On-Demand Fishing Systems are Available at “Gear Libraries” in the US and Canada

Fishing is an essential part of New England’s history, culture, and blue economy, but entanglements in fishing gear threaten vulnerable species, including endangered leatherback sea turtles and critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. Entanglement occurs when ropes or netting from gear in the water column wrap around an animal, restricting movement and potentially causing injuries, infections, or partial amputations. This often impacts the entangled animal’s ability to feed, reproduce—and even survive. 

How does an animal become entangled? 

Traditional fishing gear uses vertical ropes between buoys at the surface and fixed fishing gear on the sea floor, and these vertical lines can pose a threat to marine life. With many ropes dangling in the water column, an animal can easily become entangled if they encounter this type of gear.  

Additionally, as is the case with right whales, an animal’s natural behaviors can cause them to be especially susceptible to entanglement. Right whales are nicknamed the “urban whale,” as their migration routes and habitat often put them in close contact with human activities in the ocean. Often, when a right whale encounters the vertical fishing lines, their instinct is to roll—which, unfortunately, can worsen the entanglement.  

Research from the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life has helped show that entanglement is one of the leading causes of serious injury and death for right whales and that 86 percent of identified right whales have been entangled one or more times.  

Research for ropeless solutions 

In recent years, fishers and marine life advocates, including researchers at the Anderson Cabot Center, have partnered to devise and implement ways to reduce the likelihood of entanglements, such as lowering the breaking strength of ropes and adding weak links into ropes. The latest fishing technologies being developed are ropeless, or “on-demand,” fishing systems that hold the gear at the seafloor until released by an acoustic signal sent by the fisher.  

This technology has several variations, including pop-up buoys, inflatable lift bags, and buoyant spools, all requiring far less rope in the water than traditional gear—and eliminating the traditional use of vertical lines attached to surface buoys. Gear on the sea floor can be located and retrieved via an acoustic signal from the fishing boat and efforts are underway to ensure the traditional buoy at the surface is now marked virtually so fishers know where another fisher’s gear is and can avoid setting over that gear.  

Collaboration helps fishers adopt “on-demand” technology 

Right now, fishers and researchers can borrow these “on-demand” systems in New England, the Canadian Maritimes, and California, free of charge. In return, borrowers offer insights into how the gear worked for them during practical use and provide suggestions for improving future iterations of the technology.  

The team at the Anderson Cabot Center also helped produce training videos that fishers can watch to learn how to use the gear, whether they’re ready to try it out or are just curious about the technology. “These videos help clear up a lot of misconceptions,” said Michelle Cho, a director at the Anderson Cabot Center’s BalanceBlue Lab, a science and innovation hub that utilizes cutting-edge research and market-based solutions to support responsible ocean use. While fishers who deploy the gear still engage in peer-to-peer, in-person training, the videos help support learning prior to getting out on the water and can help this novel technology feel more approachable.  

The videos have been shared with gear library coordinators across New England and Canada, as well as with conservation, regulatory, and industry organizations in both countries. “The hopes are that we can continue to share these training videos with anyone interested to help expand the transition to on-demand gear and make it easier on everyone involved,” said Michelle. Translation into French, for French-Canadian fishers, as well as additional videos on gear deployment, are available to expand this knowledge base.  

In the future, Michelle says, the hope is to continue to find ways to remove barriers to adopting on-demand fishing gear—including reducing financial burdens of the gear itself and associated needs, like a reliable internet connection at sea.

Check out more information about how on-demand fishing gear systems work and how to borrow them: