Every year, about 640,000 tons of fishing gear disappear in our oceans. Lost gear litters the ocean and can continue to fish and kill marine life for many years. The innovation SeaMe has been tested during last year’s lobster season with successful results. With the product, lost fishing gear can now be returned to its owners. The product SeaMe is developed by the company CMAR AB and is being tested and evaluated in a project along with Fiskareföreningen Norden and Sotenäs municipality.
During last year’s lobster season, Fiskareföreningen Norden tested the product and the results were successful. The next step is now for SeaMe to enter the market.
Working together
What is SeaMe? Lost fishing gear has often proved very difficult to find and recover. CMAR has developed a product that is easy to attach to most types of equipment and helps to locate and salvage lost gear. When gear is not retrieved within a predetermined time, a marking buoy is released to the surface and marks the lost gear. SeaMe sets and resets automatically during normal fishing without any action required by the user. The solution enables easy salvage of most objects regardless of size or weight. CMAR is now working together with Fiskareföreningen Norden and Sotenäs municipality to test and adapt the product to different types of fishing gear. Existing fishing gear can now be part of a sustainable cycle and return to their rightful owners.
The project is partly financed by the Swedish Board of Agriculture through the Maritime and Fisheries Programme for 2014-2020.
