Can trawler cams help save world’s dwindling fish stocks?

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Many companies are seeking to help commercial vessels comply with new U.S. mandates aimed at protecting dwindling fish stocks from the Gulf of Alaska to the Straits of Florida.

Mark Hager, right, and Anthony Lucia, install a camera aboard the Sabrina Maria fishing vessel in Gloucester, Mass., May 11, 2022. Hager's Maine-based startup, New England Maritime Monitoring, is one of a bevy of companies seeking to help commercial vessels comply with new federal mandates aimed at protecting dwindling fish stocks. But taking the technology overseas, where the vast majority of seafood consumed in the U.S. is caught, is a steep challenge.

“Once you’ve seen hundreds of thousands of pounds of these species it becomes second nature,” said Hager as he toggled from one fish to another. This image of a computer screen shows video footage being analyzed of a New England offshore fisherman measuring a fish, on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, in Portland, Maine, The video was made by a camera mounted on a fishing boat. Analysts review the footage in a lab to monitor compliance with regulations aimed at protecting dwindling fish stocks.

“The fact is human observers are annoying,” Hager said. “Nobody wants them there, and when they aren’t being threatened or bribed, the data they provide is deeply flawed because it’s a proven fact that fishermen behave differently when they’re being watched.” “We’re still in the infancy stages,” said Brett Alger, an official at NOAA charged with rolling out electronic monitoring in the U.S.

Mark Hager, right, and Anthony Lucia, install the electronics for a camera aboard the Sabrina Maria fishing boat, in Gloucester, Mass., May 11, 2022. Hager's Maine-based startup, New England Maritime Monitoring, is one of a bevy of companies seeking to help commercial vessels comply with new federal mandates aimed at protecting dwindling fish stocks. But taking the technology overseas, where the vast majority of seafood consumed in the U.S. is caught, is a steep challenge.

Of the 13 regional fisheries management organizations in the world, only six require on-board monitoring — observers or cameras — to enforce rules on gear usage, bycatch and quotas, according to a 2019 study by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which advises nations on economic policy.

“If they want to do something they definitely can,” said Yong Chen, a fisheries scientist whose lab at Stony Brook University in New York hosts regular exchanges with China. “It’s just a question of priorities.”

 

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Sounds like a Willie Nelson song about America… From the Gulf of Alaska to the Florida Straights

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