Technology for conservation Hookpod Ltd Newsletter 1: 30 November 2014 Development Update Trials and tribulations… Aboriginal) on the New South Wales coast in Australia were no different. Since 2006, trials, research and development has been the focus of work on the Hookpod; working to ensure the pod is effective at reducing seabird bycatch and that it fits in with fishing operations. Over these 8 years this has included trials in Australia, South Africa, Uruguay, New Zealand and Brazil; these have resulted in changes to the size of the pod, the opening mechanism, the twist collar at the top that allows it to be retro fitted to the line and also to the type of silicon rings used to form a seal around the light chamber. Hookpods on board in the setting bins at the stern of the vessel: July 2014. Picture Dave Goad. Fisherman’s Tales In September, tuna longliner the ‘Jordan Kate’ set sail with 650 of the newest pods on board and fitted onto the fishing gear. Now we all know that fishermen have a reputation of exaggerating how big the fish are; but in this case we think they might have a point. Within just four days 14% of the 650 pods had broken. The trials were halted and Hookpod scientists began looking into what had happened. Hookpods being prepared for trial setting in New Zealand: July 2014. Picture Dave Goad. Each set of trials has thrown up an issue that required redesigning and the most recent trials, which took place out of the port of Ulladulla (meaning ‘safe harbour’ in Hookpod Newsletter October 2014 The results were surprising and it appears that this fishery was catching a bigger/stronger tuna than we had previously encountered; hitting the bait at speeds of up to 45 knots and putting the open pod under immense pressure. It seems that under this force and pressure the pods were simply not strong enough and many were cracking when a large fish was caught on the line. Hookpods returned from trials in Australia showing damage. Picture Becky Ingham. Once returned to the factory in Devon, engineer Ben Kibel has been able to identify that the sheer force is enough to lead to two types of breakage;  a cracking in the wing away from the line on either the battery housing (second from left) or around the swivel pin (far left);  a complete shearing off of one wing (third right). Ben Kibel comparing the two pods, one on the left unrestricted opening and much more vulnerable to breaking; the one on the right with restricted opening. Picture Becky Ingham. What next? We are adapting 450 pods to this new design and we are aiming to have them back down to Ulladulla and on the Jordan Kate. We hope this will give us a proven product for the end of March;[b2]. In turn this will put us in a good position to get larger numbers of pods out through later 2015. Cracking up! While these weren’t the results we wanted. The purpose of trials is to get to the best possible product ready for market[b1]. To get these results back and have the pods returned and analysed within 3 weeks is good progress and the design team have been working hard on developing strengthening features for the pods. The good news is that we have a solution! Reducing the strain the pod is under means reducing the opening distance of the pod and thereby reducing water drag. To achieve this Ben has designed another beautifully simple solution; the finer details still need to be developed – but the idea remains the same. Very simply, the pod is being held together with ultrastrong cord. Strength testing has shown that this can increase the weight needed to break a pod from around 10kg (doesn’t sound much but it’s all to do with leverage when the pod is fully open) to nearer 30kg. So all in all this will strengthen the pods by an amazing 3X! Hookpod Newsletter October 2014 A Hookpod showing what it’s made of in factory based strength tests. Picture Ben Kibel. Hookpods: Home and Away During the rather hectic month of August, the Hookpod team were busy meeting as many people as we could. The first of these events was the BirdFair at Rutland Water; undoubtedly the UK’s largest conservation and birdwatching fair. The reception we had there was amazing. So much interest and support for the Hookpod and a real sense of purpose to get the product out in fisheries. The PodSquad (consisting of Dave Agombar, Henry Kenner and Becky Ingham) were ably assisted by Poddees Helena Jefferson, Hayley Moss and Cid Carr; thank you ladies you were fantastic and we couldn’t have done it without you! In the region of £20,000 was raised over the three days and a huge range of contacts made, which will help over the coming months to raise awareness and increase support for use of the pod. It was particularly cheering to see the level of support from highly respected members of the bird conservation and science world. Many of these people not only voiced their support but also joined us in the Kickstarter project. Dave Agombar employing some unusual tactics to spread the word about albatross conservation! Picture Becky Ingham. Thanks to many people; but especially to John Brodie Good and Heritage Expeditions, who donated a fabulous cruise as a prize for a free entry draw for supporters; this was won by Milko and Megan Dimitrov. The weekend was an eye opener in terms of the absolute focus that many people have on stopping the awful problem of seabird bycatch in fisheries and for the Hookpod team there it made us very determined to do our bit. One of the biggest events in the fishing world calendar, the event had over 14,500 visitors from 48 countries; 450 exhibitors from 23 countries. Hookpod was one of these and we spoke to most of the 14,500[b3] people in the three day-long event! Fellow of the Royal Society, past Chair of RSPB and international seabird expert Professor John Croxall parting with some of his hard earned pennies in support of Hookpod at the BirdFair. Picture Becky Ingham. Hookpod Newsletter October 2014 Immediately after the BirdFair a tired but happy and somewhat smaller PodSquad set off to meet the fishing industry at the prestigious Norfishing Exhibition, in Trondheim, Norway. After the conservation theme of the BirdFair, the switch to talking about the pod as a cost effective and operationally easy method for fishermen was unexpectedly easy. The pod attracted a lot of attention; from fishermen themselves through to journalists, fish processors and equipment manufacturers. Several very useful contacts were made for future work and the demonstration rubber squid certainly earned its keep. The Trondheim Spektrum, home to the Norfishing Exhibition. Picture Becky Ingham that we will still have a workable Hookpod ready for large scale use by the second half of 2015. Hookpods in the Press Over the couple of months since the close of the Kickstarter project, the Hookpod has been featured in a number of articles. Most recently BBC Radio 4’s ‘Shared Planet’ featured an in-depth look at whether we can share the oceans with albatross. Of course, we believe you can and amongst lots of other discussion and information, the Hookpod was mentioned as upcoming technology to allow this to happen. You can listen to the whole feature here: http://bbc.in/10ud6K7 Work is continuing in raising the profile of the device and we have a meeting lined up with Waitrose to discuss their tuna sourcing and methods of fishing used. As one of the most responsible tuna buyers in the UK, Waitrose source sustainably fished yellowfin tuna from Sri Lanka; much of which is caught by hand pole and line. However some is still caught using longline and they want to see the Hookpod and find out more. We are also working on funding the next stages of our work; production tooling and purchasing of components is expensive and we are continuing to seek funds which will allow this to take place, despite the increased costs of trials and a longer timescale than anticipated. We have all the rewards for our Kickstarter supporters ready to go and thanks for your patience; they will be with you soon. The only thing really that remains to be said is thank you to everyone who has helped to get the project this far. We are very close now and hopefully the strengthened pods will be in the water soon and proving they can do what we need. Thank you for all your support. British Antarctic Survey scientist Richard Philips, featured on the Shared Planet programme along with Dr Ben Sullivan from the RSPB and Hookpod. Picture BBC. In October, the Hookpod featured in a spread by BBC Wildlife magazine. Not available online, you can pick up a back copy http://bit.ly/1yXPJ7M via their website. The ‘Art of the Kickstart’ is a US based podcast series looking at entrepreneurial projects and interviewing those involved; providing tips and a source of information for people wanting to undertake their own projects. Hookpod CEO Becky Ingham was interviewed by podcaster Matt Ward in early September and you can listen to this here: http://bit.ly/1zvLx1X Over the October half term, Hookpods were sent to the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, where they formed part of a marine exhibition aimed at children. What’s Next After the challenge of the breakages in the Australian trials, the Hookpod team have had a chance to rally back and remain positive about the coming months. Because of the quick work and adaptation of the engineering team in producing new designed pods for trials, we are hoping Hookpod Newsletter October 2014