FISHING NETTING
This invention relates to fishing netting.
Fishing netting is well known and it usually made of a plastics material such for example as nylon. The fishing netting is made in various different types such for example as drift/gill fishing netting and purse/seine fishing netting. Countries such, for example, as Japan, Taiwan and South Korea are leading users of the fishing netting and they use it in huge lengths. There are also large North Atlantic fisheries. In water, the fishing netting is almost invisible. The fishing netting is used in various ways and it may be deployed from ships as oceanic drift netting in lengths of up to 50-65 kilometers which hang like curtains from floats.
The long lengths of the fishing netting are relatively easily made from the plastics material. The plastics material also enables the fishing netting to be light and easily flexible for storage. However, the use of the plastics material means that the fishing netting cannot easily be detected by sonar or radar, and this gives rise to a number of serious disadvantages.
' One disadvantage is that dolphins and other cetaceans cannot detect the known plastics fishing netting. They thus get caught by the fishing netting,
for example by being enclosed by the fishing netting or by swiming into it. The dolphins die when their teeth, fins or beaks get caught in the fishing netting. The vast size of the fishing netting means that fishing is carried out indiscriminately on a very large scale. This in turn means that the deaths of dolphins and other cetaceans due to being caught in the fishing netting is substantial and various cetacean species are in danger of becoming extinct. This is all the more so since cetaceans such for example as dolphins are not prolific breeders and they may only produce about twelve offspring in an entire lifetime.
A second disadvantage from the use of the known plastics fishing netting is that it often becomes damaged during use and huge pieces break loose and float in the oceans. Such floating fishing netting provides a constant danger to marine life and shipping, and yet it cannot easily be detected for recovery purposes.
A third disadvantage of the presently used plastics fishing netting is that, because it cannot easily be traced by human technology such as sonar or radar, the presence of fishing vessels conducting illegal fishing cannot as easily be determined as would be the case if the 'plastics fishing netting were easily detectable by sonar.
It is an aim of the present invention to obviate or reduce the above mentioned problems.
Accordingly, in one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention there is provided fishing netting which is made of a plastics material, the plastics material being provided with a metallic material for the purpose of making the fishing netting detectable by sonar or radar, the plastics material being such that it covers the metallic material and thereby protects the metallic material from corrosion and abrasion during use of the fishing netting, and the metallic material being evenly distributed throughout the plastics material so that the fishing netting gives a substantially even sonar or radar response along its length.
The fishing netting of the present invention is thus still able to be made of a plastics material so that all the current advantages of the known plastics fishing netting, for example ease of manufacture, lightness of use and ease of storage, can be retained. However, additionally, the use of the metallic material enables dolphins and other cetaceans to detect the netting and thus more easily to be able to escape becoming caught by the netting. Because the metallic material is evenly distributed throughout the plastics material, the dolphins and other cetaceans operating on a sonar system are able to detect the fishing netting as
a substantially continuous wall and thus avoid the fishing netting. If the metallic material were not evenly distributed throughout the plastics material, then pockets of sonar reflection would be detected by the cetaceans and the sonar echo location which they use would be likely to indicate shoals of fish which would require further investigation by the cetaceans and might in effect lead the cetaceans into becoming trapped by the fishing netting.
The use of the metallic material also enables the fishing netting to be detected by human technology such as sonar or radar from ships or aircraft. Thus damaged fishing netting just floating aimlessly around can easily be detected and recovered, thereby removing what would otherwise be a permanent hazard to marine life and vessels. Still further, the fishing netting can easily be detected in cases where the fishing netting is being used for illegal fishing, for example from vessels in areas where they should not be or with illegal lengths of net. Thus the use of the fishing netting of the present invention can be used to help stamp out illegal fishing.
Because the plastics material protects the metallic material, the metallic material will not easily corrode or abraid. The corrosion characterics of seawater are substantial and if the metallic material were to be on
the outside of the plastics material, then the fishing netting would soon fail due to corrosion. Also, during use, the fishing netting is subject to considerable movement. This movement would soon cause abrasive wear or complete removal of the metallic material and failure of the fishing netting between the various filaments of the fishing netting if the metallic material were not protected, for example if the metallic material were on the outside of the plastics material instead of inside.
The plastics material used for the fishing netting can be any of the known plastics materials used for the known plastics fishing netting. Thus the plastics material may be nylon. The nylon will usually be a monofilament nylon. The nylon may be nylon 6 or nylon 6-6. Other plastics materials such for example as polyethylene may be employed if desired.
The metallic material is preferably an iron material . The iron material may be in the form of a ferrous compound or a ferric compound. The iron material is preferred since it is relatively cheap but other metals such for example as aluminium or copper may be employed if desired.
The metallic material may be in any suitable and appropriate form. Preferably the metallic material is in the form of particles or flecks which are surrounded by the plastics material.
The particles of the metallic material will usually be incorporated into the plastics material before the plastics material is formed into the fishing netting. Thus, for example, the particles of the metallic material may be incorporated into the plastics material when the plastics material is being melted for forming the fishing netting. The plastics material may be melted just prior to being formed into the fishing netting or it may alternatively be melted at a pre-stage in order to form a storable starting material for later use in the formation of the fishing netting.
The metallic material may be present in the plastics material in any suitable and appropriate amount which gives the fishing netting the required sonar detection property. The metallic material may be present in an amount of not less than 10% by weight up to the maximum consistent with the maintenance of sufficient tensile strength. The tensile strength will vary according to the plastics material employed. Preferably, the metallic material is present in an amount of from 10-40 per cent by weight of the plastics material .
Apart from the presence of the metallic material, the ' fishing netting may be made by any of the known methods for making the known plastics fishing netting. The fishing netting of the present invention may also be
made to any of the known designs for the known plastics fishing netting so that the fishing netting of the present invention can for example be made as drift/gill netting or purse/seine netting.
An embodiment of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure l shows on an enlarged scale part of a filament of fishing netting of the present invention; and
Figure 2 shows fishing netting of the present invention in use.
Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a filament 2 of fishing netting. The filament 2 is made of a plastics material 4. The plastics material 4 is provided with a metallic material 6. The plastics material 4 is a nylon plastics material. The metallic material 6 is a ferrous material.
The metallic material 6 is provided in the plastics material 4 for the purpose of making the fishing netting made with the filament 2 detectable by human technology such as sonar or radar. As can be seen from Figure l, the plastics material 4 is such that it covers the metallic material 6 and thereby protects the metallic material 6 from corrosion and abrasion during use of the fishing netting. As can also be seen from Figure 1, the
metallic material 6 is evenly distributed through the plastics material 4 and the filament 2 so that the fishing netting gives a substantially even sonar or radar response along its length.
Figure 2 shows fishing netting 8 made of a plurality of the filaments 2. The fishing netting 8 is formed as drift netting which is suspended from buoys 10 by lines 12.
As can be seen from Figure 2, a dolphin 14 approaching the fishing netting 8 is able to sense the presence of the fishing netting 8 by sonar. By a process of echo location, the dolphin 14 is able to determine where the fishing netting 8 is and the dolphin 14 will not be misled into thinking that the fishing netting 8 is a fish or a school of fish. Thus the dolphin will be able to swim away from the fishing netting 8 and will not become trapped in the fishing net 8.
Figure 2 also shows how the fishing netting 8 is also able to be detected by human technology 16 such as sonar or radar.
In order to facilitate a full and complete understanding of the present invention, reference will now toe made to the following Example.
EXAMPLE
Fishing netting made solely of a plastics material was hung in the ocean. Dolphins approaching the fishing netting appeared unable to detect the presence of the fishing netting and if undisturbed tended to swim into the fishing netting.
The fishing netting made solely of the plastics material was replaced by fishing netting 8 of the present invention. Dolphins appraoching the fishing netting 8 were deterred by what appeared to them to be a wall of reflection.
Dolphins use a form of sonar known as echo location. The dolphins emit click pulses in a narrow beam of l-20ms with a pulse bandwidth of 5-200KHz. The frequency of the pulse emission is approximately 2-5 per second during searching and more than 50 per second when a target has been located. This appears to give the dolphins both good range and good ultimate resolution. The dolphins appeared easily to be able to detect the fishing netting 8. Because the metallic material 6 is evenly dispersed throughout the entire plastics material 4, it appeared that the dolphins got a substantially even response along the length of the fishing netting 8 and were thus able to detect a continuous wall, as opposed to a large fish or a school of smaller fishes.
It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described above with reference to the drawing
and the accompanying Example have been given for illustrative purposes only and that modifications may be effected. Thus, for example, the fishing netting of the present invention may be towed from trawlers or other vessels.