The fishing gear-mounted CatchCam developed by SafetyNet Technologies has been making waves since its launch in 2020. Now it’s going deeper, providing opportunities to monitor fishing gears at greater depths and significantly extending the range of tthis technology.
The newly available CatchCam Deep is able to cope with depths of 800 metres. Its development began when its developers ran a survey, which made it clear that more than 20% of respondents were looking for a camera that would function beyond the CatchCam’s original 300 metre depth limit.
Clyde fisherman Ian Wightman who fishes for prawns on his vessel Eilidh Anne had the chance to deploy CatchCam Deep for the first time. The underwater footage provided by the camera reveals some astonishing seal activity around the codend of the trawl net.
Simply filming their fishing gear in operation enables fishermen to see if it is functioning, providing opportunities to make precise alterations to improve performance. CatchCam is also helping to improve by-catch mitigation techniques by providing evidence of their effectiveness and understanding on how the catch interacts with the gear.
Like the original CatchCam, CatchCam Deep can record for up to four days on a single charge. It is slightly longer than CatchCam at a length of 180mm, due to its thicker aluminium housing and endcaps. However, this is still small enough to fit in and around all types of fishing gear.
