Safety nets: Can smarter fishing gear protect marine life and keep fishers afloat?

euronews (in English)

Industrial fisheries unintentionally kill thousands of marine animals every year. Can new technology help solve this problem?

Transcript

00:00The Bay of Biscay is one of Europe's richest fishing grounds, yet for the second winter

00:09in a row, hundreds of boats must stay in port for nearly a month.

00:16Too many dolphins are dying in nets.

00:19Could we find a technological solution to keep dolphins safe while allowing fishing

00:25to continue?

00:31In the early hours of a winter morning, a small fishing boat works the Bay of Biscay,

00:35just off the coast of Brittany, France.

00:38Since two at night, the crew has hauled up many kilometers of gill nets, bringing in

00:44hake, sole, pollock and lobsters.

00:46Mathieu Clacquin, 27, leads a young team, with his two crew members just 22 and 18.

00:54They fish most days, weather permitting, but from late January they'll be forced to

00:58dock for a month, as the Bay of Biscay closes to protect dolphins from the risk of accidental

01:04entanglement in the nets.

01:09For fishers, each dead dolphin is more than just the tragic loss of an animal.

01:26It also means extra work, filing detailed reports and repairing damaged nets.

01:36The numbers are alarming.

01:38Climate change and other ecological factors are driving dolphins into coastal areas with

01:42more fishing activity.

01:44Trapped in nets, they suffocate.

01:47Some wash up on shore, while many others sink to the ocean floor.

01:52If this trend continues, entire dolphin populations in the region could be at risk.

01:57Bastion Merigot leads the Dolphin Free Project, co-funded by the European Union and the fishing

02:02sector association, France Filière Pêche.

02:28The Dolphin Free Project has created a groundbreaking device that speaks dolphins' language.

02:35Unlike loud pingers that scare marine mammals, this beacon warns dolphins of danger in a

02:42way they naturally understand.

02:44Attached to a net, the prototype detects nearby dolphins and emits a specially recorded signal

02:51to alert them of the risk.

03:14First tests look promising.

03:16Dolphins seem to hear the special beacon and react by moving away.

03:21But to be certain, more research is needed.

03:24Yves Legal heads the underwater acoustics team at IFREMER, the French research institute

03:30for ocean science in Brest.

03:33His team is testing dolphin-free beacons and two other potential solutions selected by

03:38the French government for large-scale trials.

04:02Certain fishing net materials seem to create much louder underwater echoes.

04:07Devices can detect such nets much further away.

04:11Such materials can be used as simple and affordable acoustic reflectors, turning a nearly invisible

04:17obstacle into a clear warning sign for dolphins.

04:25Fishers like Mathieu Clacquin have already tried some of these devices.

04:29Drawing from his experience with dolphin-free beacons, Mathieu suggests a few improvements,

04:35making them smaller to better fit through net-pulling machines and keeping them affordable,

04:40as his long nets would require dozens.

04:59The selected solutions will be tested on over 200 fishing boats until 2026.

05:05Aiming to reduce dolphin deaths by at least 30% and prevent future winter fishing bans.

05:14But dolphins aren't the only marine species at risk.

05:19Trawlnets aren't very selective.

05:21They catch everything larger than their mesh size.

05:24Fish can't escape these moving walls, and juvenile or protected fish often get trapped

05:30alongside target species.

05:33To address this, scientists at Yvramers Lorient Lab have developed a smarter trawlnet with

05:39an automatic trapdoor that lets unintended catch escape.

05:44Cameras inside the net and AI algorithms work together, sorting the catch in real time.

05:50The smart net knows which species to release and which to keep, giving unwanted fish a

05:55second chance while ensuring target species remain in the net.

05:59This concept is part of another EU-funded project called Marine Beacon.

06:22Lab tests look promising, but now comes the real challenge.

06:27Tests at sea.

06:28Fishing boats are beginning to deploy this smart trawl in harsh ocean conditions.

06:34Engineers must prove their invention can survive deep waters, work reliably, and be simple

06:39enough for fishers to use.

06:58It's estimated that 40% of all fish catches globally are unintended.

07:03Low-value fish often get dumped back at sea, dead.

07:08AI and other new technologies can help catch only what's truly needed.

07:14Selective nets reduce waste, save more marine life, and make better use of fishers' time

07:20and effort at sea.

07:22Selective nets and dolphin-friendly devices do more than protect marine life.

07:45They help chart a course toward a smarter future for fishing.

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