It’s about amethod to avoid accidental fishing of shark. It is being tested by scientists at L’Oceanogràfic of the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, and it is based on the fact thatthe snout of sharks is covered with Lorenzini blisters, sensory organs that detect magnetic fields in the water. When these fields are excessively high, instead of attracting them, they frighten them, so that, in theory, placing magnets on the fishermen’s hooks at a certain power could prevent their unwanted capture.
The first experimental tests are being carried out in two pools withdogfish sharks or cat sharks, which are often accidentally hunted while fishing for swordfish. In both, food was deposited and in one of them, in addition, a magnet was inserted. In this way, scientists have been able to show that, in this last pool, the animals have barely approached the food, which would corroborate the hypothesis that the magnet can repel them.
After filming the trials in these pools for three months and analyzing them with computer tools, the researchers hope to be able to fine-tune the power required by the magnets to achieve this effect, as well as the number needed to introduce into the gear used in artisanal fishing. The initiative is interesting if we consider that, according to a recent FAO study,Shark populations in the Mediterranean and Black Sea have declined markedly in the last two centuriesand that sharks are currently in danger of extinction. Experiments are planned with other shark species, such as blue shark and shortfin mako, which are frequently caught in tuna fisheries.
