopted by the European Union as a mandatory measure in cod bycatch reduction under certain conditions. Vessels throughout the United Kingdom are also using a modified version of the net.
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| The Eliminator was the winner of the 2007 Grand Prize, in the photograph members of the winning team use a scale model to demonstrate the way it works (Photo: Scott Dickerson) |
The International Smart Gear Competition has demonstrated that conservation and industry can successfully work together to identify and eventually implement solutions to bycatch issues in different types of fisheries around the world.
Bycatch has been identified as an issue of critical ocean conservation and resource management concern. Victims include over 300,000 small whales, dolphins, and porpoises that die from entanglement in fishing nets each year, making bycatch the single largest cause of mortality for small cetaceans and pushing several species to the verge of extinction.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Fondation Segré, ISSF, and the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans are supporting the 2011 competition.
About WWF's Smart Gear International Competition
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By-catch of Whale shark
(Photo: WWF/HélènePetit)
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WWF's International Smart Gear Competition, first held in 2005, brings together the fishing industry, research institutes, universities, and government, to inspire and reward practical, innovative fishing gear designs that reduce bycatch - the accidental catch and related deaths of sea turtles, birds, marine mammals, cetaceans and non-target fish species in fishing gear such as longlines and nets.
About World Wildlife Fund
World Wildlife Fund is the world’s leading conservation organization, working in 100 countries for the past 50 years. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, halt the degradation of the environment and combat climate change.
Source: WWF
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Margaret E.L. Stacey
Editor Companies and Products
editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media
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