Reducing By-Catch of Seabirds
AssigneeHuna Holdings Pty Ltd on behalf of HJ Family Trust
InventorHanfried Jusseit
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for reducing by-catch of seabirds or turtles during fishing include a fish hook (220) and a barrier or shield (227) mounted in a position relative to the fish hook (220) such that the barrier (227) reduces or prevents hooking of a seabird or turtle by the fish hook or ingestion of the hook by a seabird or turtle. The apparatus includes a degradable component (226) that degrades when placed in water such that when the degradable component degrades the barrier moves away from the position relative to the fish hook or no longer exists to allow the fish hook to be taken by a fish. The degradable component (226) may be a retaining means or a mounting means. The degradable component may form part of, or all of, the barrier.
Claims18
An apparatus for mounting to a fish hook to reduce the likelihood of the hook being ingested by bycatch including seabirds or turtles or to reduce or prevent hooking of a seabird or a turtle by the fish hook, the apparatus comprising
- a rigid barrier
- said rigid barrier being mounted to a hook wherein the barrier reduces a likelihood of the bycatch becoming hooked by the hook when the barrier is mounted to the hook,
- retaining means for retaining the barrier on the hook,
- said retaining means comprising a clip, a bar, a tab, a spring or an adhesive,
- said retaining means being connected to the barrier,
- said retaining means engaging with the hook when the barrier is mounted to the hook
- wherein said retaining means comprising a degradable component or a degradable material comprising a material that loses structural integrity such that the barrier moves away from the hook and a fishing line to which the hook is attached after immersion of the barrier, degradable component and hook in water, or said retaining means is connected to the barrier by a degradable component comprising a material that loses structural integrity such that the barrier moves away from the hook and a fishing line to which the hook is attached after immersion of the barrier, degradable component and hook in water.
An apparatus for mounting to a fish hook to reduce the likelihood of the hook being ingested by seabirds or turtles or to reduce or prevent hooking of a seabird or a turtle by the fish hook, the apparatus comprising
- a rigid barrier mounted to a fish hook,
- a retainer retaining the rigid barrier on a fish hook such that the rigid barrier is mounted directly to the fish hook,
- the retainer comprising a component that loses structural integrity following immersion in water such that the rigid barrier moves away from the fish hook and a fishing line to which the hook is attached following loss of structural integrity of the retainer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.