[Mb-civic] CBC News - AWARD-WINNING 'SAFETY NET' PROTECTS MARINE MAMMALS

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AWARD-WINNING 'SAFETY NET' PROTECTS MARINE MAMMALS
WebPosted Thu Apr 28 17:12:56 2005

St. Andrews, N.B.---A glow-in-the-dark fish net invented in part by a
Canadian scientist has won an environmental award because it could save
thousands of sea mammals.

The World Wildlife Fund awarded the prize to Ed Trippell of the
Department of Fisheries and Oceans in St. Andrews, N.B., and his two
U.S. partners.

Trippell says the illuminated gear helps dolphins, porpoises and whales
avoid getting tangled up and killed.

Endangered right whales are a particular concern in the Bay of Fundy,
where they face two main dangers: getting struck by passing ships or
becoming caught in fishing gear.

There are only 350 right whales left in the North Atlantic.

Whales and porpoises can't detect the nets with their echolocation, a
kind of sonar they use to navigate in deep water.

But the net invented by Trippell and his partners contains barium
sulphate. It makes the nets glow in the dark for hours at a time, making
them visible to whales, porpoises and dolphins.

Two years of field tests in the Bay of Fundy have been promising,
Trippell said.

"In the first year we had effectively no porpoises caught in this net. In
the second year, some porpoises were caught, but still more porpoises
were caught in normal fishing gear."

The glowing nets are especially effective at depths where there is very
little natural light, Trippell's team found.

In the Bay of Fundy, it's thought the glow is visible below 30 metres,
which allows travelling whales to spot the rope and avoid becoming
entangled, he said.

The inventors have also experimented with a breakaway net that allows the
heavier mammals to break free.

Trippell's cross-border team consists of Philadelphia chemist Norm Holy,
and Don King, a fisherman from Massachusetts.

They were presented with their World Wildlife Fund award at a ceremony
last week in Washington, D.C.

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