What's the problem?

؜Of the 370 surviving North Atlantic Right Whales, 85% have been entangled at some point in their lives, most often by lobster trap ropes and other ropes. There are laws being put in place to try to conserve right whale populations, forcing the lobstering industry to use ropeless trap systems that cost thousands of dollars a trap, destroying the livelihoods of many lobstermen. This project aims to create a usable solution to both.

؜While systems exist to solve this, they are excessively overengineered and thus expensive, and have a much worse recovery rate. We aim to create an inexpensive buoy that fisherman can attach to an existing lobster trap to be stored underwater until a specified deployment time, at which point the buoy floats to the surface.

There is a solution.

Precedents

Conceptual, technical, and visual

؜ARC-1XD Acoustic Release & STM-3 Deck Box by Desert Star Systems

؜Offshore Lift by LiftLabs

Ropeless RISER by Ropeless Systems

Conceptual, technical, and visual

“If you suggest ropless gear, and have never hauled traps in a trawl string set-up around other trawl strings, you are effing ignorant and should shut your face.”

؜“FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!! Every time a whale dies, every published picture of a whale tangled in a rope, garners MILLIONS of dollars for CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION'S executive salaries.”

“Talk about a SPECIAL KIND OF STUPID, Ropeless Lobstering Gear that depends upon Cell Phone Service????”

“Not only is cell phone signal a problem. Knowing where other lobstermens strings are so you don’t set over them is another. Goes to show the people dreaming this stuff up have little to no time on deck.”

؜“No lobsterman that I know would agree to a map to show where ALLL there gear is. That is like playing poker and showing everyone your cards.”

؜“Don’t make a case for “ropeless” being a good idea ever. If this gets forced on the industry it will more or less kill it. Very bad news this stuff is”

؜“I was reading that the idea to prevent setting over up gear is to have the fishermen mark on a shared chart where they are fishing gear.

Sure, right after I post the combo to my safe online.”

“will take most sport and commercial folks out at 1,000-2,000$ a trap”

“So the retail price will be high and the guys spending all the money on the gear will make less...”

“Ropeless is a scam. As always follow the money, the people pushing this are invested financially in this technology.”

“For the people asking they have proposed a common database that will show where traps are on some sort of chart but will hide individual fishermens info. Its just stupid, we will all have to buy new electronics n addition to this technology which I have worked with in a previous job. There will be lots more ghost gear.”

“Even with ropes people have set on my traps or fouled the lines, with our currents the buoys tend to be a ways away from the trap, and of course everyone wants to set their traps "near" my buoys because obviously I know what I am doing.. “

Meet Mason Wallertson, Collective Persona

Age: 48

Occupation: Lobstering

Bio: Has been lobstering for 36 years, knows how all his equipment works. Would love to use ropeless systems but the high prices for very little benefit, as well as extra work keep him from buying any. He is also worried that the new regulations about ropeless traps being forced on the industry could hurt it significantly. One main gripe he has with the current systems is how lobstermen are expected to mark all their traps on a shared database.

؜“I was reading that the idea to prevent setting over up gear is to have the fishermen mark on a shared chart where they are fishing gear.

Sure, right after I post the combo to my safe online.”

Frustrations

+ Costs

+ Regulations

+ Complexity

+ Competition

Goals

+ Make money

+ Save whales without spending excessively

Skills

+ Lobstering

+ Boating

Wants

+ Simplicity

+ Low costs

+ To keep the same lifestyle

IMAGE

THE THREE PILLARS

1. Cost
2. Usability
3. Saving the Whales

Comparative Analysis

Whale Safety

؜Cost

Standard options

$100-$200

Common ones on market

$5000-$10000

Our buoy system

$200-$300

One feature that ours lacks is communication between the boat and the buoy, but we compensate for this with many redundant failsafes and extensive customizability

Sketches

Prototype 1 | Mechanical Release

Prototype 2 | Magnetic Release

Prototype 1 | Lobster detection

Prototype 2 | Lobster detection

Buoy Electronics (Not a bomb)

؜State diagram:

؜Half Scale Model

؜Full Scale Model

Next Steps:

1. Implement the lobster detection mechanism
2. Add the GPS modules and make a receiver
3. Do testing with real fishermen and in the Charles river

Thank You!