Founded in 2015, Blue Ocean Gear set out to solve a challenge for fishermen: around 10% of fishing gear is lost annually in many fisheries, estimated in 2019 to weigh about 640,000 tonnes. This has two serious impacts: the first is the economic penalty; crab traps, for example, can cost $1,000 – $2,000 each, and are often lashed together in strings of 40 or more traps; losing these traps could cost some fishermen their livelihoods.
The second is the environmental impact. The lost fishing gear continues to fish, while never harvested; it attracts females and juveniles, and off-target species, all of which die in the trap, attracting more species to become captured, and more wasteful fish deaths. There’s also the potential for gear to entangle birds, turtles, whales and dolphins; a 2020 report from the World Wildlife Fund notes that abandoned and lost fishing gear threatens around two thirds of marine animals, including all sea turtle species and half of seabirds.
Blue Ocean Gear developed a data buoy which acts like a sort of maritime air tag; fully waterproof and depth-rated, it’s easily attached to fishing gear, and its internal sensors track its location, movement and depth.
The combination of these sensors tells fishermen whether the gear is entangled or being dragged by a boat, for example; or if it’s vanished underwater due to currents, the buoys can alert the fishermen when it surfaces so they can retrieve it and harvest the catch, saving them valuable time and fuel on the water.
The buoys also help detect and prevent poaching, with a sensor sending an alert to a connected app to tell the owner of the gear when it’s in or out of the water; if it’s unexpectedly out of the water, that’s a good indication that the catch is being poached.
Blue Ocean Gear worked, and continues to work, very closely with fishermen to deliver a device that meets all of their needs: all of the electronics are protected internally; there’s no on/off switch; it’s extremely robust, and can withstand extreme weather conditions. On the software side of things, the fishermen can decide for themselves how frequently they need which data sets, again using the app.
The buoys can communicate to a similar device on the vessel via radio link, but for fixed gear such as traps, most of the time the fishing vessel is not nearby, and that’s where Ground Control comes in.
Ground Control delivers satellite IoT connectivity, connecting very remote things, and has worked with Blue Ocean Gear since their pilot phase to ensure that they – and their connected customers – can retrieve their data in real time from any location on Earth.
The buoys utilize Iridium Short Burst Data, which sends data in small packets; this is an extremely efficient way to utilize satellite communication, making it cost effective and power economical, while still delivering the close-to-real time, truly global, two way communication that Blue Ocean Gear’s customers need.
Although fishermen remain central to Blue Ocean Gear’s work, their ability to collect ocean data hasn’t gone unnoticed by the scientific and research communities, and they’ve expanded their capabilities to meet the needs of scientists and offshore wind developers, for example. In addition to the temperature measurements available now, in Q1 2026, they’re adding air pressure and wave data sensors to the buoys, which substantially grows the number of applications for which they can be used.
“For our customers, having data all the time is key, whether they’re working in the Arctic, Antarctic or anywhere in between. Ground Control’s connectivity has been extremely reliable, and it was very easy to integrate with our systems. Cloudloop gives us the cost monitoring and API access we need for billing, and the support has been just wonderful throughout the many years we’ve worked together.”
Kortney Opshaug, CEO, Blue Ocean Gear
Beyond asset tracking and fishing, Blue Ocean Gear’s applications are growing rapidly, with huge potential for deployment across many different ocean industries. Collecting data from the ocean has traditionally been hard, expensive and complex; together, Blue Ocean Gear and Ground Control are helping to bridge that gap, delivering more data points in an easy, accessible and low cost way.
Let’s Connect Your Next Ocean Project
Projects like Blue Ocean Gear show what’s possible when rugged hardware, smart software and always-on connectivity come together. At Ground Control, we help organizations turn ambitious ideas into dependable, real world solutions, from tracking critical assets at sea to unlocking hard to reach environmental data.
If you’re working on an oceans, environmental monitoring or remote IoT initiative and need a connectivity partner who understands the challenges off the edge of the map, we’d love to talk. Fill in the form, or email hello@groundcontrol.com, and a member of our team will help you explore the best options for your project.