January 6, 2022 – Press Release

Archipelago and Marine Instruments Team Up With SINAY and ISIFISH To Deliver Electronic Monitoring In the Bay of Biscay

Victoria, BC (January 6,2022)

Archipelago, a global provider of marine resource management products and services together with our partners at Marine Instruments (MI) are proud to support a consortium that includes SINAY, a marine technology and AI start-up in Caen, France, and ISIFISH, a highly-renowned marine electronics firm in Concarneau, France. This team was recently awarded a 20-vessel project over 16 months to provide electronic monitoring (EM) in commercial gillnet fisheries in the Bay of Biscay. This project will focus on documenting accidental bycatch of marine mammals and enable fishermen and fisheries managers to better work together to manage bycatch in this important coastal fishery.

“Archipelago is excited to be monitoring marine mammal bycatch in the Bay of Biscay and to help address concerns around high levels of bycatch in gillnet fisheries. This international team brings together experts in various fields to provide the necessary skills required to deliver success in this project. With recent directives from the European Commission, it is impressive to see French fishermen and government leading the way to roll out this monitoring and address any concerns that may exist.” says Gord Snell, President and CEO for Archipelago.

“During a first pilot project earlier this year, named OBSCAMe, we validated the feasibility of equipping the French gillnetters, by testing the equipment on 5 boats from 10 to 18 meters, and collected quality data. We are now happy that electronic monitoring has been retained by the government as a continuous part of the data collection process on marine mammal bycatch in the Bay of Biscay. SINAY is proud to lead this project with our partner ISIFISH, and will benefit from the experience Archipelago and Marine Instruments bring to the table.” says Alex Chailloux, OBSCAMe project coordinator at SINAY.

Archipelago pioneered EM in the late 1990’s and have continued to be a global leader in the advancement of the technology for more than 20 years. They currently support 500+ vessels carrying their EM hardware and software products. Through their data review software, EM Interpret (EMI), clients review more EM fisheries data each year than any other software tool in the world. In 2017, Archipelago partnered with Marine Instruments in Spain to develop and deliver the next-generation of EM hardware solutions and together they continue to work towards the advancement of the EM Ecosystem through existing and future clients.

Marine Instruments are world leaders in the development and manufacturing of electronic equipment adapted to the marine environment and are focused on promoting smart oceans and sustainable fishing. They are a company focused on innovation with an excellent position in the fishing sector thanks to being part of Arbulu Group, a group of companies specialized in naval electronics and satellite communications.

Founded in 2008, SINAY is a tech start-up that helps maritime-based businesses around the world to manage data related to operations and environmental impacts. SINAY benefits from 10 years of experience in collecting and analyzing maritime data to use the most relevant outputs. SINAY developed the Sinay Hub, a single platform dedicated to maritime industries where data are gathered and transformed thanks to advanced AI technologies to create key indicators. It gives real-time situational awareness and consequently helps the maritime industries to make the right decisions, to drive more efficiency and easily comply with regulations.

ISIFISH specializes in consulting and selling technological products for fisheries: GPS buoys, information collection tools (sounder, T°/P sensor, camera), species conservation (acoustic deterrent devices for cetaceans, sharks) and improvement of seafood quality. The team has 15 years experience, with engineers in fisheries, seafood industry and sellers specialized in business with the fishing sector and marine instrumentation. ISIFISH provides advice and equipment for operations of companies from small-scale and large-scale fisheries, coastal management programs and maritime researching bodies who count on the ISIFISH knowledge and their network of technicians, re-sellers and providers throughout France and worldwide.