14   14 Team 89: MPAs and Research

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This is where I found information on the example I think we could model a new organization off of: http://www.appliedgeochemists.org/\\

TEAM 2 PROPOSED SOLUTION: work in progress

IMPROVEMENT IN FISHING TECHNOLOGY (SHORT TERM)

          General Goals:

• • Decrease harmful effects of fishing technology on the environment.
  • Increase selectivity of fish caught both by species and size, to the purpose of drastically reducing bycatch.

          Technology Suggestions:

(Not all of the solutions are compatible but are simply suggestions as some ways in which the aformentioned goals can be met)    

Countries that sign the international treaty would agree to convert 50% in say 6 years and 80% in 10 years of their national fishing fleets to step 1 of sustainable fishing technology. Fishermen who choose to convert to sustainable fishing technology would receive subsidies from a percentage of a tax on all unsustainably caught fish sold with the goal of making step 1 sustainable technology comparable or cheaper than unsustainable fishing technology. The time frame must be large enough that fishermen would naturally need to replace equipment so that buying sustainable equipment is easy but small enough that it will leave very little time for inaction and wasted time. An extension can be added if it is needed on a case by case basis in order to meet the deadline. Step 2 technology subsidies would be implemented part way through step 1 subsidies so fisherman can choose to go straight to step 2 and skip step 1 but would continue past the end of subsidies provided for step 1 conversion. As sustainable fishing increases and unsustainable fishing decreases, tax revenue from unsustainable fish would decrease but at this point sustainable fishing technology would become well established and subsidies unnecessary. Small boats would get a larger subsidy than large companies who would recieve less money per net replaced on a sliding scale under the idea that large fishing companies would have an easier time converting to new technology than small fishermen groups.

• Step 1:
  • Use fishing methods that are more environmentally friendly such as handlining or trapping rather than bottom trawling because trawls stir up sediment (turbidity is harmful to many fish species as well as bivalves), destroy fish habitat, destroy plants and animals that live along the bottom, etc) whereas handlining and other methods do not contact the bottom and thus do not harm the nonliving environment.
  • Rather than trawling or fishing X amount of hours and pulling up the nets to see what and how much has been caught, put sensors on nets that measure tension or width of the net or other factors that can give fishermen an estimation of the amount of fish in the nets so that the quota allowance will not be exceeded resulting in all of the fish over the for example, 500 pound limit are thrown back dead into the ocean.
  • Put escape vents in commercial nets to allow the escape of large sea mammals that become trapped inside.
  • Require that traps are manufactured with a biodegradable release mechanism (often as simple as a long slit in the nylon webbing which is then sealed with cotton thread). This provision eliminates the self-perpetuating cycle of self-baiting "ghost traps."
  • Require that nets be manufactured with diamond mesh instead of square mesh because square mesh does not close when towed and thus small fish can get through the mesh which would make net size regulations more effective.
• Step 2: 
  • Add nanosensors along the bottom of trawling nets that keep the net a certain fixed height above the ground to prevent damaging the sea floor.  Also, use electrified ticklers to scare fish into the nets rather than the current chains which scrape the sea floor to scare fish into the nets.
  • Create and implementing sonar and other tracking devices to determine size (and from that age if possible) and species before nets are put into the water to limit the amount of bycatch of unwanted species or fish that are too small.
  • Create and implement devices to sort fish before catching based on instinctual defensive responses of other means such as electrofishing using certain frequencies which attract (and even paralyze if desired) fish of certain size and repel others away in order to lower bycatch.
• Potentially New Ideas:
  • GPS tags in nets and other fishing gear that would emit a signal that can be tracked by an automated server. Ships would also have a unique tag can be matched together with their equipment and boats that don't pass inspection (use the right equipment in the right areas such as no trawling areas) would be flagged. This can also tracks ships that fish in no take closed areas. Should the equipment malfunction, a marine geek squad can be sent out to make repairs.
  • Speed coach propellor could be put on nets to track hours in the water by counting the spinning as water flows by.
  • Also a resistance meter that can sense when it is in water and the resistance drops as the meter dries. This can also track hours in the water.

REGULATION OF FISHING TECHNOLOGY (LONG TERM)

 *Regulation should occur before fish are caught rather than after as the most effective way of preventing overfishing. For example, regulation should regulate net drag speed and net mesh size rather than throwing away fish that exceed the pound limit though that too should be in place in a modified form*

• Bottom Trawling should not be allowed in communities deeper than X (More research is needed in classifying sediment type according to depth or extensive underwater terrain maps showing sediment composition so that bottom trawling is absolutely not allowed in deep ocean where recovery is slow but perhaps allowable in very shallow areas that show little or no damage in the succeeding months though bottom trawling should be phased out as newer technology is implemented.)
• Regulate where mobile gear (trawls and other similar fishing methods) and non-mobile gear (such as lines or traps) can be used and cannot be used in conjunction with the mapping of underwater terrain. Mobile gear catches greater volumes of fish, but can be much less selective than non-mobile gear. (However, mobile gear is much more cost effective since more fish can be caught in less time.)
• For mobile gear, we should regulate at what speed nets can be dragged so as to maximize the benefit of increased mesh size. At high speeds, fish that would normally be able to escape from the netting are trapped by the larger fish that are pressed against the end of the net. (Trawling typically occurs at anywhere from 3 knots to 5 knots)
• Setting a minimum mesh size that nets cannot exceed (though more research is needed as to what size this minimum should be for various species.)

13 Team 3: Climate Change

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                Need for additional fisheries research

Conclusion

TEAM 2 PROPOSED SOLUTION: work in progress

(Please edit as you see fit. This list has already been sent to the regulations group as a preliminary sketch of what we would like to see regulated but by no means is it complete or entirely accurate and will need editing and additions as we learn more.)

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