Unalaska, AK – The World Wildlife Fund recently received a $364,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) for its Smart Gear program. WWF, with the help of a group of international judges, awards prizes of up to $30,000 to people, including fishermen, who develop new, innovative ways to avoid all types of bycatch. WWF senior program officer Mike Osmond said the entries include a wide variety of ideas that can be used in many different fisheries.

"Some of them are theoretical ideas, some of them are ideas that the fishermen might have come up with themselves and they've just tried them on their boats. They might be modifications to gear that's already being used but modifications that make the ideas more effective," Osmond said.

The contest reviews ideas submitted from around the world. The grand prize is $30,000, $10,000 of which has to go towards the further development and testing of the new bycatch avoidance technique. Two runners-up will receive $10 thousand dollars. A special fourth prize of $7,500 will go to an innovator in East Africa who is dealing with bycatch problems in that region. Osmond said the NOAA grant money will be used to run the contest and to help develop the new technologies.

"We might use the money to help them conduct trials, to be able to improve their device or to prove to a certain standard that it does work, etc," he explained.

Lee Benaka, the national coordinator for the NOAA fisheries bycatch reduction engineering program, said they awarded the two-year grant to the Smart Gear program because WWF is tackling bycatch issues in a way that NOAA can't.

"It's a lot more bureaucratic when we engage with the public and with the fishing industry and environmental groups. It just has to be a lot more formal because we're the government. But a non-profit like the WWF has more flexibility and can be more creative and can think outside of the box in coming up with these types of solutions. So we're happy to be able to promote that type of work."

WWF started the competition in 2005. This year's entries are due by June 30. Entries will be judged on innovation, practicality, cost-effectiveness, their ability to reduce bycatch of any species and the overall contribution the invention makes to conservation. You can apply online at www.smartgear.org .