New Technology Being Developed to Track Fishing Gear and Save Whales


CAPE COD, Mass., Aug. 6 /emediaworld-USNewswire/ -- The International
Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and NOAA Fisheries Service have partnered to
support two research projects aimed at new technologies that could help
protect the region's large whales from entanglement in fishing gear. The
Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies and the University of New Hampshire
have each received grants for the work.

"Two iconic species in our region face unprecedented threats: whales
and commercial fishermen," said Patrick Ramage, IFAW Global Whale Program
Director. "We hope the new technology developed through this initiative
will benefit both. All of us at IFAW are proud to be partnering with the
fishing industry and government agencies to promote solutions that benefit
animals and people."

"Entanglements are rarely documented as they are occurring, so we need
to gather other data to help us understand when, where and how they happen.
That way we can adjust our protective measures accordingly," said Mary
Colligan, NOAA Northeast assistant regional administrator for protected
resources. "These projects are promising and we look forward to the
results," she said.

With its $22,000 grant, the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies
will develop coded wire tags that would be embedded into fishing line used
on the gear known to entangle whales, primarily pot/trap and sink gillnet.
When line is recovered from entangled whales, it is usually hard to
determine where it originated. The coded information on the wire would
provide specific identifiers useful for improving gear restrictions used to
reduce entanglement risk. The work will be carried out in cooperation with
the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (MADMF), and Northwest
Marine Technologies (NMT).

The University of New Hampshire's Zoology Department was awarded
$48,000 to develop a system for remote, real-time tracking of fishing gear
location. The system would use a radio frequency identification (RFID)
scheme and global positioning system (GPS). If successful, this could
provide substantial new information on fishing patterns--how much gear is
set, when, and where. This could be used, for example, to improve measures
that reduce gear in the places, and during the times, large whales are most
likely to be present. The UNH team will partner with Blue Water Concepts of
Maine to develop this innovative technology.

IFAW has been working for more than a decade supporting and developing
new systems and technologies that will help the fishing industry and whales
better co-exist in a safe environment for both. This includes working with
the US government to develop the Mandatory Ship Reporting System,
coordinating with Massachusetts lobstermen to remove miles of discarded or
lost fishing gear from Cape Cod Bay, and most recently partnering with the
lobster fishing industry and government agencies to develop and implement
new "sinking" fishing line that reduces the risk of whale entanglements.