  With 200-700 million anglers in the world, sportfishing is nearly five times
more common than commercial trawling. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of jobs
are linked to the sportfishing industry, which generates billions of dollars
for water-side communities and fisheries conservatories alike. However, the
sheer popularity of recreational fishing poses threats to aquatic biodiversity
that are hard to regulate. For example, as much as 25% of overfished
populations can be traced to anglers. This alarming statistic is explained by
the average catch and release mortality rate of 43%, which primarily results
from hook-related injuries and careless out-of-water handling. The
provisional-patented design proposed in this paper addresses both these
problems separately First, a novel, electrical muscle stimulation based fishing
lure is proposed as a harmless and low cost alternative to sharp hooks. Early
prototypes show a constant electrical current of 90 mA applied through a 200g
European perch's jaw can support a reeling tension of 2N - safely within the
necessary ranges. Second, a fish-eye camera bob is designed to wirelessly relay
underwater footage to a smartphone app, where an ensemble convolutional neural
network automatically classifies the fish's species, estimates its length, and
cross references with local and state fishing regulations (ie. minimum size,
maximum bag limit, and catch season). This capability reduces overfishing by
helping anglers avoid accidentally violating guidelines and eliminates the need
to reel the fish in and expose it to negligent handling. IN conjunction, this
cheap, lightweight, yet high-tech invention is a paradigm shift in preserving a
world favorite pastime; while at the same time making recreational fishing more
sustainable.
