Funding Opportunities

Description

This project aims to improve and commercialize solar-powered lights designed to reduce bycatch (unintended capture) of sea turtles, sharks, and other marine species in gillnet and pound net fisheries. Traditional light-based bycatch reduction methods (LEDs and chemical lightsticks) are effective but costly and environmentally problematic due to battery use and waste. The Senko Lab has developed a solar-powered alternative that already reduces sea turtle bycatch while maintaining target fish catch, and is now working  to prepare the technology for commercial release by 2028.

Objective 1 focuses on improving energy efficiency by optimizing the flash rate (duty cycle) of the lights. Field trials in Baja California Sur, Mexico will compare 5% and 10% duty cycles to determine if lower energy use can maintain or improve bycatch reduction while extending battery life. Experimental gillnets (two illuminated, one control) will be deployed nightly, and researchers will measure bycatch, target catch, and operational efficiency.

Objective 2 aims to reduce costs by optimizing the spacing of lights on nets. Increasing spacing reduces the number of lights needed, lowering costs without sacrificing effectiveness. Trials in North Carolina and Baja California Sur will test reduced light densities and compare outcomes to control nets.

Description

Global shark populations have declined by about 50% over the past 50 years, largely due to fishing, including accidental capture in tuna fisheries. While small sharks can be handled relatively safely, large adult sharks—critical for reproduction—are difficult and dangerous to release, often leading fishers to leave them on deck until they are near death. Older release methods (like tail ropes) were banned due to injury risks.

To address this, AZTI developed two safer release devices (a padded “shark velcro” and “shark harness”) that allow quick, less harmful lifting and release. Early tests showed promising survival results, but sample sizes were too small for firm conclusions. This new pilot project will expand testing through fisher training, onboard trials, and satellite tagging to assess post-release survival.

If proven effective, these devices could improve shark survival, enhance fisher safety, support sustainable fishing practices, and help fisheries meet conservation standards.

Description

Oceanic shark populations have declined sharply over the past 50 years, largely due to fishing. In tropical tuna purse seine fisheries, vulnerable  and critically endangered sharks are commonly caught as bycatch around fish aggregating devices (FADs). Handling these sharks on deck is dangerous for fishers and harmful to the animals, often leading to injuries and poor survival outcomes.

To address this, AZTI developed slide systems that allow sharks to be released directly back into the water with minimal handling, improving safety and survival. Trials with customized slides, along with the introduction of shark-bite-resistant gloves, aim to further reduce risks. The project includes gear development, training, data collection, and collaboration with fleets to promote adoption.

Expected outcomes include safer working conditions, improved shark survival, wider adoption of release tools across fleets, and potential integration into fisheries regulations—ultimately supporting shark population recovery and more sustainable fisheries.

Description

Mobulid rays (manta and devil rays) are highly vulnerable and now endangered due largely to fishing impacts, especially from tuna purse seine fleets where they are accidentally caught. Current release methods are slow, stressful, and often harmful, leading to high mortality—even when rays are alive upon capture. Research shows that releasing them within three minutes can boost survival rates to up to 90%.

A new solution, the “sorting grid,” developed by AZTI, allows tuna to fall through while retaining large rays, which can then be quickly lifted and released with minimal handling. This method is safer for crews and significantly reduces stress and release time for the animals.

The grids have already been successfully adopted by Spanish and U.S. fleets. This project aims to expand their use to other fleets through gear development, training workshops, at-sea trials, and data collection. Results will be shared to encourage wider adoption and integration into fisheries regulations. Overall, the initiative seeks to improve survival rates of mobulid rays, support their population recovery, and enhance the sustainability of fisheries.

Description

Commercial benthic and demersal trawling has long been criticized for high bycatch rates and environmental damage. Trawl bycatch includes non-target species and target species that are not profitable or must legally be discarded. It can also include protected species such as marine mammals, seabirds, sturgeon, and turtles. Animals discarded after being caught in a trawl net frequently die before they can be returned to the water. These discards can negatively impact fish populations and can reduce fishery access through early closure.

The FloMo Modular Harvesting System was developed to address sustainability issues and environmental damage caused by traditional commercial trawling. It features a novel trawl net that enhances catch selectivity, fish survivability, and quality. FloMo nets use a specialized fabric cylinder that inflates hydrodynamically from water movement, creating a low-turbulence zone that decreases fish-on-fish and fish-on-net damage. The cylinder is designed with apertures of various sizes and shapes, which help reduce water velocity inside the net while primarily enabling the escape of undersized fish and non-target species. The shape, size, and pattern of the escapement apertures are tailored to target specific species and sizes. The end of the FloMo net also features a unique design that allows catch to be brought onboard in a water-filled bag, significantly reducing crush damage and preserving quality. During testing and operational use in New Zealand's commercial fisheries, there has been no evidence of increased fuel consumption when using the FloMo system compared to conventional mesh nets. In some trials, vessels could significantly reduce their trawl speeds without negatively affecting catch rates, thereby saving fuel.

The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation(CFRF) located in Rhode Island, US, has identified three fisheries that target species, Summer flounder (Fluke), Silver Hake (Whiting) and Longfin squid, if tested with FloMo, could provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of the innovative net design and offer the broadest range of opportunities to expand or project trial results to other similar high-value or high-volume fisheries in the US New England region and beyond.

Description

In 2025, four whale entanglements have been reported in Oregon Dungeness Crab gear, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) in a Fleet Advisory published on December 5, 2025. These entanglements have been confirmed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and at least two appear to involve derelict gear—equipment that was likely lost prior to the entanglement and remained in the water after the close of the season. ODFW and fishermen are actively exploring solutions that reduce entanglement risk without requiring major changes to fishing practices.

Gear tracking technologies have demonstrated strong potential to prevent or significantly reduce gear loss by allowing fishermen to continuously monitor the location and movement of deployed gear. Blue Ocean Gear’s Smart Buoys are equipped with GPS and multiple sensors, providing real-time data accessible through existing onboard GPS chart plotters, mobile devices, or web browsers. This visibility enables precise retrieval of gear and ensures that all equipment is recovered at season’s end. Smart Buoys also issue targeted alerts when gear appears to have been dragged or broken free, identifying when and where retrieval is possible. Comprehensive tracking and recovery records at the end of each season help eliminate the presence of unattended vertical lines that can pose entanglement hazards to migrating whales.

Smart Buoys have been successfully deployed in several crab fisheries over the past five years. Building on that success, the University of Oregon in partnership with Blue Ocean Gear, is seeking funding to equip two commercial crab vessels with 10 Smart Buoys each for the 2025–2026 Dungeness Crab season. The project aims to assess the technology’s effectiveness in detecting and preventing derelict gear and potential whale entanglements in Oregon waters.

Description

In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the third largest snow crab fishery in the world faces a growing challenge: the co-occurrence of North Atlantic right whales (NARW) in dense fishing areas has increased the risk of whale entanglements, threatening both an endangered species and the livelihood of multi-generational fishing families. Harvesters in the region, long recognized for leading innovations in sustainable fisheries, are working with Blue Ocean Gear to test and refine Smart Buoys that could significantly reduce these risks.

Blue Ocean Gear’s Smart Buoys are equipped with GPS, accelerometer, and depth sensors designed in consultation with marine mammal scientists to detect entanglement events in real time. Combining these sensor data points through a cloud-based algorithm, Smart Buoys can identify anomalous gear movements that indicate a potential whale interaction or gear tampering, then automatically transmit alerts and location information to harvesters. This project will fund development and testing of automated entanglement and poaching detection algorithms, deploy additional Smart Buoys to active snow crab vessels, and simulate real-world entanglement events on the water. The goal is to integrate science-based detection into daily fishing operations, reduce gear loss, and enhance the protection of the critically endangered NARW—demonstrating how technology and fisheries can work together to safeguard ocean ecosystems while sustaining coastal communities.

Description

In Alaskan waters, the loss of crab pots can effect the marine ecosystem and the communities who rely on these fisheries. Studies show 31,000 pots per year are lost in the Bering Sea. These pots last up to 15 years in the environment.

Anecdotal reports from the Bering Sea Crabbers indicate that pot gear loss rates in Alaskan waters are in part due to gear conflict, which occurs when trawler vessel gear inadvertently interacts with crab pots fisheries. This causes potential damage to both the pots and the trawler vessel, often resulting in the parting of lines between the pots and surface buoys, meaning the pots are lost to the ocean floor where they continue to ghost fish.

Crab fishers in the Bering Sea have been eager to resolve this problem, but have not found a solution.  A means of resolving this issue is to utilize Smart Buoys to mark pot gear both on the owner’s chart plotter, but also on any trawl vessel within a certain range of that gear. This project will fund 120 Smart Buoy to crab harvesters in the snow crab and baridai crab fisheries in the Bering Sea to mark their pots. Blue Ocean Gear will be responsible for setting each crab harvester up with buoys and training. Blue Ocean Gear will work with the Bering Sea Crabbers to communicate with the trawl vessels.   Not only can this effort reduce the cost to harvesters who lose many pots each season to gear conflict, but it can also help protect the ocean ecosystem with high levels of biodiversity from the preventable causes of ghost fishing. In addition, it allows for seamless cooperation between fisheries, enabling them to operate in the same regions in a synchronous manner.

Description

Iluminar el Mar uses small, affordable green LED lights attached to fishing nets to reduce the accidental capture of threatened and endangered species such as sea turtles, sharks, rays, dolphins, and whales. This issue, known as fisheries bycatch, is one of the leading threats to marine biodiversity. The lights work by making nets more visible to these species, which have different sensory abilities compared to target bony fish, allowing fishers to maintain their catch without harming vulnerable marine life.

Trials from Phase I in coastal Ecuador showed impressive results, reducing bycatch by 58 percent for sea turtles, 45 percent for sharks, 50 percent for rays, and 73 percent for dolphins and whales. Protecting these keystone species helps maintain healthy oceans—turtles regulate jellyfish populations, while sharks keep the food chain in balance, supporting fish stocks and the livelihoods of coastal communities.

The approach goes beyond technology, working closely with local fishers through workshops and collaboration, building shared knowledge about the importance of these species and co-designing solutions that fit local realities. Also creating market incentives for fish caught using this method, helping fishers earn more while protecting marine ecosystems.

In Phase II, the Project will publish Phase I results, fine-tune the light configurations with fisher feedback, develop a national implementation plan, and roll out the technology on 100 artisanal gillnet vessels across three ports. This will prevent the accidental capture of an estimated 973 sea turtles, 420 mobula rays, 450 dolphins and whales, and 3,613 sharks in just one fishing season. Over five years, the impact grew to 4,866 turtles, 2,100 rays, 2,248 dolphins and whales, and 18,063 sharks.

By reducing bycatch, Iluminar el Mar directly addresses a critical conservation challenge with a simple yet effective solution. The project combines tested innovation with deep local engagement and has the potential to be replicated in small-scale fisheries around the world. It offers a powerful path forward for healthier oceans and stronger coastal communities.

Description

Albatrosses and other seabirds are facing a conservation crisis worldwide. Tuna fishing is a key threat, with tens of thousands of seabirds becoming hooked and drowning each year.

A new seabird-safe tuna hook (called the Procella hook) provides fishers with a simple way to reduce seabird deaths. This hook is weighted so it sinks quickly when the longline is being set. Seabirds have little time to grab the baited hook before it is below the depth they can dive to. Several prototypes of the Procella hook have been trialed in New Zealand by three leading tuna skippers.  The fishers report excellent target catch and very low seabird captures with the finalized design. This self-reported feedback has been confirmed through government on-board cameras.

The next step is to manufacture the Procella hook and create interest and uptake by making the hook available to a broader group of skippers in the New Zealand tuna fleet and selected international tuna fleets. Target catch and fishing effort data from participating vessels will be used to produce scientific reports and marketing materials. The Procella design is easily adapted to a multitude of hook types and any hook factory can tailor the product to their customers’ needs.

The Procella hook is safer for crew than traditional line weighting options and has the advantage of making compliance checking simple and reliable. And most importantly, the skippers involved in the project have proven to themselves the Procella hook is good for fishing.

Want to know more? Contact SFP’s Bycatch Hub Manager for more specifics on the project workplan and a line-item budget.