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https://theconversation.com/drone-fishing-in-south-africa-is-a-danger-to-sharks-and-may-be-unfair-to-other-fishers-study-218267>
"“Drone fishing” is a relatively recent innovation in the use of unmanned
aerial vehicles. Some recreational anglers are using personal drones to fly
baited lines into hard-to-reach areas of water, or to look for good fishing
areas.
Recreational fishing is a popular sport and hobby in South Africa, which has a
2,850km shoreline. The most recent estimate of the number of marine shore based
anglers is about 400,000.
The group of researchers I’m part of, who study linefish (fish caught using
hook and line) became aware over the past 10 years or so of the increased
practice of drone fishing. This was in part thanks to recreational fishers
approaching us with their concerns.
One of the concerns is that increases in the numbers of enthusiastic anglers
and their ability to catch fish might have significant effects on fish stocks
and other animals (such as birds) in coastal zones. Another is that drone
fishing might intensify conflict between fisher groups competing for the same
species. Aside from recreation, linefishing provides the primary source of
protein and income for about 2,730 commercial fishers, 2,400 small-scale boat
fishers and 30,000 small-scale shore-based fishers in South Africa.
We agreed the practice should be investigated, but faced a challenge: there was
very little monitoring going on to provide data.
So we took an unconventional approach to our study. We used publicly available
online monitoring to estimate the growing interest, global extent and catch
composition of drone fishing. This showed us that there had been a big (357%)
spike in interest in drone fishing in 2016. There were also worrying
indications of a threat to species of conservation concern in South Africa.
We then consulted commercial drone operators, legal researchers and others to
get a more holistic view. Drone fishing has economic, political, legal,
ecological and physiological implications. Based on this we made some
recommendations for further research and monitoring, and shared them with
fishing authorities."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
