The latest episode from the UK’s only commercial fishing podcast welcomed Kara Brydson, Executive Director of Fisheries Innovation Scotland (FIS) and Paul Macdonald from the Scottish Fishermen’s Organisation (SFO).
Fathom took this opportunity to find out more about fishing innovation in Scotland, and how an unprecedented collaboration by Scottish fishermen will trial technology and data sharing to help avoid unwanted catches of cod and whiting.
Speaking on Fathom, Kara Brydson described FIS as dedicated to bringing ‘together fishermen and other experts along the seafood supply chain, to champion innovation and try new things – to make Scottish fisheries more prosperous and sustainable.’
FIS projects must be practical and have impact, adding value to fishing businesses and with fishermen’s expertise built in from the start – from ‘how to best use industry self-sampling to improve trust in fisheries science’, to ‘building capacity within fishing communities and investing in people’.
‘Innovation is not just about bits of kit. Innovation can be quite a scary word, and often people say ‘what do you mean?’ But really it’s about doing things better and thinking about things in different ways,’ she said.
Paul Macdonald of the SFO detailed a joint project between FIS, fishing organisations and the University of Aberdeen, where fishermen on the west coast of Scotland are piloting a software system to share information on unwanted catches of cod and whiting in real-time.
He said that the inclusion of skippers in the design and development process by holding regular meetings to get their ideas on how the mobile app is developing, and to get their ideas on what things they would find useful has been a key part of the project development.
This collaborative process is helping to create an app built around what fishermen want so it has more potential to be ‘something that is of use and of value to the ones who will actually be using it,’ he said.
‘We have certainly felt all along that you need to bring fishermen along with you. The app needs to be something that’s useful to fishermen.’
Listen to the Fathom Podcast episode.
