This video was shot during while trawling a highly modified net. GoPro Hero3 and 4’s were used along with extreme depth camera housings/lights manufactured by GroupBinc.com. This net was made specifically to sort juvenile fish from mature fish. This selection process reduces by-catch to virtually nothing. Of all the fish that you see coming into the net (overall about 50K lbs), only 10% were kept (bigger mature), while the others swam through the net unscathed.
Furthermore, this new design reduces bottom contact by 95%.
In this experiment, the trawler made 10 passes with the new net. A ROV was then deployed to record the damage. Several times, the ROV crew had to double check their position as there was no damage to the seafloor. It wasn’t until they got on the edge of the path that there was a slight 6cm depression, the width of the barndoor. This new net has the potential to revolutionize global commercial fishing, because in addition to almost no impact on the ocean floor, it saves 30% on the fuel cost because it is lighter and easier to tow.
In this video, the GoPros captured a Sea Lion swimming into the net to check things out and grab a snack. Then he just swam back out.