Biology professor’s invention to aid shrimpers
A marine scientist at UM hopes to enable shrimpers on the Gulf Coast to be more productive, as well as environmentally friendly, by reducing bycatch.
“When targeting a certain species, there are always other species that get caught in the nets, which is bycatch,” says Glenn Parsons, UM professor of biology. “Not only do fishers have to spend more time sorting their catch, [but] they also end up with dead and dying species.”
Bycatch from shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico is among the highest in the United States. For every pound of shrimp, there are about five pounds of bycatch, Parsons says.
He has worked over the past five years to develop a device that releases nontargeted species, such as juvenile red snapper, from shrimping trawls. Fifteen designs later, his bycatch reduction device, which Parsons calls a nested cylinder, has proven successful in reducing the amount of red snapper bycatch.
Parsons already has received calls from fishermen as far away as Alaska who want to purchase the device.
“The last thing I want to do is burden poor, hardworking fishermen with something else that makes them lose money,” Parsons said. “I want this device to help, not hurt them, and I’m optimistic that it will have a significant and positive impact on both them and the environment.”
