URI team’s fish-saving device reels in $30K prize

THE ELIMINATOR trawl system, developed by URI researchers working with local fishermen, takes advantage of behavioral differences between haddock and other fish. /
THE ELIMINATOR trawl system, developed by URI researchers working with local fishermen, takes advantage of behavioral differences between haddock and other fish. /

WASHINGTON – A team of researchers at the University of Rhode Island Fisheries Center will receive the grand prize, and $30,000, in the World Wildlife Fund’s 2007 International Smart Gear Competition.
The Eliminator trawl – designed by the URI Fisheries Center’s Laura Skrobe and David Beutel, together with local fishermen Jon Knight, Phil Ruhle Sr., Phil Ruhle Jr. and Jim O’Grady – helps fishermen to catch haddock while reducing the accidental capture of other species.
Each year, millions of tons of fish are discarded as unwanted bycatch, the WWF noted.
The URI team’s device – a large-mesh net with a headrope – is designed to take advantage of behavioral differences between haddock and other fish: The haddock tends to swim upward when it encounters a barrier, while for most other fish, the tendency is to swim downward. The Eliminator allows fish that swim downward to escape the net.
“The collaborative design and development of the Eliminator trawl is a great example of industry and scientists working together with managers to develop innovative solutions to reduce or eliminate bycatch,” said Beutel, a fisheries extension specialist at the university. “We’re excited to be receiving this award and look forward to continuing to research effective ways of reducing bycatch in fishing.”

They and three other winners, chosen from among more than 70 contenders from 22 nations, will be honored today at the Pacific Marine Expo.
“WWF created the International Smart Gear Competition to reward and inspire innovative ideas to reduce fisheries bycatch,” Ginette Hemley, the fund’s senior vice president, said in announcing the awards.

“Bycatch is a critical environmental and economic problem,” Hemley said. “These inventions have shown to be effective solutions in our efforts to make fishing ‘smarter,’ and we’re pleased to honor their creators today.”
The Smart Gear Competition, established by the WWF in May 2004, was itself honored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with a 2007 Science, Research and Technology Sustainable Leadership Award “for its creative and dedicated effort to bycatch reduction,” noted NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbaucher, a retired Navy vice admiral and the U.S. undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere.
“WWF’s Smart Gear Competition inspires innovation and entrepreneurship, and fosters a marine stewardship ethic for protecting the oceans,” Lautenbaucher said, adding: “We also applaud its approach of transferring winning ideas into on-the-water conservation practices through collaboration with fishermen. We look forward to seeing the environmental benefits of the efforts from this year’s winners.”
Additional information about bycatch issues and the World Wildlife Fund’s International Smart Gear Competition is available from the at www.worldwildlife.org and www.smartgear.org.

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