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Fishing responsibly: a new system that protects marine life
CategoriesSustainable News

Fishing responsibly: a new system that protects marine life

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The health of the animals in the world’s oceans is already severely compromised, with many more species than previously thought at risk of extinction. An additional threat to marine life is abandoned fishing equipment, or ‘ghost gear’, which is considered “the deadliest form of marine plastic”.

Ashored Innovations, based on Canada’s Atlantic coast, works with fishers to develop tools of the trade that protect marine life without compromising the quality of the catch. Ashored’s rope-on-demand technology allows fishers to eliminate the use of tethered buoys and, hopefully, better protect right whales – one of the animals most at risk of injury from entanglement with commercial fishing gear.

Called MOBI (Modular Ocean Based Instrument), the rope-on-demand system keeps the buoy and tethering rope coiled on the ocean floor until the fishing team arrives to check the traps or lines. Fishers can choose to use an acoustic call or a timer to release the buoys, and the MOBI system changes nothing about the harvesting of a catch. Fishers use their existing gear to check and reset traps, and then the buoy is lowered back down until the boat returns.

MOBI works with a range of fishing equipment, including lobster and crab traps and trawl lines. A connected software tool called ATLAS tracks the location and inventory of a fisher’s gear, and smart tags and sensors provide automatic digital updates, allowing teams to more efficiently plan their workload and time. Ashored’s tools and technologies are Blue Glove Certified, meaning that they work effectively even when operated by someone wearing the ubiquitous thick blue rubber gloves used by people in the fishing industry.

As well as protecting marine life, the MOBI system also helps fishers reduce the amount of equipment they lose from ship strikes and extreme weather carrying away or breaking their gear. That, in turn, helps reduce the amount of ghost gear polluting ocean waters.

A number of innovations in Springwise’s library are providing new life for collected ghost gear by upcycling the lost fishing equipment into stylish new products such as dog accessories and eyeglasses.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Tech-enabled traceability: transforming fishing with AI
CategoriesSustainable News

Tech-enabled traceability: transforming fishing with AI

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: As the world’s oceans continue to experience the damage caused by illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices, marine proteins continue to become more expensive. To help combat the effects of overfishing and other harms that come from IUU, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) is encouraging countries to commit to Catch Documentation Schemes (CDS). While compliance and participation are voluntary, so much of the world’s ability to reverse climate change relies on healthy oceans – and that, in turn, relies on more organisations and nations developing fully traceable fish supply chains. 

Costa Rican marine technology company Remora is filling the knowledge gap with a set of digital tools designed to increase transparency at every stage of the fishing process, from sea to plate. The company’s Internet of Things (IoT) Vessel Monitoring System makes tracking small boats affordable and provides a wealth of data in addition to that gathered by the tracking of large fishing boats. At landing and unloading locations, Remora’s Smart Scale uses image processing and artificial intelligence (AI) to measure the weight and dimensions of every fish and save that information to the cloud. Each fish is assigned a digital tag that is then used throughout its journey to the end consumer. 

Also being developed by the company is a mobile app called WhatsFish to connect fishers with marketplaces and provide consumers with information on their food. All three tools contribute to Remora’s aggregator Fishing Data Platform that compiles information for big-picture analysis of the fishing industry, environmental conditions, consumer behaviour, and more. Remora is running a pilot programme in Cabuya, Costa Rica, with 15 fishing boats.  

Seafood is such an important part of the global diet that innovations seeking ways to improve the health of the world’s oceans are focusing on both wild fishing practices and farmed production. Innovations in Springwise’s library include solar-powered tanks for land-based tuna farming and precision technology to reduce bycatch.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Dog products made from ghost fishing nets 
CategoriesSustainable News

Dog products made from ghost fishing nets 

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The WWF estimates that between 500,000 and 1 million tonnes of fishing gear is either lost or deliberately discarded in the ocean every year, making up around 10 per cent of marine plastic pollution.  

UK startup Tangle is putting this abandoned equipment, known as ‘ghost’ fishing gear, to good use, turning it into premium dog accessories. In doing so it is embodying the principles of the circular economy and helping to reduce the glut of ocean plastic.  

Through partnerships with various ports, Tangle encourages fishermen to donate their old nets instead of dumping them in the ocean. This equipment is then taken to Tangle’s recycling facility where it is broken down and sorted into raw materials. These are then used to create strong and durable dog leads, bowls, and throw toys. 

In addition to reducing marine litter, the products are lightweight, durable, waterproof, and non-stink, and most are produced in the UK. 

Founded in 2022, the company is growing quickly, and was announced as one of the participants in the second Amazon Sustainability Accelerator in May 2023.

Tangle isn’t alone in repurposing this type of marine pollution, with Springwise spotting glasses and officewear also being made from ghost fishing gear.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

Reference

Making eyewear from ghost fishing gear
CategoriesSustainable News

Making eyewear from ghost fishing gear

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Discarded or ‘ghost’ fishing nets are the deadliest form of ocean plastic. Made from long-lasting materials, they continue catching marine life for over 500 years after they enter the ocean according to social enterprise Waterhaul. And a recent study calculated that around two per cent of all fishing gear is lost to the ocean, amounting to 218 square kilometres of trawl nets, 2,963 square kilometres of gillnets, and 75,049 square kilometres of purse seine nets each year.

Waterhaul is tackling this problem by collecting ghost gear and converting it into eyewear.  Discarded equipment is collected from rocky and remote coastlines – in Cornwall and elsewhere in England and Wales – that accumulate a lot of plastic and debris. The organisation is also putting in place arrangements to collect used gear in-port, preventing it from entering the sea in the first place.

After the waste material is collected, it is put through a mechanical recycling process to make an injection-mould-ready material that is used in the frames of sunglasses and optical glasses. Different types of net have different properties, and this can be used to Waterhaul’s advantage when designing the products, which are finished with mineral glass, rather than cheap plastic, lenses.

In addition to producing the eyewear, which is marketed both B2B and through a direct-to-consumer model, Waterhaul also makes litter pickers and clean-up kits from discarded nets. These are sent to communities who can use them to conduct their own ocean clean-up projects.

Discarded fishing gear is a major issue, and at Springwise we have previously spotted innovations such as chairs and clothing from discarded nets.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

Reference

Making hi-tech nano-crystals out of organic fishing waste
CategoriesSustainable News

Making hi-tech nano-crystals out of organic fishing waste

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Material waste from the fishing industry, namely crustacean waste, amounts to around 6-8 million tonnes a year. One company is looking to use this waste to solve the problem of material alternatives to plastics. 

The present problem with plastic packaging films is that it’s difficult to achieve high strength, low permeability, and recyclability all in one material. The current market caters to low permeability and high strength but neglects recyclability, with these materials taking decades to be broken down and releasing harmful microplastics in the process. This is where Neptune Nanotechnologies comes in. 

The company is using its proprietary technology to transform the waste material of crabs, shrimps, and lobsters into highly valuable chitin nanocrystals. Neptune Nanotechnologies highlights that these nanocrystals are stronger than steel, lighter than plastic, and fully bio-based and biodegradable. The fully organic crystals replace current additives to base materials, like plastic and composites, that can be an obstacle to a product’s biodegradability.

The crystals solve the problems of performance by making the final nano-structured materials stronger, but equally, the weight reductions allow better efficiency and CO2 prevention downstream in transport. Neptune Nanotechnologies’ crystals have similar characteristics to other nanotech alternatives, including graphene and carbon nanotubes, but have the added bonus of also being biodegradable. 

This high performance means the crystals are suitable for a range of applications, like aerospace and automotive composites, high-barrier films and packaging, 3D-printed materials, and biomedical devices. Neptune Nanotechnologies is currently testing its technologies in these industries and is hoping to become completely commercialised soon. 

There are a number of innovators looking to rid the world of harmful, often plastic-based, materials. In the archive, Springwise has also spotted one startup that turns organic waste into planet-friendly plastic and another that creates footwear from food waste.

Written By: Archie Cox

Reference

Precision fishing technology helps fishing crews catch their target species
CategoriesSustainable News

Precision fishing technology helps fishing crews catch their target species

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Fish bycatch – when commercial fishers unintentionally catch fish and other marine animals that they cannot use – has a significant negative impact on the marine environment. According to the World Wildlife Foundation, around 38 million tonnes of sea creatures are unintentionally caught each year, representing around 40 per cent of worldwide catches. Most of this bycatch ends up dead.

A UK company – SafetyNet Technologies – has now developed technology aimed at reducing bycatch. The company designs and builds ‘precision fishing’ devices to increase the selectivity of commercial fishing practices, making the industry more sustainable.

The flagship product, called Pisces, is designed to improve the selectivity of fishing gear. It uses coloured LED lights to attract the target species while deterring unwanted bycatch, helping fishing crews to save time sorting fish.

SafetyNet has also developed an affordable underwater camera and sensor that attach to fishing gear and help fishing crews gather data. This allows them to increase efficiency, reduce bycatch, and measure the effects of climate change on fisheries. Together, SafetyNet says these technologies help both fishers and fish.

The company has recently secured £1.8 million (around €2 million) in new funding to accelerate the development of its precision fishing technology.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the percentage of stocks fished at biologically unsustainable levels reached 35.4 per cent in 2019. Luckily, Springwise is also spotting innovations aimed at protecting marine life, ranging from next-generation quiet boat propellers to turning harmful algae into sustainable products.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

Solar-powered water pumps and fishing lights 
CategoriesSustainable News

Solar-powered water pumps and fishing lights 

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Agriculture accounts for around 30 per cent of Tanzania’s GDP, and the country’s government is in the process of redirecting the farming sector towards a more sustainable and productive pathway.

Helping with this transition is Simusolar, a cleantech startup that is a leading provider of solar-powered water pumps and fishing lights in rural East Africa.

Only 3 per cent of Tanzanian farmers currently have access to irrigation technology, and most of them still use diesel pumps. Simusolar’s affordable solar-powered pumps enable farmers to increase their crop yields while using less water and fuel. In addition, the pumps reduce carbon emissions and pollution from diesel generators.

Meanwhile, Simusolar’s fishing lights replace the polluting kerosene lamps commonly used by Tanzanian fishermen. The solar-powered LEDs are as bright as a kerosene lamp, work under all weather conditions, and incur no fuel or maintenance costs.

Last year, Simusolar received €1.26 million from EDFI ElectriFI, the EU-funded electrification financing initiative. With this funding, the company intends to expand its product portfolio to create a mix of productive equipment solutions and services adapted to farmers’ needs.

Other off-grid solar energy solutions recently spotted by Springwise include a plug-and-play solar energy system for swarm electrification, a solar-powered off-grid desalination system, and solar-powered refrigerators to cut food spoilage in developing countries.

Written By: Katrina Lane

24th June 2022

Website: simusolar.com

Contact: simusolar.com/contact

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