Fishing

New research has shown how the tendencies of albatross to trail fishing vessels could be leveraged to aid in conservation efforts, with scientists equipping the birds with tracking devices that can reveal the presence of shady fishing operations.

Although it may be hard to believe, ice fishermen do enjoy a cold drink or two while sitting outside in the winter. The DipStick was designed for such anglers, as it keeps those beverages chilled – but not frozen – in the lake water under the ice.

Researchers have found that installing LED lights on top of floating gillnets reduces the accidental catch of unwanted species dramatically. In recent tests, the bycatch of sea turtles and dolphins was cut by 70 and 66 percent, respectively.

​Less than two weeks after it proclaimed a ban on single-use plastic items, Canada has now taken another step toward protecting the environment, by banning the import and export of shark fins. It is the first of the G20 group of industrialized and developing nations to do so.

​Although fishing from a boat can be way more effective than casting from the shore, many anglers don't want to tow a motorboat behind their vehicle, or mount a kayak on its roof. That's where the KingFisher comes in. It's a modular fishing trimaran kayak that can be transported inside a car.

​It was seven years ago that we first heard about the motion detector-equipped Smartrod, which sounds an alarm when a fish hits the lure. Well, its inventor is now back on our radar, with a spinning reel that alerts anglers via their smartphone.

​Threatened and endangered albatrosses in the South Atlantic are getting a break as BAS seabird ecologist Richard Phillips puts newly developed radar-detecting tags on the seabirds. The tags show when and where the birds are scanned by ship navigation radar.

As any recreational angler will know, fish can be a finicky bunch – so when you DO catch one, it's good to keep a record of the location and conditions which allowed that to happen. Cyberfishing's new Smart Rod Sensor is designed to help you do that.

So-called "ghost" fishing nets are awful things. Lost or forgotten during commercial fishing operations, they can drift in the ocean for years, indiscriminately catching marine life as they do. A newly-invented tag, however, may help keep that from happening.

​According to the University of Exeter, an estimated 400,000 diving seabirds die annually by getting caught in gill nets intended to catch fish. A new study indicates that the majority of those deaths could be avoided, however, if the nets were to be equipped with inexpensive green LEDs.

​Longline fisheries may catch a lot of fish, but they also catch seabirds such as albatross. Several years ago, a group of conservationists began work on a product designed to keep the birds from getting caught. It's known as the Hookpod, and a recent study has concluded that it really works.

A study from UCLA suggests that if fish farming can be moved offshore, then an area of sea the size of Lake Michigan (0.025 percent of the ocean's surface), could meet the global demand for fish and allow wild stock to recover.