A domestic research team has devised a technology that can check information in real time through wireless communication by attaching electronic tags to various fishing gear, including nets used for fishing.
It is also expected to help ship safe operation and protect marine ecosystems.
Researchers from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) Information and Communication Convergence Research Center collaborated with local governments such as SK Telecom and Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do to demonstrate the maritime demonstration for the commercialization of the 'Automatic Fishing Gear Identification Monitoring System' in the southwestern coastal fishing area of Korea for 7 months from March next year. It was announced that the test will be conducted today (10th).
The core of the 'automatic fishing gear identification monitoring system' currently being developed by the center is to attach an 'electronic buoy' that transmits location information to each fishing gear based on the maritime Internet of Things (IoT) technology.
An electronic buoy is an electronic tag attached to a float on the water, which contains information about the owner, type and location of the fishing gear.
If a system using this electronic buoy is introduced, information on fishing gear in operation can be checked in real time by nearby fishermen, management boats, and land integrated control center through wireless communication.
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▲ Electronic buoy floating on the sea (red circle)
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▲ Using the 'automatic identification monitoring system for fishing gear' to check location information.
In addition, ships can reduce accidents at sea by avoiding tangled nets by throwing other nets without realizing that there are nets left in the water.
In addition, you can protect the marine ecosystem by managing the missing or abandoned fishing gear.
Waste nets are a kind of trap for sea creatures, as sea creatures caught in them are often fatally wounded or killed as they struggle.
In particular, in Korea, overfishing of resources due to excessive use of fishing gear and pollution of the marine environment due to abandoned fishing gear are serious.
According to the research team, the annual use of fishing gear used in Korea's coastal waters is estimated at 131,000 tons (t), which is 2.5 times more than the appropriate amount.
Of this, 44,000 tons (t) are thrown into the sea and are emerging as the main culprit causing pollution of the marine environment.
Due to this problem, the fishery industry has been implementing the 'fishing gear real-name system', in which it is mandatory to install markers with real names on cloth or plastic boards.
However, due to its low effectiveness, the need for an electronic system for determining the position of fishing gear that can be checked in real time on land through wireless communication has been raised.
The center said, "Information written in phrases and real names can be easily erased (due to friction at sea), and there was a difficulty in having to approach and check directly with the naked eye. It seems that the number of fishing gear and nets left unattended in the sea itself will decrease,” he explained.
GIST Professor Choi Young-yoon, who led the research, said, "The automatic identification and monitoring system for fishing gear enables the management of fishing boats and gear on land.
Currently, the center is focusing on research and development in three areas: marine IoT wireless communication-based fishing gear identification buoy, fishing gear identification buoy control system, and lost gear management technology.
(Photo = provided by Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology)