Game of Trawls

Trawling is still largely a blind process, driven by fishers’ experience and local ecological knowledge. This limits fishers’ ability to avoid bycatch of marine mammals due to the sporadic nature of their encounter and the high mortality rate post-capture. Air-breathing species are frequently taken as bycatch in pelagic trawl fisheries and require rapid escapement to get access to the surface. Consequently, reducing bycatch of air-breathing species such as dolphins requires selective systems that ensure immediate, unobstructed escape, even at the expense of the target catch. Real time detection and response to the presence of these species in the net are key aspects to improve the sustainability of these fishing gears, which contribute substantially to the seafood supply worldwide. 

 The Game of Trawls system transforms blind fishing into a real-time active process, where bycatch species can be released without interrupting fishing operations. It combines acoustic communication, embedded computer vision, and AI, along with actuators that trigger areversible hatch to release or retain species.