Progress
Where we are today
We are in the middle of a NOAA grant where we are working on the development of an offshore version of the LiftLabs system. Throughout the development of the system, we are testing prototypes with local lobstermen in New England. While the offshore version will be larger, it will still have ease of use and cost effectiveness as key focal points for the end product.
OceanWatch Australia
Overseas, we are working with OceanWatch Australia to test out inshore and upcoming offshore system in their fishery to see if it is something that may work for them in the future. While there are no current impending regulation changes, they are looking to get ahead and see what's out there to understand the options.
Cormac traveled to Coffs Harbour, NSW to meet with fishermen Mitch, Danny, and Kerby to attempt using the inshore Lift, which was designed to lift a 30-40 lb Maine Lobster trap, and use it to lift the 100+lb Australian lobster traps. First we tried reducing the weight of the trap by adding some floats into it, but the fishers found it to not sink fast enough for their use case. To increase the buoyancy, Cormac jerry-rigged a second buoy to give it twice the buoyancy, but also looked a bit odd. Nevertheless, it gave us the buoyancy we needed and we tested the system out to 30 fathoms, where it just didn't have enough air to satisfy the needs of Danny's traps. Mitch's on the other hand. We'll be leaving a Lift on Danny's trap to at least test how well it fishest with the new addition on top of the trap. Mitch and Kerby use lighter traps, and could use the existing inshore Lift in their operations, just with a larger buoy to give them the lift they need, so the LiftLabs team will me sending that out to them after the fact for them to modify the gear to meet their needs.
All in all, the testing was successful in having the fishermen get used to how the gear works, with the ultimate goal of taking this valuable testing information back for the LiftLabs team to incorporate into the more suited Offshore Lift version, which will be brought out to the fishers for longer term testing in September.
As always, we are hugely grateful for the fishermen's time, ingenuity, and openness when trialing our prototype ropeless gear. Lastly, we thank Kristin Hoel for coordinating this whole effort!
From November to June, the team has been laser focused on:
LiftLabs Mobile App
Inshore Lift testing in Australia
Offshore Lift development
Key improvements to the LiftLabs mobile app include removing bugs and increasing functionality based on the continuous feedback we receive from our collaborating fishers. Some of the latest updates include the integration with the rmwHUB -- a group of ropeless manufacturers who are working together with the goal of allowing all ropeless gear to be seen regardless of the manufacturer. This has been a multi-year effort, and now we are fully integrated with our LiftLabs Mobile App.
April
Paul and Cormac attended the Right Whale Day event at the New England Aquarium, where the significance of the day was promoted by politicians, and conservation groups alike. Discussions around how to keep both the fishing industry and right whale population were key topics with hopeful visions.
January
We travelled up to West Boothbay to demo our gear for Maine Departement of Marine Resources to be included in their Ropeless Gear Library.
In late October, we ventured up to Halifax, NS with the gear to present at the annual Ropeless Consortium. There we unveiled our first iteration of our new gear marking app, which integrates with the acoustics communication to make for a seamless process for the fisher, as well as other updates such as the new fast & easy to reset docking station developed under the 2021 NOAA SBIR grant. This event really helps bring the industry together each year to keep us all on the same page, and to foster an ever accelerating path towards ropeless adoption on a scale that makes a difference.
Through an exciting collaboration with the Professional Fisherman's Association in New South Wales, Australia, we met up with 5 fishermen from all around Australia to have an impromptu demo at a local fishemen's dock in Halifax, where we threw the gear off the dock to show demonstrate the whole process of deploying the gear, to resetting it. They had some great questions, and despite the rain, we had great conversation on how we might make some modifications for their specific fishery needs. Currently the LiftLabs team is developing its offshore version of the Lift through the NOAA BREP 2022 grant, and will be trialing this system next year in Australia with these fishers. We just want to give these guys and Kristin Hoel a big thanks for coming out despite the rain, and being just an overall great group of people. We look forward to incorporating their ideas and expertise into the design of our system, and are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate!
In early October, the team presented at Cape Cod Community College, where Bob Melvin from TestB4Design hosted a ropeless workshop to help promote a better understanding of ropeless technology, as well as provide opportunities for local collaboration. At the workshop, we gave an overview of the system, as well as demonstrated the latest mobile app we've been working on with gear marking functionality built in. There we received positive feedback, as well as participated in collaborative discussions as to what could make the systems even better and easier to use. We appreciate these opportunities to collaborate with the local community, as we are very much at the beginning stages of ropeless adoption. We expect there will be many big changes moving forward as adoption increases.
In August, the team tested our latest developments (electrical and mechanical) locally in MA with new fishers. In real world conditions, we tested with a two trap trawl, having one Lift system at either end. One Lift had the Sub Sea Sonics acoustics, while the other had Teledyne Benthos. Both performed great with 100% success, and both have their own attributes which allow fishers to make their own choice that suits them best.
In June, the team presented at the Wang middle school in Lowell, MA, where we spoke to over 80 students about the ongoing challenge between keeping lobstermen's livelihoods afloat and the managing the North Atlantic right whale population. We showed them the ins and outs of the system and how we developed it. It was a very engaging opportunity, and the students (and teachers) were fascinated about the project. We worked with local community engagement lead, Suzanne deLesdernier as she has been closely engaged in the NARW issue and was previously a teacher at the Wang middle school, where she invited us for the event.