Fisheries Project FarSounder & TNO
FarSounder recently concluded an initial series of joint tests with The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). The tests took place off a local pier in Rhode Island using the new FarSounder FS-3 Wideband Sonar as an advanced tool to study the acoustic recognition of various fish species (i.e. fish classification), prior to netting. It is believed that using the FarSounder wideband sonar will enable TNO and the Dutch fishing industry to take another step towards preventing unintentional bycatch.
This first test phase of the project is supported by Jaczon BV, a Dutch fishing company. Jaczon staff also joined the TNO and FarSounder teams in Rhode Island for this phase of tests. During the joint exercise the team successfully collected tens of gigabytes of data. The teams are now analyzing the data for future use. It is anticipated that the next phase will entail follow on funding sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality using European subventions via the Institute for Marine Resources & Ecosystem Studies (IMARES) research institute in Wageningen, and Jaczon BV.