Project Title |
Funding Received |
Project Summary |
Final Report |
Zap Buoy |
$20,000 |
Develop a remotely releasable submersed buoy to eliminate the vertical
lines that are used to locate lobster and crab traps. |
Zap Buoy |
Reduction of Floating Groundline Arc
Profile Study |
$60,000 |
Investigate groundline profiles in fishing
gear along the coast of Maine,
particularly floating groundlines in rocky and
strong tidal areas, in order to develop reasonable, long term gear
modifications. |
Final Report: Floating Groundline Arc
Profile Study |
Fishing Gear and Whale Flukes: A Tool for Studying Line Types and
Abrasive Impacts |
$13,325 |
Design, fabricate, and use of a load generator as a testing apparatus
for objectively evaluating the abrasive impact of various fishing gear lines
and synthetic materials on the tissues [collected from a dead stranded
animal] of a large whale fluke. |
Fishing Gear & Whale Flukes: A Tool for Studying
Line Types and Abrasive Impacts |
Secondary Phase of the Construction, Testing and Evaluation of a
Low Cost Bottom Release Device |
$40,000 |
Design, construct, and evaluate a rope cutting device used to sever the
buoy line after tension is applied for a pre-determined amount of time. In addition, produce 80 machined plastic units for
extensive at sea testing. |
Further Development of the Time Tension Line Cutter
as a Solution to Vertical Lines used in Fixed Gear Fisheries |
Cost and Acceptance Evaluation for an Acoustic Release System for
Buoy Lines used in Pot and Net Fisheries |
$5,000 |
Evaluate the cost feasibility and the potential industry acceptance of
a low-cost acoustic release system for buoy lines used in pot and net
fisheries. |
Cost and Acceptance Evaluation for an Acoustic
Release System for Buoy Lines Used in Pot and Net Fisheries |
Testing and Product Development of a Marine Safety Recovery Device |
$10,500 |
Develop a device that enables the retrieval of submerged lost gear.
Through intensive field testing and end-user focus group research and
analysis, develop recommendations for a low cost unit that withstands the
rigors of the marine environment. |
Marine Safety Recovery Device (MSRD) |
Weak Rope and Its Role in Reducing Right Whale Entanglement |
$20,000 |
Develop a weak rope for use in gillnet floatlines (lines from which net panels are hung). In addition to lab testing, test the
prototype rope in the field by distributing this rope to commercial
fishermen. |
Making and Testing Weak Rope (submitted in January 2005) |
Zap Link |
$20,000 |
Develop and test a device that serves as a releasable link on groundlines of lobster trawls. The link will part if a
whale catches the groundline in its mouth, but will
still allow normal operation of trawls. |
Zap Link |
Glow-in-the-Dark Rope of Controllable Stiffness |
$16,000 |
Develop and test a "glowing" rope that may help whales to
avoid it because they can see it. In
addition, design a stiff rope that cannot wrap around any part of a whale
that handles well on a fishing vessel. |
Glow-in-the-Dark Rope of Controllable Stiffness |
Investigation of Alternative Groundlines |
$10,000 |
Replace floating groundlines on lobster and
black sea bass traps with sinking and neutrally buoyant lines to reduce whale
entanglement risk in the Mid-Atlantic. |
Final Report Not Yet Received. |
Lobster Gear Profile Separation Testing |
$16,000 |
Using a vessel, simulate an interaction between a whale and
lobster groundline to examine where and if the groundline is parting, at what tension, and what portion
of the line and gear remains and what portion separates. Conduct twenty-four trials using groundline of various diameters and traps of differing
sizes and strengths. |
Lobster Gear Profile Separation Testing |
Investigations into the Adaptation of Microchip Technology to the Identification
of Fishing Lines |
$19,000 |
Adapt microchip technology that is used for animal identification to
fishing gear. Microchips that are embedded into fishing lines at
predetermined intervals could provide them with permanent identification. |
Investigations into the Adaptation of Microchip
Technology to the Identification of Fishing Lines |
