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The Future of Fishing Is Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (civileats.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: New England's groundfish season is in full swing, as hundreds of dayboat fishermen from Rhode Island to Maine take to the water in search of the region's iconic cod and haddock. But this year, several dozen of them are hauling in their catch under the watchful eye of video cameras as part of a new effort to use technology to better sustain the area's fisheries and the communities that depend on them. Video observation on fishing boats -- electronic monitoring -- is picking up steam in the Northeast and nationally as a cost-effective means to ensure that fishing vessels aren't catching more fish than allowed while informing local fisheries management. While several issues remain to be solved before the technology can be widely deployed -- such as the costs of reviewing and storing data -- electronic monitoring is beginning to deliver on its potential to lower fishermen's costs, provide scientists with better data, restore trust where it's broken, and ultimately help consumers gain a greater understanding of where their seafood is coming from.

[...] Human observers are widely used to monitor catch in quota-managed fisheries, and they're expensive: It costs roughly $700 a day for an observer in New England. The biggest cost of electronic monitoring is the labor required to review the video. Perhaps the most effective way to cut costs is to use computers to review the footage. Christopher McGuire, marine program director for TNC in Massachusetts, says there's been a lot of talk about automating the review, but the common refrain is that it's still five years off. To spur faster action, TNC last year spearheaded an online competition, offering a $50,000 prize to computer scientists who could crack the code -- that is, teach a computer how to count fish, size them, and identify their species. The contest exceeded McGuire's expectations. "Winners got close to 100 percent in count and 75 percent accurate on identifying species," he says.

35 comments

  1. The future of fishing is video games by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Because we're devastating the oceans in every way we know how. CO2 acidification, plastic pollution, chemical pollution, radioactive pollution, oil spills, dispersants sprayed on oil spills...

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:The future of fishing is video games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Here's your tiny areas, ignorant truth denier.

    2. Re: The future of fishing is video games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The ozone layer was much larger.
      Didn't stop us from punching a giant hole in it.
      It's mostly fixed now but that took a long time and that hated "regulation" word played a significant role.

    3. Re:The future of fishing is video games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you seen this Slashdot video yet? Have you bought the family friendly Goat C shirt?

      - FatCashewsLoveMe

    4. Re:The future of fishing is video games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      MODDOWN! ; creimer spam post again!

      creimer wants you to click on his youtube channel, then click on his stupid amazon affiliate link spam on Youtube. There is nothing of value on creimer youtube channel. Only creimer click-bot goes there.

      The tests we ran on Chris have shown that Chris has the intelligence of an ameba:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      So, technically, he is able to conceive some kind of agenda but it will be silly or impossible to follow on a human scale.

      For example, Chris had an agenda to post anything he felt like on Slashdot which did not work well because it was based on his false beliefs that he had an infinite number of karma points as he wrote here several times.

      Several people here explained to Chris that karma maxed out at some level like 50 or so but Chris kept on insisting that his python script had confirmed that he had millions of karma points!

      Oh well, as I wrote before: "It isn't Chris' fault if he is the way he is. We do the best we can do with him and he is partially integrated into society. We try to cure his abnormal need for attention but he is kind of stubborn and won't listen to anybody."

      For the valuable /. users that might already have read the following, please note that there is an important update.

      IMPORTANT UPDATE:
      Special Education for the Santa Clara County Office of Education has invested money to buy Chris a new chair:
      http://www.keynamics.com/image...

      Information about Christopher Dale Reimer and autistic people:

      Autistic people have obsessions about things normal people don't care. For example, one of our autistic patient went haywire when he realized that there was a penny missing in his pocket change.

      To calm him down, one of our educator pretended to have found it on the floor and gave a penny to him.

      The autistic patient condition went even worse because he realized it wasn't the same penny!

      Chris has an obsession with budgeting every penny. He doesn't understand that most people do not budget to the penny and have a flexible amount they allow for miscellaneous items.

      I am Nancy Guerrero and I am Director of Special Education for the Santa Clara County Office of Education. We use Chris' (a.k.a. creimer,cdreimer) picture in our document because he is the hardest case we have ever had to handle:
      http://www.sccoe.org/depts/stu...

      Our artists were inspired by the low carb diet that Christopher follows scrupulously for the small lunch box and by the picture linked below for the rest. I am sure that you will notice the similarities such as the bump on the side of his chest and more:
      https://ibb.co/gVad65

      Please be easy on Christopher although, I am aware that some of our staff handling Chris post joke comments here and obvoiusly, the Santa Clara County Office of Education disapprove that behavior vehemently:
      http://ibb.co/mRVSaG

      But it isn't Chris' fault if he is the way he is. We do the best we can do with him and he is partially integrated into society. We try to cure his abnormal need for attention but he is kind of stubborn and won't listen to anybody.

      Thank You dear users,
      ---
      Nancy Guerrero
      Director
      Special Education
      Santa Clara County Office of Education

      Exactly Nancy,

      It seems like Chris is a victim here. He keeps on reading those SEO, youtube algorithm, basically get rich quick sites. He doesn't realize that he is the fish for them since they make money off him with their own schemes. Then, he wastes his time trying to implement what those sites suggest and he ends up disturbing people.

      I mean, those crooks tell Chris that h

    5. Re:The future of fishing is video games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On the bright side, in the last 6 months some kind of pathogen seems to have spread through the entire Caribbean region affecting lionfish and causing serious lesions in them that is devastating the population.

      So if we can reduce pressure, I believe the oceans can fix themselves as is currently looking to be the case with lionfish - the fact that such a harmful disease can spread across such a large area and have such an impact on the species in such a short time is encouraging. It highlights the common weakness of invasive species - that they tend to originate from a tiny gene pool which in turn makes them incredibly vulnerable to such diseases as we're seeing now. It's possible that this, coupled with continued hunting pressure could indeed tackle the invasive lionfish problem.

      Saving the oceans (or in fact many ecosystems) isn't hopeless - the key is to remove the negative pressures, and if we can do that nature is very very good at fixing the rest of it and returning things to health for us. We've seen it with the ozone layer, we've seen it with whale populations, and so on.

      But we have to remove those negative pressures - we have to stop plastic being poured into the oceans, we have to reduce overfishing, we have to stop waste dumping. Do that and the rest will sort itself out.

  2. Future of fishing is regulation. by OffTheLip · · Score: 1

    Or you can call it AI or big data. Plan for tomorrow.

  3. Would you like to add Blockchain and Cloud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    To your fishing expedition, funded by an ICO? Slashdot might as well write a generator that says $INDUSTRYs future is AI.

  4. Fuck no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The future of fishing is the same it alwasy was. A pole, a line, and a sinker. Hook optional. Bait not required. Just go out, find a nice spot, put up the pole, and have a quiet beer. That is all.

    1. Re:Fuck no. by olsmeister · · Score: 2

      Sounds like you do more fishing than catching.

    2. Re:Fuck no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I learned from the best.

  5. Nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The future of fishing is no fish in existence because Discovery and National Geographic and whichever other "educational" program showed us the beautiful financial benefits of over-fishing as well as how you can become a TV star in engaging in it, especially lucrative to the majority of the world which is poverty-stricken and doesn't give a shit what happens to the planet in the long-term so long as they can put food on the platter and improve their lives with income.

    1. Re:Nope by youngone · · Score: 1
      The future of fishing is no fish because of the fishing industry of course.

      I live in the last major land mass to be colonised by humans, so it is still possible to catch a reasonable sized fish close to shore and fishing is a popular sport.

      However, the fishing industry has done what it does everywhere and taken every fish it can possibly get hold of despite rules to prevent this happening.

      A few years we were being sold the bull that "our" fishing industry was the "most sustainable" on the planet and we had nothing to worry about.
      Of course fish stocks have plummeted anyway, and so now we are being bombarded with propaganda about "pledges" the industry is making to "be sustainable".

      It's all lies.

  6. Re:The future of fishing is no fishing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Everyone will be vegan. Those who oppose the new world order will be executed.

    Typical. Kill humans so they're not mean to fish.

    "I'd like 'If I only had a brain!' for $1,000, Alex"

  7. We have reached the maltusian limit for fish by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 2

    And the quality of a lot of other food is lower than it used to be.

    Lower levels of nutrients and more sugar. Mass market tomatoes are obscenely sweet these days but at least they are not woody any more like they were in the late 90s. Tomatoes are not naturally sweet. They taste like tomatoes. Nothing else tastes like them. Tomatoes should not taste like grapes. I had some recently on a salad bar that literally tasted like grapes. Not a hint of tomato flavor. Just sugar.

    But, anyway. Our population has exceeded maltusian limits with regard to fish. So the price of fish is going up and some areas of the sea are dead with regard to fishing. If left alone they would rise to higher levels and we could have higher sustainable levels but that isn't happening and probably won't happen.

    The serious shit starts in 30 years or so with chromium (i.e. stainless steel), magnesium, manganese, and so on. We used more chromium in 2014 than from 1901 to 2000 combined.

    --
    She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    1. Re:We have reached the maltusian limit for fish by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 1

      Grr. Malthusian.

      Stupid me hitting submit before my first cup of coffee.

      Stupid slashdot for locking posts. It's literally the *only* forum I use that locks posts.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
  8. Your doing it wrong by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

    For me, the future of fishing is tossing a line off Cayucos Pier at 6:30am with a doob in my mouth and strip of mussel on my hook (you can wade under the pier and find all the mussels you need). Sometimes, I don't bother with the hook and line. If I happen to catch some surfperch or starry flounder, we'll eat surfperch or flounder. If not, there's a place there that serves fish tacos for breakfast that are spectacular.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Your doing it wrong by 110010001000 · · Score: 1, Troll

      Who is "we'll"? I hope you don't have children.

    2. Re:Your doing it wrong by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Who is "we'll"? I hope you don't have children.

      No, I'll have fish.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    3. Re: Your doing it wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try the fish.

      I'm here all week.

    4. Re: Your doing it wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So long, and thanks for all the fish!

  9. Allowed? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ensure that fishing vessels aren't catching more fish than allowed

    Native American here. These are our traditional fishing grounds and tribal practices. We'll fish when, where and how much we want.

    Never mind the replacement of canoes with modern vessels and equipment. If you want fish, you can buy what we sell at your local market.

    1. Re: Allowed? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      You'll fish however much your tribal government allows. They are probably wiser than you as an individual.

    2. Re: Allowed? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      You'll fish however much your tribal government allows. They are probably wiser than you as an individual.

      Governments are ideas; they are not wise or unwise. They are made up of people, who are wise or unwise — and subject to manipulation.

      People like him can easily get elected to their tribal government. I've seen what that looks like. It's ugly. Tribes with multi-million dollar casinos whose members live in shit shacks with bursting pipes, for example. Whole families being removed from the rolls of who is and ain't an Indian. And I'm not even a tribal member, I just worked in a casino for a while and got a front-row seat.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:Allowed? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, it's fine and dandy to do whatever the hell you want as long as it's "traditional". Want to kill an endangered whale? Get yourself some ivory? "Fight" a bull? Club a turtle? Herd dolphins into a bay and turn the water red? Maybe top a dugong or two? Sure, just so long as your unnecessarily and cruel crime against the environment is part of your "traditional heritage" you've got a free pass, apparently.

      Come to think of it, given my British heritage I could probably claim bear-baiting and cock-fighting as traditional past-times - anyone want to join in?

  10. Data Used In Fishing On A Small Scale by ChefJeff789 · · Score: 1

    I know this article is more about management than fishing effectiveness, but I will ignore that and share my anecdote, damnit! Having grown up in Southeast Alaska, I have fished since I was very young, and met numerous fisherman of just about every background and skill level. It was always interesting to me that one man in particular out-fished everyone else I have ever met (I'm talking about charter fishing, not commercial - so, small-scale stuff). This man kept a meticulous, digitized (and searchable) journal of every fish he ever caught - including location, size, weight, species, water temperature, current direction, weather, etc. Perhaps as an obvious result, this guy always knows were to go to get any kind of fish during any time of the year. In recent years, the stricter, necessary rules on all of the fisheries have made catching large quantities of fish significantly more difficult, but he is one of the few that will consistently catch the limit for multiple species nearly every trip. I always thought it was a cool to see such an effective use of data on a small scale. And it is a small scale - charter fishing is hardly one of the larger factors in depleted fisheries. In Alaska, at least.

  11. Re: Difference between angling and fishing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > The future of fishing is the same it alwasy was. A pole, a line, and a sinker. Hook optional.

    That's angling, a method incapable of harvesting commercial quantities. Fishing is done with nets, Jesus and Peter style, to feed the population.

  12. It's Mining, fishing is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...the process of gathering your very own source of big data!

  13. practically non-existent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The future of fishing is practically non-existent. There are hardly an fish left in the oceans, no matter what the species. And those that are left are being relentlessly hunted with high tech trawlers. Overfishing indeed.

    The fish that are left are being exposed to higher temps, considerably higher acidity as the oceans try valiantly to balance the CO2 in the atmosphere, and disrupted currents. That last one is going to seriously disrupt sea life in the Atlantic ocean, where the melting Greenland ice sheet is pouring vast quantities of cold fresh water into the Atlantic sufficient to change the salinity of the entire North Atlantic region and therefore disrupt the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. This could, if it happens, and we better hope it doesn't, change or end things like the Gulf Stream which in turn will change many of the wind patterns coming off the Atlantic to Europe.

    But before it does bad things to Europe, I'm afraid it will decimate the sea life in the Atlantic, particularly the North Atlantic.

    And the joy of this is, it's already baked in. What damage we did to the climate toward the end of the last century are going to come home to roost and there's not a damn thing we can do about that. All we can do now is try to stop it from getting worse. And we damn well better try, the sixth extinction is already underway.

  14. Misread by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I misread it as "phishing" because... slashdot and that made my stomach sink because that's going to be a very real problem. A lot of my customers fall for the "This is Microsoft!" e-mails/pop ups. Imagine how bad it's going to be when big data and AI comes into play? They'll be way more likely to fall for it if they call up saying "Our analysts shows that this system that belongs to Debbie Smith is compromised".

  15. Another day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Another hyperbolic post about technology that doesn't and won't ever exist on Slashdot. Investors should be crapping in their pants if sci-fi make-uppery like this is the best Silicon Valley can do these days.

  16. ...$700 a day for an observer in New England... by Bearhouse · · Score: 1

    WTF? For counting fish? Where do I apply?