Precision Seafood Harvesting claims supreme award

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbnat/982113181-precision-seafood-harvesting-claims-supreme-award

A win-win innovation in fishing is promising to not only catch better quality fish, but also go easier on the environment.

Precision Seafood Harvesting took out the top spot in last night's New Zealand Innovator Awards, with its design for a PVC trawling net.

It allows fish to keep swimming, as well as undersize and non-target fish to escape.

Director Greg Johansson says it's much better for the environment, but also makes good business sense.

"Clearly the intention here is to produce a premium seafood product, the absolute best quality that hopefully there'll be a premium in the marketplace for."

A major change to catch higher quality fish with less environmental impact, may be only a few years away.

Precision Seafood Harvesting won the the Supreme New Zealand Innovator award last night.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbnat/982113181-precision-seafood-harvesting-claims-supreme-award

The company's designed a PVC trawler net, which puts the fish through less stress, and allows smaller fish and non-target species to escape.

Director Greg Johansson says there are still a few wrinkles in the system, but they hope to have them ironed out in the next three years.

"We know it works. We can get the fish in good condition. At the back of the boat we know can do the sorting. Obviously there's still a lot of work to be done with different specie, we've got a lot of work to do with the onboard handling."

Small holes in the liner allow smaller fish to escape, but because fish keep swimming in the liner, any non-target fish that make it on deck can be returned to the sea alive.

Aotearoa Fisheries, Sanford, and Sealord teamed up to invest $26 million into the project, which promises better quality fish with less impact on the environment.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbnat/51968016-a-new-and-better-way-to-fish

More fish for the future - thanks to a revolutionary new sustainable-fishing technology unveiled in New Zealand.

Precision Seafood Harvesting is a method developed by local scientists, in partnership with three fishing companies - Sealord, Sanford and Aotearoa Fisheries Limited.

It involves a different kind of net which leads to better and easier selection of the size and type of fish that's caught.

Sustainable fishing advocacy group LegaSea's Mandy Kupenga says now it's time to put the research into practice.

"The announcement's great, the initiatives look great. The implementation of it, we'd be very keen to see how and when that happens."

Ms Kupenga says this new technology can only help improve industry practice and ensure its sustainability.

"Any measure that will conserve fish will help the sustainability of our fisheries."