17/02/2006 - WWF has announced the judging panel for this
year’s WWF International Smart Gear Competition. The contest
was created by WWF to encourage the design of innovative
fishing gear to reduce marine bycatch – the incidental catch
and related deaths of marine mammals, birds, sea turtles
and non-target fish species.
This year’s panel of judges is a team of experts with backgrounds
in fields as diverse as gear technology, sea bird bycatch,
fisheries management, biology, conservation and the seafood
and fishing industries. The multi-national, multi-disciplinary
panel will gather in April to select the winner who will
then be awarded $25,000 for his or her innovative idea for
fishing gear that will reduce marine animal deaths.
“WWF’s Smart Gear competition brings together the world’s
leading experts in bycatch and fisheries issues to find
innovative ways to reduce bycatch and promote more sustainable
fishing,” said Kim Davis, deputy director of WWF-US's Marine
Program. “This year’s judging panel has world-class expertise
and perspective.”
Among the 2006 Smart Gear judges:
• Nancy Gitonga, director of fisheries for the government
of Kenya
• Charles C. Cheng, Wild Bird Federation Taiwan / Dept.
Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University
• Norman Graham, Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway
• Jan W. Lybekk, Mustad, Norway (the largest hook manufacturer
in the world)
• Martin Hall, Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
WWF is working globally to reduce the
unintended death of seabirds, turtles, dolphins and other
animals through entanglement with fishing gear. Conventional
fishing gear occasionally does not allow users to selectively
target their catch. As a result, non-target fish species,
marine mammals, birds, sea turtles and non-target fish species
are caught and sometimes killed. Millions of animals caught
in fishing gear are thrown away as bycatch - the exact amount
of marine life wasted each year is difficult to quantify,
but estimates range from 7 to 27 million metric tons annually.
This year’s International Smart
Gear Competition winner will be announced at the European
Seafood Exposition on May 11 in Brussels, Belgium. The Smart
Gear competition is open to anyone and information as well
as a complete list of judges is available at http://www.smartgear.org |
