Could Trawler Cams Help Save World's Dwindling Fish Stocks?

Could Trawler Cams Help Save World's Dwindling Fish Stocks?

Source: Associated Press

12/7/2022

Could Trawler Cams Help Save World's Dwindling Fish Stocks?

Credit: AP Photo/David Goldman

For years, Mark Hager’s job as an observer aboard New England fishing boats made him a marked man, seen as a meddling cop on the ocean, counting and scrutinizing every cod, haddock and flounder to enforce rules and help set crucial quotas.

On one particularly perilous voyage, he spent 12 days at sea and no crew member uttered even a single word to him.

Now Hager is working to replace such federally-mandated observers with high-definition cameras affixed to fishing boat masts. From the safety of his office, Hager uses a laptop to watch hours of footage of crew members hauling the day’s catch aboard and measuring it with long sticks marked with thick black lines. And he’s able to zoom in on every fish to verify its size and species, noting whether it is kept or flung overboard in accordance with the law.