Imagine if fishing nets had a 'Find My Phone' feature to stop them from becoming permanent trash on the ocean floor. This project creates cheap acoustic beacons and robotic tools to find and pull up lost gear. It also teaches fishers how to better manage waste so the ocean stays cleaner.
Fishing fleets lose expensive gear that becomes 'ghost gear,' which kills marine life and creates pollution. Current recovery methods are either too expensive or not robust enough for harsh sea conditions.
A TRL 8 low-cost acoustic tagging system for gear location and robotic tools for detecting and removing lost gear from the seabed.
If you are a fleet operator dealing with the high cost of lost equipment—this project developed low-cost acoustic tags that reach TRL 8 to help you locate and retrieve gear. This reduces the financial loss of abandoned equipment and prevents environmental fines.
If you are a robotics company dealing with the difficulty of spotting debris on the seabed—this project developed robotic tools for the detection and removal of lost fishing gears. This allows you to offer specialized cleanup services to governments and NGOs.
If you are a port manager dealing with illegal dumping and marine litter—this project developed a set of best practices and awareness actions for waste management at fishing ports. This helps you reduce cleanup costs and improve port sustainability ratings.
Based on available project data, the project focuses on creating a 'low-cost' tagging system with an emphasis on minimum manufacturing cost to ensure it is affordable for fishers.
Yes, the acoustic transponders are being engineered to reach TRL 8, meaning they are pre-production prototypes ready for commercial exploitation.
Based on available project data, there is no specific mention of licensing terms, though the project aims for commercial exploitation of the TRL 8 tags.
The project runs from 2023-05-01 to 2026-04-30, with solutions developed to maturity by the end of this period.
The tags are designed for maximum physical robustness to withstand harsh treatment by fishers and are optimized for acoustic coupling performance during real-world operations.
The consortium is well-balanced for commercialization, featuring 15 partners across 7 countries. With a 27% industry ratio (4 industrial partners, including 4 SMEs), there is a strong link between the research and the end-user market. The presence of 6 'Other' entities (likely NGOs) ensures the solutions meet regulatory and environmental standards.
Contact CENTRO INTERDISCIPLINAR DE INVESTIGACAO MARINHA E AMBIENTAL in Portugal
Contact us to connect with the TRL 8 hardware developers for licensing opportunities.
