JASCO Applied Sciences and Sea Mammal Education Learning Technology Society (SMELTS) to enable whale-safe fishing and acoustic data collection by Miawpukek First Nation (MFN)
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HALIFAX, N.S.—JASCO Applied Sciences is pleased to announce a joint project collaboration to demonstrate, train, and enable indigenous fishers from Miawpukek First Nation (MFN) in whale-safe (ropeless) fishing and acoustic data collection.
The project will involve the transfer of related IP to JASCO Applied Sciences to license the ropeless systems to be produced in Canada and sold both domestically, and internationally. The industrial partners include Netukulimk Fisheries Limited (NFL), Sea Mammal Education Learning Technology Society (SMELTS), and JASCO Applied Sciences.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is sponsoring a portion of the collaboration through the Whalesafe Gear Adoption Fund. The funding program was announced in August 2021 with the focus of making fishing gear safer for whales, due to the serious harm entanglements in fishing gear can pose to whales and other marine mammals. The goal is to require all non-tended, fixed-gear fisheries in Atlantic Canada and Quebec to use whalesafe gear by the beginning of the 2023 fishing seasons.
NFL fishers, SMELTS and JASCO personnel are meeting during the Halifax H2O Conference, happening June 13-16, 2022, in preparation for demonstration deployments of prototype ropeless systems. These demonstrations will take place near both Halifax, Nova Scotia, and St. John’s, Newfoundland, in June-July 2022.
For more information, see the media kit below and JASCO’s press page at https:/www.jasco.com/press.
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Quotes:
“This collaboration will enable Indigenous Fishers in Atlantic Canada to harvest in a whale-safe manner while also enabling them as citizen scientists in the collection of acoustic data. It offers opportunities for the Atlantic Canadian industry to produce ropeless fishing systems and allows our team of partners to enable ropeless fishing internationally. The potential benefits are huge.”
“We are very pleased to be collaborating with JASCO on this whale-safe project. The initiative aligns well with our corporate and First Nation values. We look forward to the prospects of incorporating the ropeless technology in our ongoing harvest efforts.”
Images:
High-resolution images are available below and at: Press Kit - Whalesafe Gear (Ropeless) Fishing Project
Related:
“One man’s ‘crazy idea’ brings scientific twist to standard lobster fishing”. JASCO-SMELTS Whale Recorder Raft
About the Ropeless Systems:
SMELTS ropeless traps (Lobster, Crab and Gillnet Raft™), are being fished successfully with partner commercial fishermen supported by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NOAA) in Cape Cod Bay and the Gulf of Maine gillnet and lobster fishery. This technology has been proven successful with over 1000 ocean deployments and recoveries in the commercial fishing setting. SMELTS ropeless lift bag fishing gear has been proven to be an effective, safe, reliable tool to achieve the goals of reducing whale and other marine mammal bycatch in commercial fixed gear fisheries. A key part of the project is the development of a new Acoustic Marking, Modem, Release and Recording subsystem for the SMELTS Lobster, Crab and Gillnet Raft™.
About Miawpukek First Nation (MFN) and Netukulimk Fisheries Limited (NFL)
Miawpukek First Nation (MFN), located in Miawpukek on the South-Central Coast of the island of Newfoundland. Miawpukek is also sometimes referred to on some maps as Conne River. MFN operates several enterprises including commercial fisheries under its wholly owned company Netukulimk Fisheries Limited (NFL). NFL’s commercial fishing operations currently employ both Band and non-band members. NFL operates 19 fishing licenses which consist of Crab (main species), Sea-Cucumber, Groundfish, Whelk, Bluefin Tuna, etc.
About Sea Mammal Education Learning Technology Society (SMELTS)
SMELTS is a non-profit committed to creating marine mammal interaction prevention technologies. Their focus is on eliminating entanglement in active fishing gear of large whales, pinnipeds, endangered sea turtles, and basking sharks. SMELTS is also invested in the reduction of bycatch from abandoned, lost, derelict fishing gear. They strive to educate the community on human interaction with sensitive groups of at-risk species. Learn more at www.smelts.org.
About Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Whalesafe Gear Adoption Fund (WSGF)
DFO’s Whalesafe Gear Adoption Fund (WSGF) consists of $20M in contribution agreement funding over two years (2021-2023), to support projects that advance the adoption of methods to prevent and alleviate whale entanglement. Learn more at Whalesafe Gear Adoption Fund (dfo-mpo.gc.ca).
About JASCO Applied Sciences
JASCO Applied Sciences is a world leader in the science of underwater sound and its effects on marine life. JASCO is Canadian company, founded in Victoria in 1981, with subsidiaries in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia. We provide support for all stages of environmental reviews and assessments of underwater sound for the renewable energy, oil and gas, marine construction, shipping, and defence sectors. We design, develop, and manufacture state-of-the-art oceanographic data acquisition systems to meet project demands for quality, endurance, reliability, and performance. We enable our clients to satisfy regulatory requirements by providing scientifically defensible assessments of their projects to government regulators and the public. For more information, visit www.jasco.com.
Contact:
Megan Constable
Marketing and Business Development
JASCO Applied Sciences, Halifax, NS
T. +1.902.405.3336 x1053
Email
Media Relations
JASCO Applied Sciences, Halifax, NS.
Email
