Now on to a lighter topic...

Blog vol 2. 42. Now on to a lighter topic…

Oh, Dad! is the cry, once again, of my children - another bad pun. There has been a lot going on at Burlington Eyecare, so when these results came out in early February, I had to wait to share. 

Who knew that the use of green LED diodes could be helpful in fishing? Over the past decade, illuminating gillnets with LED lights has emerged as an effective tool to reduce bycatch of endangered sea turtles, up to 64%, in coastal gillnet fisheries. Ecologist, John Wang, and his team in California have pursued this idea and have discovered some cool stuff.

The gillnets, when equipped with green diode LED lights every 10 metres along the net’s length, not only helped keep sea turtles away but also other species. Gillnetting is an inexpensive way of catching fish, but the problem is that unwanted organisms also get caught in the netting. To the researchers’ surprise, not only did less sea turtles get caught, but 81% fewer squid, and a whopping 95% less sharks.   Good news, for the sea creatures: less trauma and damage, and for the fishing industry: less time and energy spent in safely removal of unwanted species from the nets. Just imagine trying to catch and release a Mako shark, it could get a little dicey.  (Read more here).



Just why elasmobranchs, like sharks and rays, stay away when green lights are used is still to be investigated. They do have more sophisticated eyesight than halibut, and also creatures like squids do have rather large eyes that could possibly alert them to the green netting.  A great and simple idea, now we need to find a way to make these lights affordable, and develop a solar-powered version. Further research may look at different wavelengths of light to see if better results are possible.

Very exciting, a win-win situation……definitely a move in the light direction.

Til next week,

the good doctor , Dr. Mark Germain, Burlington optometrist