A new way to fish.....Belgian news media pay a visit
The Zeekerweten (Know for sure) Citizen Science festival attracted 1200 visitors to the Belgian coast last weekend who all learned how to do bio blitzes and biodiversity assessments in their backyards. It was exciting and a pleasure to host a TV news crew who were interested to document drsnapper’s new way to fish: #soul fishing #catchinpeace: with a camera only - no hooks involved. To mark the occasion, I got some special softbaits and odour bait capsules, which I will profile further soon.
Links:
VTM Nieuws 8/5 (13hrs, 19hrs) (26:15-28:00)
Citizen Science Festival is coming up in Belgium
Discover, measure and know biodiversity at the first Belgian citizen science festival by the sea
With the 'ZEEKERWETEN (Know for Sure)' Festival, our coast is getting its first citizen science festival by the sea. On Sunday 8 May, VLIZ and partners invite everyone to enjoy a rich program of outdoor activities. The aim is to teach the general public techniques to make coastal animals and plants more visible and thus to help science move forward even after that day.
Sea, beach, marsh, dune. Attractive places with surprising animals and plants. On Sunday 8 May (10 am-4 pm), the citizen science festival 'ZEEKERWETEN (Know for Sure)' offers everyone the chance to discover this special life in a surprising way. Passionate experts share the necessary tricks and tools. Techniques that everyone can use after that day as a fully-fledged citizen scientist. Both researchers affiliated with universities and scientific institutions (UGent, INBO, ILVO, VLIZ) participate, as well as employees of visitor centers and educational facilities by the sea (Duinpanne, Duinenhuis, Marine Ecological Center, Bird Shelter Centre, Horizon Educational, Zwin Nature Park).
Some activities take place throughout the day, others only at certain times. The full programme can be found at www.zeekerweten.be.
“It will be a unique open-air experience, full of action and fascinating research. There are more than thirty activities at 17 locations spread across the coast. And, together with our partners, we mobilize more than eighty experts to provide the best possible guidance to the public”, says main organizer Jan Seys (VLIZ). There is something for everyone.
A selection from the rich programme illustrates how all kinds of techniques help the citizen scientist today more than ever:
- In the visitor center Duinpanne (Adinkerke) attention is paid to the use of wildcams to detect nocturnal animals. You will learn how to purchase, set up and operate such a wildlife camera, and what you should pay attention to in order to achieve maximum results.
- In the Spuikom overflow near Ostend, Doctor Snapper shows you how to “fish” with a fishing rod with only a camera attached (and some bait without a hook). This way you don't have to hurt the fish and you still get to see the animal.
- At the Rederskaai (Zeebrugge) the focus is on seaweed and sea creatures that you will find on and around the pontoons of the marina. Two divers retrieve living material to the surface. Experts from the Strandwerkgroep, Ghent University and VLIZ help you identify.
- ObsIdentify allows you to identify up to 20,000 species of plants and animals. This app is being demonstrated in the Zwin Nature Park and is actively being used at many other stations. You will discover in the Zwin and in Duinpanne how you can blindly recognize the song of birds with another app. The reading of color rings in gulls and other birds – in order to be able to trace their life path – is also discussed.
Attention is also paid to hedgehogs, bats, the "zorro mouse", plants and creepy crawlies in the dunes, ladybugs, the Asian hornet, life in dune pools and on beaches, plankton, etc.
ZEEKERWETEN is an initiative of VLIZ, Natuurpunt, Scivil, INBO, EOS, Strandwerkgroep, Province of West Flanders, Horizon Educational, MEC, WWF-Rangersclub, VOC, Duinenhuis, UGent, ILVO and the Flemish Government. It is part of the LifeWatch Belgium project.
(This is an edited google translation of the Dutch press release).
And the winner is...........
Some really amazing shots were submitted to the aquatic trophyshot contest last year. To quote one of the three judges who independently evaluated each valid submission: “I'm impressed with lots of these pictures. It's only the beginning. There is plenty of potential to see true fish behaviour.” Well said. These underwater images provide a wealth of information - being a very non-invasive way to observe animals in their natural surrounds. Every shared image of an aquatic trophyshot can support a good cause by adding geo-tagged records to biodiversity databases and making existing ID apps more accurate by improving digital image recognition. From chase to charity. I have held talks with the pioneers behind Fishial.ai and am planning to share and upload all submitted images to this global database. “Fishial.ai is building the largest open-source fish species photo library labeled for AI machine learning and spearheads the development of a highly accurate open-source AI model that can identify fish species world wide!” Adding the aquatic trophyshots from this contest to this database is going to be a neat project for a student or an intern. Additional information was collected from each submission which will be interesting to analyse as well. If you are interested or know someone, please message dr snapper.
The short bliss of camera angling....on a clear day
It is always a surprise to inspect the catch of the day behind the PC when reviewing the footage. And it is fun to actually discover that there was more life than what the nibble count suggested. Hopefully, one day mobile capacity will allow automatic scene detection and already highlight the trophy shots without hours of tedious, square-eyed review, preferably with ID suggestions and reporting all ancillary sensor data in a common data standard - these are a couple of (simple) prerequisistes for making camera angling more user friendly and allow for both opportunistic as well as statistically sound data collection.
Strike by a pike: animated goldfish meets lil croc
A hungry croc swallowed the animated goldfish lure within seconds….
Grinding nemo: animated lure on a dead-bait caster
In late winter and early spring I tend to replace dead bait by an animated lure (hook-less) to try and tease some pike. Every now and then it works. I ll show you in my next post.
Be selfish with Dr Snapper
Drsnapper will be participating in the ultimate citizen science festival at the Belgian coast: zeekerweten.be
A festival to celebrate biodiversity observation and conservation and to cheerish your very own enthusiasm for discovery.
Everyone is welcome on May 8 here in Oostende to try out and experience first hand the new thrill of camera angling. #catchinpeace #aquatictrophyshot
Al eens met een hengel een foto genomen van een vis? Met Dr Snapper’s onderwatercamera aan de haak maak je verrassende onderwaterbeelden. En dit zonder de vissen te storen of pijn te doen. (Voel je als een vis in het water zonder nat te worden!)
New article about trophyshot contest in German Fisch & Fang magazine
The German Fisch & Fang Angling magazine published an article about the trophyshot contest in their latest September 2021 edition.
Submit your trophyshot portal is now open
To garner momentum and publicize the advent of the aquatic trophyshot contest, a short article was published the other day in a Dutch angling magazine (Visblad). The associated website portal is now open and ready to receive your submission(s). Feel free to spread the word.
Snapping fish selfies
A short film to promote camera angling featured during the virtual VLIZ Marine Science Day earlier this year. It has some nice drone footage and a hand-crafted soundtrack. Thanks a lot to Atika Lava, Diony, Jelle and Emil for footage and/or tunes.
Photo contest o'clock
Picking a few best of out of my humble amateur collection, I submitted the below aquatic trophy shot of a pollack (Pollachius pollachius) snapped in Ireland to a photo contest. If you like it, click on the link you can vote for it and make an underwater trophy shot count (you may have to scroll through some pages first to spot it).
Another science event to meet and mingle virtually: World Recreational Fisheries Conference
Last year drsnapper’s presentation could not go through at the World Recreational Fisheries Conference, because it was postponed due to Covid. It is still not going to happen as a meet-and-greet event, but by now we are all well versed in virtual meeting rooms. Two exciting online events will take place June 28 and 30 - register for free.
International recreational fisheries research in the spotlight
Last week a working group of the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) met virtually to discuss the latest research results of recreational fisheries catches, population impacts, socioeconomic footprints and novel survey methods. Animal welfare issues of catch-and-release practices were also on the menu.
Spawning times
Spring time means reproduction o’clock for many fish species. These bream came to lay their eggs on water plants in some shallow water.
Four seasons in one day
Before the spring season closes for the spawning period, I enjoyed some snowflakes squalling through some sunshine. Pike are active and wary as at this spot. This one came in close to inspect what was on offer but quickly turned around.
A new toy for my tech tackle box
As a Christmas present to myself I ordered an animated lure. It worked a treat at my local (despite the limited field of view with the camera pointing straight down) - and not sure whether I will be able to trick my guinea pig pike for a second time though. Still - hookless fishing fun.
Triple pike strike on Boxing Day
This keen fella came in close three times: first time when I was scouting the water for presence - it only felt the lure once; second time when I came back a few hours later - it took another lure on the second cast (the lock was pumping water and because of the water flow it is a little bubbly); the third time it went for the camera. You guessed correctly, it is not the Bahamas. Dutch brownie points.
Some sad news for big game trophy shooters.....
….your giant monster catches are shrinking over time….Researchers from the University of Washington have found evidence of the shifting baseline syndrome in news items relating to fishing records. In an article published by PeerJ, the researchers provide evidence that over the last 140 years, relative lengths of newsworthy fish (reported length divided by max. length) have declined over time. But I am sure, a few cms do not matter, when looking into the beautiful eyes of such magnificent fish (yellowfin tuna and dolphinfish) shot in action by a colleague recently on a trip to the Indian Ocean.
Bammm!!!.....with a bait bonbon
These underwater trophy shots were taken from yellowtail scad and a leatherjacket in Port Philip Bay using the wee ol bait bomb approach. Stuff a mesh sock with chicken and other meaty bits and let the odour plume do the rest - no need for mimicry to mimic shape and behaviour of bait fish. Been experimenting with other odoured lures lately. Have you got any recommendations for some smelly artificial baits that work a treat? Don’t be shy…
Autumn sun rays
Enjoying a sun-drenched afternoon at one of my favourite fishing spots in Germany. A school of redfins came flying past.
