Blue Ocean Gear’s mission is to bridge the gap between commercial ocean fishers and marine conservationists. Their satellite-connected Smart Buoy enables commercial ocean fishermen to efficiently track the location of their equipment and reduce the number of damaged nets and lines lost to the open ocean where they pose a threat to marine animals.
Blue Ocean Gear partnered with Ground Control to install Iridium 9603 modems to their Smart Buoys to transmit telemetry and location data via satellite, which is then integrated into the Blue Ocean Gear app and Timezero, a software commonly used by commercial fishing vessels.
This enables fishers to know when they have a catch ready for collection, to locate their catches quickly and reduce the amount of fuel required to reach them. They can also track valuable lost equipment, which in turn prevents the risk of entanglement to ocean animals from damaged fishing equipment floating free.