SharkGuard: The World’s First Commercially Effective Shark Bycatch Mitigation Device

据估计，每年有1亿条鲨鱼在商业渔业中不经意间被捕获，威胁到鲨鱼物种的灭绝，并干扰了正常的捕鱼作业。这个问题被称为兼捕，不仅影响野生动物：它让渔业损失了大量资金。这是因为鲨鱼可以吓跑渔业瞄准的鱼类，比如金枪鱼。此外，当鲨鱼意外地被钩住时，它会损坏渔具，并减少原本可能被捕获的目标鱼的数量。目前还没有解决这个紧迫问题的办法。现在，一家名为Fishtek Marine的英国公司正在开发SharkGuard；这是一种全新的、改变游戏规则的装置，安装在钓钩上，使用电脉冲来威慑鲨鱼，同时不会干扰无法检测到电场的目标物种的捕获。2019年，SharkGuard在地中海进行的海试表明，在典型的商业延绳钓渔业中，鲨鱼副渔获物减少了100%(尽管基于有限的鲨鱼样本数量)。然而，在野外使用SharkGuard的渔民遇到了一些实际困难，他们报告说，目标物种的捕获率下降了，我们发现这是由于设备的大小、水中的重量和靠近鱼钩的位置。这笔资金将支持关键调查，以提供解决这些挑战所需的新知识。这将使第二阶段原型的开发成为可能，并通过计划中的海上试验研究从统计上确认其有效性，以确保原型满足技术和商业要求。SharkGuard将使保护和全球渔业受益，同时增长我们的业务并巩固我们的全球声誉相对便宜和方便使用，SharkGuard有潜力成为世界延绳钓渔业第一个也是唯一一个真正有效的减少鲨鱼副渔获物的技术。无数的鲨鱼将被拯救，一些联合国可持续发展目标将得到支持。与此同时，渔业将受益，在五年内，英国公司Fishtek Marine将额外雇用27名员工，将营业额增加300万英磅，并加强其作为减少兼捕技术的世界领导者的形象。

Every year an estimated 100 million sharks are inadvertently caught in commercial fisheries, threatening shark species with extinction, and interfering with normal fishing operations.Bycatch, as this problem is known, doesn't just affect wildlife: it costs fisheries a lot of money. That's because sharks can scare away the types of fish that fisheries are targeting, such as tuna. In addition, when the sharks get accidentally caught on the hooks it damages fishing gear and reduces the number of target fish that might otherwise be caught. Currently there is no solution to this urgent problem. Now, a British company called Fishtek Marine is developing SharkGuard; an entirely new, game-changing device fitted to fishing hooks which uses electric pulses to deter sharks, whilst not interfering with the catching of target species which can't detect this electric field.In 2019, sea trials with SharkGuard in the Mediterranean demonstrated a 100% reduction in shark bycatch in a typical commercial longline fishery (albeit based on a limited overall shark sample size). However, fishers using SharkGuard in the field encountered some practical difficulties and reported a reduction in catch rates for target species which we found was due to the device's size, in-water weight, and positioning next to the hook. This funding will support critical investigations to provide the new knowledge required to resolve these challenges. This will enable development of a second stage prototype and statistically confirm its efficacy through planned sea trial research to ensure the prototype fits both technical and commercial requirements. SharkGuard will benefit both conservation and the worldwide fishing industry, while growing our business and cementing our global reputationRelatively inexpensive and convenient to use, SharkGuard has the potential to become the first and only truly effective shark bycatch mitigation technology for the world's longline fishing industry. Countless sharks will be saved and a number of the UN Sustainable Development Goals will be supported. Meanwhile, the fishing industry will benefit and, within five years, Fishtek Marine, a British company, will hire an additional 27 staff, boost turnover by £3 million, and reinforce its profile as a world leader in bycatch reduction technology.