A grand prize total of $30,000 and two $10,000 runner-up awards are in the pot as the WWF is launching the 2011 International Smart Gear Design Competition aimed at reducing bycatches.
Additionally, in partnership with the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), the competition is offering a $7,500 special tuna prize that will be awarded to the idea that will reduce the amount of bycatch found in tuna fisheries.
Held for the first time in 2004, several winners have come to wide use in global fisheries. Flexi Grids, which won in 2006, are now mandatory in blue whiting fisheries in the Faroe Islands, and are used in an increasing number of countries all over the world. A winning idea from 2007, a net designed to reduce the bycatch of cod, “The Eliminator” is now being used by more than a dozen fishermen in the northeastern US haddock fishery, as well as being adopted by the EU as a mandatory measure in cod bycatch reduction under certain conditions.
“WWF’s goal with the Smart Gear competition is to inspire innovative ideas for environmentally-friendly fishing gear,” stated the World Wide Fund for Nature’s VP of Fisheries Bill Fox.
“This competition identifies real-world fishing solutions that allow fishermen to fish smarter while helping to maintain ocean health”.