EJA | Intelligent Popup Buoy

October, 2021
By Leonardo Ward

Main Project

Eja is an Open Source project that is developing an intelligent popup buoy.

This type of ropeless fishing gear aims to decrease the occurrence of marine species entanglements with fishing gear, prevent ghost gear creation, and provide novel technologies for the fishing process.

Visual representation of the problem of marine entanglements.

Since 2007 studies of removed gear from whales showed that 91% of cases involved vertical lines. Abandoned gear continues to catch fish and not only creates harmful environmental and ecological effects, it also causes socioeconomic consequences. In 2016 the removal of 34,408 abandoned pots led to gear efficiency gains and an additional 13,504 MT in harvest valued at US $21.3 million. Up to 10% of the world’s ocean plastic (and 70% of large pieces) comes from lost or abandoned fishing gear. The principal causes of lost fishing gear are unexpected position changes and entanglements.

The proposed solution includes an intelligent buoy that allows fishers to track the position of the traps, and a ropeless mechanism that prevents entanglements.

Operation Process

Fishers install the device in the gear, and define the maximum time that it will be underwater. Later, the fishers deploy the gear onto the water. The device stores its location and sends it to the server/app.

Deployment of the popup buoy.
The traps wait on the seafloor during the predefined time.

Fishing time.
The buoy is released if the time lapse ends or if the device detects that the trap has reached its full capacity. When the buoy gets to the surface it transmits its location.

Release process.
The fishers find the buoy and retrieve the gear.

Communication with the Buoy.

Prototypes

There are 2 versions of the prototype, the first one was developed on 2020 and the second one is currently being developed. For more information about the prototypes (including videos) visit the original project page.