Fishtek Marine has announced the discovery of what it says is a sustainable alternative method for harvesting scallops that avoids dredging.
The Devon, U.K.-based marine conservation engineering company said its PotLight method, which involves the use of different-colored, small-sized lights powered by rechargeable AA batteries that lure scallops to travel inside traps, eliminates the need to trawl or dredge for scallops – which results in high bycatch rates and disruption of the seabed.
Fishtek Marine Head of Science and Uptake Rob Enever had been working in collaboration with local fishers, including fisherman Jon Ashworth, to trial the PotLight method of fishing as a way to lure crab and lobsters into traps when they discovered scallops were attracted to the flashing lights.
“The first day out was just excitement after excitement,” Ashworth, the captain of the FV Three Jays, said. “Pretty much every pot that we hauled had scallops in them and yet every haul without lights had no scallops. It was conclusive, there and then. To have proven that lights can be used to catch scallops has got to have some awesome implications looking forward.”
The PotLight method of fishing could be a catalyst in transforming commercial scallop harvesting, Enever said.
“I was skeptical that it would work, but the first time we hauled the pots and saw the scallops inside we knew we had discovered something significant,” he said. “It was so exciting that I could hardly sleep for a couple of nights!”
University of York Senior Lecturer Bryce Stewart, who wrote a peer-reviewed research paper on the new fishing method, called the PotLight discovery “one of the most-exciting research findings I have been involved with in my career.”
“We knew scallops were sensitive to light, but not that they could be attracted in this way. These findings have the potential to provide a valuable and low impact boost to inshore fisheries,” he said.
The process was developed with funding from the U.K. Seafood Innovation Fund.
“It is great to see Fishtek Marine benefitting from our Seafood Innovation Fund, and developing a world-first method for catching scallops in an environmentally sustainable way,” U.K. Fisheries Minister Victoria Prentis said. “The funding is supporting innovation, helping industry use cutting-edge technology and protecting the marine environment.”
Photo courtesy of FishTek Marine
