The Lab: The hi-tech fishing net that could save our seas

A new hi-tech fishing net could help save our seas - by allowing smaller fish to swim free unharmed through an illuminated LED “escape hatch”.

Dan Watson, 27, began SafetyNet as a university project - and discusses it this week in The Lab, a weekly video series made by Yahoo! and Sky, exploring the ideas of Britain’s brightest young inventors.

SafetyNet uses illuminated LED rings to “guide” fish to safety - allowing small species and young fish to escape. The Escape Rings “hold open” even under tension, allowing fish to swim free.

Around half of fish caught in the North Sea are thrown back after being hauled out of the water - and most of these die, Watson says.

“It’s really hard to know what you’re catching until you pull them out of water - by which time if they’ve travelled all that distance up onto the boat, it’s likely that the pressure change will have killled them,” Watson says.

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"The rings fit into the 'cod-end' of the net - the part where all the fish are kept - and they basically exploit fish behaviour and their physical size to guide some to safety while keeping the other ones in. They act as a kind of emergency escape sign."

The reusable rings would power themselves and weigh under 100g each. Watson is currently developing prototypes and Watson’s invention won the James Dyson Award in 2012, beating inventors from 17 countries to a prize of £10,000.

Dyson founder Sir James Dyson said:“SafetyNet shows how young graduates like Dan can tackle global issues ignored by established industries in new and inventive ways.”