MMO FUNDS SAFETYNET TECHNOLOGIES’ NEW UNDERWATER CAMERA

MMO funds SafetyNet Technologies’ new underwater camera. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is funding SafetyNet Technologies’ ‘Project Fisheye’ to fast-forward development of SNT-Cam, a gear mounted underwater camera for commercial fishing.

Development of SNT-Cam began in 2020 after fishermen that SafetyNet Technologies worked together with expressed a need to see their fishing gear in situ to better understand what is happening. Most fishing crews have no way of directly seeing their nets underwater and are essentially fishing blindly. As a result, fishing crews end up damaging their nets and/or accidentally catching the wrong species.

Gear mounted underwater cameras have been available to commercial fishers for some time. However, at present, these cameras have not been adopted by UK fishermen because they are expensive (>£50k), bulky, and difficult to use. Therefore, ‘Project Fisheye’ is developing SNT-Cam to be a low cost, fit-for-purpose alternative. Furthermore, “Project Fisheye” will also support the creation of a phone app to compliment SNT-Cam. The app will filter through hours of video to show the most beneficial footage to save fishing crews time and effort.

Darren, the skipper of Golden Ray, is a dedicated fisherman who is constantly improving his fishing practices to be more sustainable and efficient. “Being able to see what my nets are doing underwater takes the guesswork out of fishing. Using the cameras I’ve got a much better idea of how the fish behave in my nets and how my gear can be tweaked and improved.”

Between January and March 2022, ‘Project Fisheye’ will enable six trials of SNT-Cam on leading commercial fishing boats in the UK. By giving fishing crews SNT-Cam to use, SafetyNet Technologies is ensuring that the camera is rugged enough to withstand the intense fishing environment. Furthermore, it’s the only way to make sure SNT-Cam is easy to deploy, recover and review footage from.

Already, SNT-Cam is providing valuable insights into how fish behave in fishing gear, if bycatch mitigation tools are working, and how fishing operations could be optimised. These insights help enable Precision Fishing. Precision Fishing requires a combination of information regarding the interaction between gear, targeted species, bycatch, and the environment.