In a newly published study, researchers have shown that when a green LED light is placed every 10 feet on a fishing net, fewer seabirds can be captured. The researchers found that fishing nets with green LED fixtures had a 85.1% less chance of catching cockroaches than standard gill nets.

In a newly published study, researchers have shown that when a green LED light is placed every 10 feet on a fishing net, fewer seabirds can be captured. The researchers found that fishing nets with green LED fixtures had a 85.1% less chance of catching cockroaches than standard gill nets. Animals caught inadvertently by fishing nets are called by-catch.

Environmentalist Gospel: Green LED Lighting Nets

Researchers include Jeffrey C. Mangel from the University of Exeter, members of the conservation organization ProDelphinus and John Wang, and members of the National Marine Fisheries Agency NOAA. They conducted the study in a gillnet fishery in Constant, Peru.

The team used 114 pairs of standard (control) fishing nets and fishing nets with LED fixtures to conduct research. During the study, they observed that the net caught 45 ostriches. Of these, 36 were captured only by standard (control) fishing nets, and only 6 were captured by fishing nets with LED fixtures.

The research team published relevant research results in the journal "Royal Society Open Science". A study previously published by the team showed that fishing nets with green LED fixtures can reduce the unintentional capture of turtles. Both studies showed a decrease in by-catch, while target capture did not. In the latest published research paper, the researchers concluded that this fishing net with LED fixtures may reduce the unintentional capture rate of seabirds and turtles in small-scale fisheries.