Conservation Technologies II: the Smart FishNET

CAD rendering of the new Smart Fishnet design.

The Smart FishNET, originally prototyped by a MSU capstone team in 2021, will complete a production-ready system. The system features a built-in Radio Frequency Identifier (RFID) reader that interfaces with a traditional landing net to scan Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags (pictured), used by biologists to uniquely mark fish to estimate their population size, survival, and movements. The RFID reader sends a signal and receives a unique signal from the pit tag if the fish is marked. This year’s team worked to reduce the size of the past system, optimize power consumption, and create a bluetooth system that automatically stores and displays the identification of the fish on an android application. In addition to identification, the information that is collected includes the date, time, and GPS location of a scan, as well as a photo of the captured fish for later analysis. The Smart FishNET team, including MSU seniors Cheyenne Sterbick, Nathan Newman, Paul Rupprecht, and Josh Wilson, allows citizens to collect high-quality data needed by scientists and managers without the need for training.