In cooperation with the Institute of Marine Research, Kongsberg Maritime and Simrad have developed sonar technology that makes it possible to determine the size of the school of fish, the type of fish and the size of the fish.

The technology contributes to making the fishing industry more environmentally friendly, sustainable and profitable. Today’s consumers demand to know how fish are caught and where they come from. Fishing with trawlers shall not crush bottom fauna, and extra catches shall be separated in a careful way without injuring the fish, writes Kystmagasinet.

The fact that the size of a school can be determined more accurately than before means that there is less danger of the closing net being ruptured. Information on the species and size will prevent time and fuel being used on throws after fish that must be released.

Kongsberg Maritime and Simrad are a part of the Centre for Research-based Innovation in Sustainable fish capture and Processing technology (CRISP). The Centre carries out research-driven innovation within sustainable catches, catch quality and catch economy. The Centre’s objective is to increase the value creation in the Norwegian seafood sector and to reduce the impact on the environment connected to catches and production from wild fish stocks by using smarter technology.

As a part of the programme an integrated system has also been developed that consists of an underwater video camera, trawler sonar and echo sounder, which provide information to the fishing vessel on what species of fish is being caught, the size, and how the trawler is behaving. At first Norwegian vessels will benefit from the newly developed technology – but it will gradually help fishing industries worldwide to become more efficient, environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Simrad has developed a new autonomous echo sounder that can lie on the seabed for months at a time and monitor marine life. The system uses broadband echo sounder technology to distinguish between plankton and various types of fish. The echo sounder was developed in collaboration with American researchers in order to establish a better basis for setting sustainable catch quotas for fisheries.