Boat International - June 2018

THE OCEAN AWARDS 2018

The Innovation Award

BEN KIBEL

Inventor of ProGlow, an endurable, reusable alternative lightstick

MOMO KOCHEN

Pioneer of first Fairtrade

wild fish

Indonesia catches more tuna than any

other nationandisoneoftheleading

producers of wild-capture fish. But

its six million small-scale fishers have

been increasingly excluded from global

marketsbecausetheyareunabletoprove

they are complying with sustainability

regulations. This compels them to sell

locally for much less than their catches

would realise on international markets

anddeniesthemaccesstoFairtrade

certification. Thanks to Masyarakat

Dan Perikanan Indonesia (MDPI) and its

former director of programmes and

research, Momo Kochen, working in

partnership with the Dutch international

fish importer Anova Seafood, Indonesian

yellowfin tuna caught by small-scale

handline fishermen in North Maluku

has become the world’s first Fairtrade-

certified wild fish. Since leaving MDPI,

Kochen has joined Future of Fish, the

US nonprofit systems change incubator,

which strives “to create business

solutions to ocean challenges”.

Finalist

Winner

Masyarakat Dan Perikanan Indonesia

(MDPI) was founded in 2013 to promote

responsible and sustainable fishing in the area.

Thanks to its eforts, yellowfin tuna caught by

small-scale local fishermen is now Fairtrade-

certified, thus improving their income

In 1999, Ben Kibel, a mechanical engineer, and his brother, Pete,
a fisheries specialist and biologist, founded Fishtek Marine to
develop gadgets that make fishing less harmful to marine life and
to the environment.
When fishing for swordfish, fishers tend to use chemical
lightsticks or glowsticks to attract the fish. They are highly
polluting if they are discarded in the ocean, which about 700
million are each year. They are also expensive: about 10 per cent
of a fishermen’s expenses. Fishtek’s solution, ProGlow, is an
inexpensive, endurable, reusable alternative, weighing just
17 grams and depth-rated to 1,000 metres. There are three models
with varying degrees of brightness, all fuelled by two replaceable
AAA batteries, and the basic model should last two years.

The Kibels were also exercised by bycatch, the unintended

harming of turtles, sharks, cetaceans and especially seabirds.

Hookpod is a transparent pod fitted to the line that encapsulates

the point of the hook and barb, releasing it only when it sinks

between 10 metres and 15 metres below the surface of the ocean,

where water pressure activates the mechanism. At that depth the

bait will no longer be swooped on by albatrosses, petrels or

shearwaters, which cannot dive that deep. The pod is retrieved

when the line is hauled in and can be reused, so there’s no waste.

The Hookpod company was formed in 2013, and the device

has been successfully trialled in Brazil, Japan, Australia and New

Zealand, though Hookpod remains based in Devon, UK. As the

company’s slogan puts it: save money, save time, save seabirds.

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