WANTED: Lobstermen to Participate in a Paid Research Project
Introducing TrapDog
Innovative Technology Proven to Optimize Lobster Fishery by Approximately 20% Utilizing AI Bottom Temperature
Cost Effective, Low-Risk, Tested Technology Designed to Optimize and Transform an Outdated Lobster Fishing Industry
Join the Program and Help Us Optimize Lobster Fishing!
TrapDog aims to make lobster fishing more profitable for lobster fishers like you, by:
Enhancing
Lobster Yield
Optimizing trap placement and density based on bottom temperature.
Eliminating the need for acoustic equipment
Reducing loss of traps due to storms
Reducing boat fuel usage per ton of lobster harvested
Reducing unnecessary pot hauls of low lobster count traps
The TrapDog lobster trap network replaces pot buoys and trap lines with a single Underwater Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) with claws and a haul line.
The TrapDog ROV retrieves lobster traps by wireless “Direction Finding” using a RuBee wireless underwater magnetic sensor tag placed on the trap. The RuBee sensor tags turn the trap into a broadcasting SmartTrap beacon that monitors bottom temperature, estimates the number of trapped lobsters and sends the trap ID.
What is TrapDog?
The Program
We developed this program to address the Right Whale entanglement issue and make lobster fishing more profitable. With the help of lobster fishers like you, we’ll be able to do both.
All participating lobstermen will be reimbursed with a per-trip fee.
The software, hardware, installation, training, and support will all be provided at no cost by the grant.
Phase 1
Phase 1 will be Bottom Temperature data collection only and require placing a small sensor tag on each of your traps, and we will install a data collection tablet with a tag reader on your boat. You will enter in the number of lobsters you catch with some additional data on the tablet touchscreen tablet. The tablet will have a cell phone data link (we pay for that service). Important: The trap yield data correlated with the actual bottom temperature will be extremely valuable and is described in the bTEAM project in the downloads section.
Phase 2
Phase 2 in the second year will add a new compact custom RAV underwater drone, the TrapDog. The TrapDog will use the bottom temperature trap tag as a “wireless beacon” and can be used to haul each trap with the drone. The UAV has tether rope and a grapple, the TrapDog will be easy to toss in the water and retrieve existing gear or trawl anchors that have a beacon tag. Again the TrapDog will find the trap using the wireless temperature tag as a homing beacon.
We expect the total time to find and haul a trip to be about the same as with existing ropes and buoys. Again it has been demonstrated in a preliminary study and many academic studies that the bottom temperature data can be used to optimize trap placement and yield.
The Call to Action
The Gulf of Maine Lobster Fishery was placed at risk by the “Red Flags” issued last year (2022) by the Maine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch (SW). Both claim the lobster fishery puts the Right Whale population at risk of extinction because of whale rope entanglement from marine debris.
The scientific evidence that this whale extinction threat and the lobster ropes are actually from the Gulf of Maine fishery is questionable; nevertheless, the MSC and SW Red Flags and “Do Not Buy” recommendation have had a serious negative impact on the Gulf of Maine lobster business. We want to address this entanglement problem and improve lobster fishing efficiency at the same time with this project.
The grant announcement issued on April 27, 2023, called us to act and create this program,
but we need your help to bring it to fruition!
“The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announces the release of the 2023 Request for Proposals (RFP) for a new program under the Fisheries Innovation Fund (FIF), the New England Gear Innovation Fund. This RFP provides competitive grant funding to projects driving development and adoption of innovative gear technologies that remove vertical lines in New England fisheries such as the lobster fishery. The FIF New England Gear Innovation Fund is a public-private partnership between NFWF and NOAA…”