New technology to improve the sustainability of the fishing industry Award winning start-up, SafetyNet Technologies, is seeking to revolutionize the fishing industry with a technology that uses lights to attract and repel fish, reducing by-catch. The equipment fits easily onto any fishing net, with ten to 20 lights required. The colour of light is controlled by the fishermen. SafetyNet’s trials with Youngs Seafood and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science have shown that their devices can lower by-catch by up to 60 per cent. Funded to date by Youngs Seafood, the James Dyson Award, Sir Richard Branson and Eric and Wendy Schmidt, SafetyNet has completed its proof of concept and is now ready to expand into batch production. This will enable new trials with other fish species in fisheries around the globe. A crowdfunding campaign has been launched on Indiegogo to help support the technology’s development. Click here to read more.

Daniel Watson, chief executive officer of SafetyNet says: ‘I’ve been working on SafetyNet for eight years and we’ve made some really exciting progress and learned a lot during that time. We’ve worked hard because we see a real need for this technology, but we couldn’t have done it without our supporters. We’re now asking for one final push to help us bridge the gap between proof of concept and a device that can be used by many more people to accelerate the science and begin having a widespread positive impact.’

David Parket, head of CSR and marine biologist for Youngs Seafood says: ‘The results of this research are very encouraging and we now hope that the industry, government and other organisations will come together to support further trials. Having been out on the trawler during the research and having seen the technology in action, I believe this innovation could have a positive impact on the industry and the future of fishing.’

The SafetyNet team have created a rewards based crowdfunding campaign and have a selection of rewards available for backers, from vouchers at Master Chef winning restaurant chain, Wahaca, and limited edition artistic prints from Dutch artist Sue van Gageldonk, to more humorous rewards such as fish jokes. There is also the opportunity to get credited on their scientific papers.

To join SafetyNet in their quest to make the fishing industry more sustainable back their campaign and claim your reward between May 16 and June 23rd. The link to the crowdfunding page is: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pisces-the-light-which-reduces-fish-bycatch-environment#/