“We’ve never seen anything like this before.”
CatchCam in the Irish Sea Nephrops Fishery
For most fishermen, the gear is out of sight after shooting. Once the fishing gear is retrieved, fishermen must rely on their intuition to figure out why they had a good catch or not.
But, for Darren McClemments, Skipper of the Golden Ray in Northern Ireland, the CatchCam trawl net camera is removing the guesswork from his fishing operations.
With underwater video of his gear in action, he can finally see exactly how his prawn trawl net was behaving, and why catches were inconsistent.
Darren and Ben Collier (Northern Ireland Gears) share their experience using the CatchCam trawl net camera to inspect and optimise gear performance.
See what the Trawl Net is doing underwater
Darren didn’t realise his gear was lifting off the seabed and missing prawns, costing catch and efficiency.
With CatchCam footage, he could clearly see that the sole rope wasn’t sitting correctly on the bottom.
So, once back at the harbour, Darren knew exactly what alterations he needed to make to his gear to improve contact and fishing.
"It's not just about getting rid of fish. It's about making sure you are catching what you need to catch. We could clearly see that our sole rope was not sitting on the bottom and that we lost prawns. When we got back to the harbour, we measured up the gear and took two meshes out of the top sheet. Following this small alteration, we now have better contact, and the boat is fishing better."
Proving the Square Mesh Panel Works
Darren has now recorded over 200 hours of underwater video with CatchCam.
The trawl net camera has provided evidence that the square mesh panel is working effectively. “We’ve never seen anything like this before,” says Darren, as he watches a video of juvenile whitefish escaping his prawn trawl net via the square mesh panel.
Other than monitoring the bycatch, the camera is also helping Darren further improve the efficiency and selectivity of his trawl net, allowing him to fish more precisely.
Why Skippers in the UK & Ireland are adopting Underwater Camera Systems
CatchCam is a compact, robust camera built specifically for commercial fishing.
Despite being the size of a coke-can, it can withstand the heavy impacts and harsh conditions inside a trawl net.
Due to its small size, the CatchCam camera and accompanying LED lamp can easily be attached to multiple areas of the fishing gear. As a result, fishermen can get a wholistic understanding of their gear performance and fish behaviour.
Underwater video cameras are a powerful tool. Using CatchCam, fishermen can record colour video of their fishing gear in action. As a result, they can get quick answers to on deck observations. These answers allow fishermen to make rapid decisions that optimise fishing gear and improve its sustainability.
