BUBBLE-NET : system to catch fish and the respective method of use

Correia, Claudia; Matos, Carlos; Mouga, Teresa

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/1303

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Authors

Correia, Claudia

Matos, Carlos

Mouga, Teresa

Abstract(s)

Fishing is a socio-economic activity of great relevance worldwide. However the environmental sustainability of the fishing gears is far from being effective. It is necessary to find more selective types of fishing to ensure sustainable catches of target species and also to protect other organisms accidentally caught with no commercial value. The answer to these problems arises, often, from the nature itself, as in the case of bubble net feeding, the feeding behavior of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaengliae). These whales trap the school of fish surrounding them with a wall of bubbles they send by the blowhole (Leighton et al, 2004) (Johson et al, 1984), (fig. 1). Thus, we are developing a device that mimics the whale behavior. This device presents large environmental benefits such as the reduction of bycatch, the absence of ghost fishing, clean capture, that is the absence of human handling, and sustainable yield by allowing the capture of the legal quantities and sizes. There are also economic advantages, such as the reduction of fishing gear, increased device lifetime and reduction of maintenance cost associated .