Fishing: New Zealand invention FloMo wins international award

Snapper inside FloMo, in which a boat drags a long, flexible tube to catch fish instead of using trawl nets. Photo / FloMo

By Sally Murphy of RNZ

New Zealand fishing invention FloMo has won the top prize at the Tesco Agri T-Jam Competition, beating hundreds of other innovative entries.

The competition is designed to find solutions that can help the UK supermarket chain and its suppliers achieve net zero, restore nature or improve animal health and welfare.

Precision Seafood Harvesting, a partnership of big seafood companies Sealord, Sanford and Moana, invented FloMo.

Instead of using trawl nets, a boat drags a long, flexible tube to catch fish — they can still swim inside it and there are gaps, so anything that’s too small can get out.

It’s then brought on board and fish are released into a tank of water — this allows the crew to remove undersized fish or bycatch.

FloMo general manager Andre Pinkert said winning the global competition was amazing.

“It could really be a game-changer for us, it will allow us to trial FloMo with Tesco supply chain partners and we’ll also receive mentoring from the Tesco team.

“Tesco is a massive multinational retailer with huge buying power, they’re leaders in promoting sustainability and they want sustainable seafood in their stores, so this recognition is huge.”

Pinkert said during the past seven years, more than 10,000 experimental tows had been completed and numerous tests on key performance indicators, including survivability, selectivity and catch quality, had been conducted.

“We are still doing large-scale trials in New Zealand and we have just received regulatory approval for use here.

“We’re hoping to launch the product to the market within 12-18 months.”

He said there was also a lot of interest in the product overseas in markets like the UK, Europe and North America.

Moana New Zealand chief executive Steve Tarrant said the company was proud to have been involved in FloMo from the beginning.

“I’d like to acknowledge our contract fishers who helped us trial pilot nets. Many have quickly recognised its value, become early adopters of FloMo and continue to use it.

“Our contract fishers are the biggest users of this industry-changing gear, and we congratulate the team on this win and look forward to the next stage of the commercialisation of this technology.”

– RNZ