2023 Northeast Experimental On-Demand Gear System Trials Completed
Testing completed for the 2023 Northeast Experimental On-Demand Gear System Trials
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Overview
In August 2022, our science center received an exempted fishing permit allowing up to 100 vessels at a time to help test and improve on-demand gear systems. This effort continued and expanded our trials of these systems, which we have been developing with fishermen. On-demand systems remove the vertical line in the water column to reduce the risk of large whale entanglement in American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries.
Between February 1 and April 30, we collaborated with 12 permitted commercial trap/pot vessels to test on-demand (also called ropeless) fishing gear in both state and federal waters that were closed to fishing with static vertical lines. Participants completed 527 hauls, 335 in the Massachusetts Restricted Area and 192 in the South Island Restricted area. There were no gear conflicts during the closed area trials.
Next Steps
We are working with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, state fisheries agencies, the fishing industry, and other partners on a number of initiatives to innovate, demonstrate and accelerate opportunities around on-demand fishing. We are interested in applying what we learn from recent efforts to increase the scope and effectiveness of on-demand gear. The 2024 experimental fishery will get underway in February 2024.
2023 Restricted Area Trial Results
|
|
Massachusetts Restricted Area |
South Island Restricted Area |
Totals |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Date of Update |
Number of Vessels |
Number of On-Demand Hauls to Date |
Number of Vessels |
Number of On-Demand Hauls to Date |
Number of Vessels |
Number of On-Demand Hauls to Date |
|
3/17/2023 |
5 |
60 |
5 |
17 |
10 |
77 |
|
3/22/2023 |
5 |
112 |
5 |
63 |
10 |
175 |
|
3/27/2023 |
5 |
118 |
5 |
68 |
10 |
186 |
|
4/10/2023 |
5 |
137 |
5 |
82 |
10 |
219 |
|
4/17/2023 |
5 |
216 |
5 |
82 |
10 |
298 |
|
4/26/2023 |
6 |
257 |
5 |
93 |
10 |
350 |
|
6/12/2023 |
6 |
335 |
6 |
184 |
12 |
519 |
Experimental Fishery Project Goals
The permit allowed up to 30 participating vessels to test alternatives to static vertical lines in two of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan Restricted Areas.
The specific goals were to:
- Demonstrate successful retrievals of multi-trap trawls using proven acoustic releases on a variety of experimental on-demand components
- Collect additional operational data on fishing without static vertical lines, gear location awareness, operational efficiency, cloud storage, and data sharing
- Assess and improve the ease and accuracy of data collection
- Provide feedback and recommendations to on-demand gear manufacturers and others in related industries, such as database developers and those working on geolocation technologies, who can use this information to improve and increase performance of their products under commercial fishing conditions
Testing Methods
To test viability of on-demand gear, participating vessels fished up to 10 trawls each using on-demand gear. They fished within federal waters of the South Island Restricted Area and the Massachusetts Restricted Area while these areas were otherwise closed to gear that use vertical lines. During this time, on-demand trap/pot gear set on the bottom was not marked at the water’s surface, because on-demand gear does not have surface buoys.
We also tested gear marking systems that use GPS points or alternative subsurface markings to relocate gear and to ensure other vessels in the area know gear is present on the bottom. To visualize the gear positions and orientations of trawls, interested mariners could purchase and download the EdgeTech Trap Tracker app from the Apple or Google Play app stores with any smartphone or tablet. This app allows users to "see" gear within 5 nm of the set.
We added some protocols to reduce the risks of gear conflicts. Vessels participating in this research also flew this flag so other vessels and enforcement authorities could recognize them.
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Using the Results
Our short-term goal is to work with stakeholders to support deployment of on-demand gear systems in circumstances that minimize the potential for gear conflict while allowing fishing to continue. Ultimately, for on-demand fishing gear to meet conservation goals for marine mammals and to support fishing on a large scale, it must move beyond an experimental stage. NOAA Fisheries is committed to working with fishery management authorities to consider the regulatory changes needed to allow the use of on-demand fishing gear without an exempted fishing permit.
In July 2022, NOAA Fisheries issued a draft strategy, Ropeless Roadmap: A Strategy to Develop On-Demand Fishing (PDF, 20 p). Our strategy describes the current state of on-demand fishing and outlines a path for increasing adoption of this technology in commercial fisheries in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean to guide how we approach the development of on-demand gear in the coming months and years. We recognize that there are many partners who are key to this process and strategy, particularly state fishery managers. We invite the public and our stakeholders to provide input on this document and our ongoing on-demand fishing research program.
Contacts
Gear Research Team: nec.gearlibrary@noaa.gov
Media inquiries: Teri Frady at: teri.frady@noaa.gov