Welcome to GEARNET!

GEARNET is currently in full swing! Follow updates on projects at our blog and the latest GEARNET projects in the news.

Want to learn more? We are currently organizing dock-side meetings to discuss results from projects that may be of interest to small groups of fishermen. To schedule a meeting, or if you have other questions or comments, contact Erik Chapman @ 603-862-1935 or erik.chapman@unh.edu.

About GEARNET

During the spring of 2010, a series of fisheries research strategic scoping workshops were held in Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Funded by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC2) Cooperative Research Program, these workshops highlighted the need for an integrated, network approach to fishery gear conservation engineering, and fisheries research in general, for the Northeast region.

GEARNET’s mission is to help Northeast groundfish fishermen develop and adopt fishing equipment that:

  • Improves efficiency and selectivity,
  • Reduces environmental impact, and
  • Helps secure a sustainable, profitable groundfish resource and industry for future years.

Through GEARNET, we aim to build an infrastructure of partnerships that enable network-oriented, sector-specific, fishing gear conservation engineering research. Our approach will be bottom-up and highly collaborative, and the findings will be shared with interested parties to promote transfer of knowledge and uptake of effective gear types within the region.

We hope and anticipate that the number of individuals who choose to become involved in GEARNET increases as the network gains momentum. We welcome interested parties to contact us to learn how to become involved and what role you could play in GEARNET.

As GEARNET develops, we will be adding materials to this web site; please check back regularly and feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

17 projects funded in 2011!

View projects...

All the ideas being tested were proposed by groundfish fishermen. Read more...