Fishing has always involved ingenuity and invention, from the Pacific Islanders’ ancient tailoring of bones and shells into fish hooks (long before metal arrived in their cultures) to modern uses of everything from rotational sensors to machine learning to digitally understand where, when and how fishing takes place. Innovation typically takes place “in-house”, i.e. led by the fishing industry itself, with an increasing movement of start-ups, NGOs and entrepreneurs – motivated primarily by tackling the environmental and social challenges of seafood production – now joining this challenge. We have created a new “Sustainable Fishing Challenges” group on WILDLABS to try foster more of this innovation and collaboratively make fishing fit for the future.
At a very basic level, the three essential elements of fishing are 1. The vessel, 2. The fishing equipment (or “gear”), and 3. The fish (obviously). While some commonplace technologies are unrecognisable from those of the past (i.e. sonar fish finders, digital catch logbooks), some of the crucial components of the job have altered little (i.e. net design). Newly proposed vessel, gear or fish catch monitoring technologies must be robust, efficient and durable, meaning innovation needs to be answering a genuine need and be subject to thorough, collaborative testing (and consensus-building) before new advances are adopted across whole fleets or countries.
In this group, we challenge users to contribute their insights/expertise/opportunities across each of these three areas.
Learn more about these challenge areas:
No showcases have been added to this group yet.
- @SteveL
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I am an ecologist developing low-cost tools to support conservation of marine resources
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- @Stelios
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I am a Software Developer living in Berlin, Germany. Previously studied Informatics (BSc) and Data Science (MSc) in Athens, Greece.
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- @ctjack1109
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I am a graduate student at Purdue University developing low-cost IoT technology to measure wetland methane emissions. This, paired with my undergraduate education in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources, has me naturally drawn to advanced tech coupled with conservation issues.
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Zoological Society London (ZSL)
I am a benthic ecologist using low-cost tech to explore seabed habitats in temperate and cold water.

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- @Alawa
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Passionate wildlife and biodiversity conservationist
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- @mattaudette
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Software Tester and Test Automator at Wildlife Protection Solutions
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- @Harsha
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I am a marine biologist / acoustic ecologist from Australia. Fascinated by bioacoustics, I always look forward to learning from people in conservation!
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Develops acoustics for cetacean and bat monitoring: F-POD, C-POD, BatBug
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Arribada Initiative
Director at Arribada, a UK-based conservation technology research & development organisation



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- @issiecorvi
- | she/they
Ocean Vision AI Program Manager (MBARI)
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Movement Ecologist studying the where, why, and how animals move throughout our world. Current work is investigating the movement and energetics of large neotropical bats in a changing environment with ephemeral resources.



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Fauna & Flora
Working in marine conservation in Africa (with a quite strong focus on East Africa so far) with Fauna & Flora International.
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The Marine Innovation Lab for Leading-edge Oceanography develops hardware and software to expand the ocean observing network and for the sustainable management of natural resources. For Fall 2026, we are actively...
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The Marine Innovation Lab for Leading-edge Oceanography develops hardware and software to expand the ocean observing network and for the sustainable management of natural resources. For Fall 2025, we are actively...
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30 September 2024
The Coral Research & Development Accelerator Platform opened it's Coral Accelerator Program 2024 for internationally collaborating teams to apply with innovative projects ranging from 'novel early-phase' to 'final...
26 August 2024
WildLabs will soon launch a 'Funding and Finance' group. What would be your wish list for such a group? Would you be interested in co-managing or otherwise helping out?
5 June 2024
Whether you’re an aspiring or established entrepreneur, an early-stage startup, or a researcher, apply to the Project 71 – A Venture Competition for Ocean Regeneration. This competition is for you if you have a bold...
4 March 2024
Join the mission to help tackle IUU fishing with cutting-edge tech! The Allan Institute for AI is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to accelerate efforts to make sure those working to restore our ocean have the tools...
21 February 2024
SNTech are recruiting for 3 roles to assist us to develop computer vision pipelines for underwater monitoring
15 February 2024
Careers
The Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands (CDF) is recruiting a Senior Spatial Ecologist to join our shark research team and strengthen the ongoing long-term research on shark population ecology and...
24 August 2023
Working with WWF, Vodacom is using cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) technology and infrared cameras to help minimise whale entanglements in mussel farming ropes off the southwest coast...
28 July 2023
"This seminar detailed our achievements to date in building an expert-led and consensus-based definition of “destructive fishing” and our subsequent development of a monitoring framework, for adaptation to national and...
19 June 2023
Careers
With a focus on using and combining vessel tracking data, other satellite derived datasets and big data methods and AI generated estimates related to vessel identity and activity, the Fisheries Analyist with Global...
15 June 2023
November 2023
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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Happy new year all! A couple of great resources on the use of technology in the small-scale fisheries sector. Firstly a series of... |
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Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 4 years 7 months ago | |
Hi Wildlabbers, Following our recent Tech Tutors episode on monitoring fishing (check it out here! and ask Max... |
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Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 4 years 8 months ago | |
Hi Wildlabbers, Welcome back to Tech Tutors for season 2! This season's first episode featured Oceanmind's... |
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Marine Conservation, Geospatial, Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 4 years 8 months ago | |
Dan, I'm tempted to add that description into our event reminder that's about to go out. Brilliant. |
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Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 4 years 8 months ago | |
The fantastic team of fishing innovators and industry leaders at Fisheries Innovation Scotland (FIS) are calling for expressions of... |
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Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 4 years 8 months ago | |
Hello, I'm the Science Comms Manager at the MSC. I want to let you all know about our Ocean Stewardship Fund which opened for... |
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Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 4 years 10 months ago | |
Hi Wildlabbers, There's another free webinar series coming up, starting this Thursday, 24 September! This one... |
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Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 4 years 10 months ago | |
Hi folks, Just wanted to share this very cool and relevant three-day event, Smart Oceans 2020! It's a free conference focusing on... |
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Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 4 years 10 months ago | |
The updated TNC/CEA report on electronic monitoring in fisheies just came out, which is very much on point for this group. https://fisheriesem.com/ |
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Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 4 years 11 months ago | |
Hi Wildlabbers, This week in our Sustainable Fishing Challenge, we're discussing how fishing gear itself could... |
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Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 4 years 11 months ago |
Hawai'i Conservation Conference

28 February 2020 12:00am
Seafood fund seeks ideas for innovation projects up to £250k
11 February 2020 12:00am
Webinar: New technologies to revolutionize sustainable fishing in the digital age: EDF’s Smart Boat Initiative

12 August 2019 12:00am
From the Field: Melissa Schiele
10 June 2019 12:00am
GWP Webinar Recording: Using SMART at scale for effective wildlife protection
21 May 2019 12:00am
National Geographic Society Announces Competition to Combat Illegal Fishing
1 February 2018 12:00am
Wildlife innovation grants available!
11 January 2018 12:00am
Download New Conservation Tech Guidelines: Camera Traps, Acoustics and LiDAR
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Kids, Drones & Science At The Water’s Edge
4 October 2017 12:00am
How to lose a BRUV in 10 days
26 September 2017 12:00am
Machine learning, meet the ocean
10 May 2017 12:00am
Getting SMART in Cambodia
8 May 2017 12:00am
15 Risks and Opportunities for Global Conservation
31 March 2017 12:00am
The Noise Egg: Testing the Effects of Underwater Noise on Aquatic Animals
27 March 2017 12:00am
#Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge: Our favourites from 2016
1 March 2017 12:00am
Conservation Leadership Programme 2017 Award
21 November 2016 12:00am
We Can Have Oceans Teeming with Fish with FishFace Technology
10 November 2016 12:00am
Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act grants via USFWS
8 November 2016 12:00am
Has technology provided a one-stop measure to halt albatross bycatch in fisheries?
5 August 2016 12:00am
The Blue Economy Challenge
28 February 2016 12:00am
Bringing Conservation Technology to Life
17 February 2016 12:00am
Report outlines 2016's most pressing conservation issues
3 February 2016 12:00am
ASEAN-US Science and Technology Fellows Program (USAID)
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The Impact of the Internet of Things
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Technology for Traceability

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