Saving Seafood

Tech firm born in Maine uses AI to monitor commercial fishing

August 16, 2021 — A company that got its start in Maine is using artificial intelligence to improve data collection for groundfish fishermen and fisheries management officials.

New England Marine Monitoring’s new technology could eliminate the need for onboard human observers for ground fishermen, resulting in safer, faster, and more accurate and affordable monitoring and data collection, according to CEO Mark Hager.

Currently, the groundfish fishery requires that 40 percent of a fisherman’s trips be monitored, especially with quotas for many groundfish species at historic lows. Traditionally, this monitoring has been done in person, on board the vessel.

But it’s no easy job, which Hager knows firsthand.

Earlier in his career, Hager worked as one of those fisheries observers and would go out on a boat with a crew for weeks at a time.

It’s time-consuming, expensive for the fishermen, and dangerous for everyone on board, particularly on smaller vessels where there’s not as much room to move around.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Gulf of Maine Research Institute Announces Sale of New England Marine Monitoring

July 23, 2021 — The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) has sold New England Marine Monitoring, Inc. (NEMM) to Vesper Company.

NEMM is a leader in video electronic monitoring technology and services for fisheries. Its technology solutions lower the cost of monitoring relative to traditional human at-sea monitors and also improves data quality. Founded by Mark Hager, NEMM was one of GMRI’s first ventures to support and grow the region’s waterfront economy and ocean technology markets. Now, thanks to the sale to Vesper Company, a private firm that partners with entrepreneurs, NEMM will be able to grow its service to New England’s fishing fleet and develop its technology platform.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Education key to electronic reporting, monitoring systems

February 1, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — In a perfect world, Steve Kennelly sees the New England Fishery transitioning to electronic reporting within the next year.

“There’s no reason why that group can’t be formed pretty soon,” the director of IC Independent Consulting said.

The next step would be implementing electronic monitoring within 3 to 4 years.

“It’s silly to talk anywhere beyond five years out” because of how fast technology continues to evolve, Kennelly said.

The New England Fishery Management Council, which concluded two days of meetings on Wednesday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, resides in an imperfect world, though.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE PRESENTATION.

Some of the research presented by Kennelly and Mark Hager, of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, was based on establishing electronic reporting and monitoring from scratch. That wouldn’t entirely be the case as some fisheries and vessels are using or testing the electronic systems.

“A KISS approach – keep it simple – didn’t happen,” Kennelly said.

In gathering their research, Kennelly and Hager interviewed 79 fishermen during the last two months of 2017. Of the 79 people they spoke with, 21 were fishermen, 30 were staff from the National Marine Fishery Service and 10 were representatives from fishermen’s associations.

The discussions provided positive and negative notions about electronic systems, which Kennelly and Hager discussed in depth, however, they also revealed a lack of understanding, in their opinion.

Kennelly said some interviews were prefaced by 15 to 20 minutes of explaining the difference between electronic reporting and monitoring as well as what each could provide.

“It’s not because people are being misinformed, they’re just not as aware,” Kennelly said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Cameras Pitched As On-Board Fishing Monitors

May 10, 2016 — As the struggling New England groundfish industry takes up the cost of federally required, on-board fishing monitors, federal regulators are considering allowing 14 boats from Maine to Cape Cod to use cameras to record their catches instead. It’s part of a pilot program to test out if cameras can replace humans and do it for less money.

Watching For When They Discard Fish

Located near fishing vessels moored in Portland’s harbor, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute is a nonprofit that’s trying to modernize the oversight of commercial fishing for cod, haddock and other groundfish.

In the “gear lab,” Mark Hager demonstrates the equipment used to set up an electronic monitoring system: a computer, a GPS tracker, a hydraulic sensor and four weatherproof cameras.

“If you’ve ever been to McDonald’s and you go to the drive-through and you pull up? They are actually using almost the same cameras we’re using,” Hager says.

Hager plays footage of an actual fishing trip from a vessel that’s already been equipped with cameras. The captain and crew divide the haul into the adult groundfish they keep, and the juveniles they’re required to put back into the ocean.

Read the full story at WBUR