The Ropeless Landscape
Ropeless fishing — also called “on-demand” fishing — eliminates the vertical buoy line that connects a seafloor trap to a surface buoy. That line is the leading cause of large whale entanglement. Removing it is the most effective tool available to reduce entanglement risk.
Multiple approaches exist. None of them know what’s in the trap.
Three Recovery Approaches
Section titled “Three Recovery Approaches”The WHOI Ropeless Consortium categorizes ropeless gear into three recovery methods:
Bottom-Stowed Rope
Section titled “Bottom-Stowed Rope”A spool of buoyant rope sits on the seafloor next to the trap, held in place by an acoustic release. When the fisher sends an acoustic command from a deck-mounted transducer, the release fires and the rope floats to the surface for hauling.
This is the most mature approach. Australian rock lobster fishermen in New South Wales have used it operationally for years — fishing in currents exceeding 2 knots that would be impossible with traditional buoy lines.
Pros: Uses familiar hauling workflow. Rope ascends in seconds. Cons: Rope still exists (fouling, tangling). Acoustic release is a single point of failure. Rope must be repacked after every haul.
Variable Buoyancy
Section titled “Variable Buoyancy”The trap itself becomes positively buoyant on command. Mechanisms include compressed air cylinders, piston pumps, or inflatable lift bags. An acoustic signal triggers inflation, and the entire trap rises to the surface.
Ropeless Systems Inc.’s RISER system uses an inflatable airbag rather than stowed rope. Their patented Single Ping Positioning technology locates submerged traps during approach — no special maneuvering required.
Pros: No rope in the water at all. Clean recovery. Cons: Higher complexity. Compressed gas or inflation system adds weight and cost. Must be refilled/recharged.
Docking System
Section titled “Docking System”An autonomous underwater vehicle deploys a thin hauling line that connects to a docking station mounted on the trap. The AUV brings the line to the surface for conventional hauling.
Pros: No modifications to the trap itself. Cons: Still conceptual. Requires an AUV per vessel. Highest cost and complexity.
The Companies
Section titled “The Companies”Desert Star Systems
Section titled “Desert Star Systems”The longest-running ropeless manufacturer, based in California. Their ARC-1XD acoustic release operates at 34–42 kHz with a 350m command range, rated to 300m depth, with a design life of 10–20+ years. The release mechanism uses a nickel-chromium resistance wire that fires in thousandths of a second — single moving part (lever) for reliability.
| Product | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ARC-1XD release | $1,550 (100+ qty) – $1,995 (1-9 qty) | Fully serviceable, Delrin + titanium |
| ARC-2 release | Lower cost | Non-serviceable, rechargeable Li-ion, 3-10yr life |
| STM-3 deck box | Not published | Full command, ranging, status. Pelican case. |
| STM-4 deck box | Lower cost | Broadcast mode only |
Desert Star also provides the free Ropeless Fisher App for virtual gear marking with configurable visibility radius — addressing the gear-overlay problem where fishers can’t see each other’s submerged gear.
Field data (NSW, 6 years): 2-3% annual equipment loss from a 100-150 unit inventory. Revenue per release unit: ~$5,000/year. Trap servicing reduced from 1,000 to 400 engine hours annually.
EdgeTech
Section titled “EdgeTech”Massachusetts-based sonar and acoustic systems company. Their Model 5112 ropeless system uses the same PORT (Push-off Release Transponder) technology from their oceanographic release products. Rated to 500m depth, 1-year deployment (2 years on lithium), nickel aluminum bronze alloy construction.
The companion Trap Tracker app connects via Bluetooth to the BLEAT (Bluetooth Low Energy Acoustic Transceiver) deck unit for commanding releases, virtual gear marking, and catch logging with cloud sync.
~$7,700 per unit. Rated to 500m depth.
Ropeless Systems, Inc.
Section titled “Ropeless Systems, Inc.”Based in Biddeford, Maine. Their RISER system uses an inflatable airbag instead of stowed rope — a fundamentally different approach from Desert Star and EdgeTech. In October 2025, they were granted U.S. Patent 12396445 for their method.
Key innovations:
- Single Ping Positioning — locates submerged traps while approaching, no special ship maneuvers
- Respond Once Technology — prevents continuous acoustic interrogation from passing ships, saving battery
Ashored Innovations
Section titled “Ashored Innovations”Canadian company. Their MOBI unit costs $2,500 each, with a $9,000 starter pack. Ashored is exploring a rental model — monthly fees instead of upfront purchase — to address the cost-prohibitive nature of outright ownership.
Others
Section titled “Others”- Sub Sea Sonics — pop-up buoy system, used in California’s Dungeness crab pilot program
- Guardian Ropeless Systems — pop-up system, also in the California pilot
- SMELTS (Sea Mammal Education Learning Technology Society) — compressed air + WHOI acoustic release, ~$800, primarily research
- Descent Ropeless Gear, Innovasea, DBV Ropeless Systems, FioBuoy — various stages of development
What It Actually Costs
Section titled “What It Actually Costs”The per-unit release price is only part of the story. A commercial fishing operation needs a deck unit, multiple releases, rope bags, and training.
| Configuration | Cost |
|---|---|
| Single acoustic release | $1,550–$4,000 |
| Deck unit | $8,000–$9,000 |
| Nearshore vessel (500 traps, 11/trawl) | ~$227,000 |
| Offshore vessel (1,900 traps, 45/trawl) | ~$344,000 |
| 500-trap full conversion | $360,000–$1,250,000 |
| Massachusetts LMA1 fleet conversion | ~$128,000,000 |
A traditional crab trap costs $160–225. A pop-up equipped trap costs up to $2,500. The economics don’t work for most fishermen today — a full transition to on-demand gear in Massachusetts would reduce lobster fishery revenue by an estimated $40M per year.
Cost projections using Wright’s learning curve (95% rate) suggest prices could drop roughly 50% as production scales. But that scaling hasn’t happened yet.
NOAA’s Ropeless Roadmap
Section titled “NOAA’s Ropeless Roadmap”NOAA’s draft Ropeless Roadmap: A Strategy to Develop On-Demand Fishing outlines the path forward:
- Exempted fishing permits authorize up to 200 fishermen to test on-demand gear
- In 2025, 74 fishermen participated across 5 states and 5 fisheries (3 fixed-gear, 2 mobile-gear)
- The 2026 experimental fishery runs February 1 — April 30 (extended to May 15 north of Cape Cod). Outside the restricted season, ~50 vessels test on-demand gear year-round across New England.
- A gear lending library houses hundreds of on-demand systems from 7+ manufacturers (Desert Star, EdgeTech, Ashored, SMELTS, Fiomarine, DBV Technologies, Sub Sea Sonics). Permitted fishermen borrow gear, test it on real fishing trips, and report back on usability, problems, and suggestions.
- 2023 field results: 12 commercial trap/pot vessels completed 527 hauls across two restricted areas with zero gear conflicts --- strong evidence that on-demand systems can coexist in crowded fishing grounds.
- California doubled its pilot program from 19 to 40 fishers for 2025
- $7M federal funding to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission for vertical line removal testing
- Congress directed NOAA to finalize entanglement risk reduction rules by December 31, 2028
The Roadmap also introduces the concept of an Automatic Trap Reporting System (ATRS) — where all fishing vessels equipped with surface acoustic modems automatically report submerged gear positions to enforcement authorities. This concept aligns directly with SmartPot’s LoRa telemetry architecture: every pot in the fleet is always reporting its position, catch status, and health.
What the $18.3M Is Funding
Section titled “What the $18.3M Is Funding”In November 2023, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) awarded $18.3 million through the New England Gear Innovation Fund (NEGIF) to 18 projects. The fund was a one-time congressional appropriation under the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The 2023 round is closed, and no 2025 or 2026 request for proposals has been announced. Future rounds depend on new congressional appropriation.
The 18 funded projects, organized by category:
| Category | Projects | Award Range | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acoustic ropeless release systems | 4 | $261K—$1.35M | Desert Star (interoperability deck box), EdgeOne (lightweight system), Ropeless Systems (manufacturing scale-up), Sub Sea Sonics (fisherman adoption) |
| Gear marking and geolocation | 4 | $769K—$1.48M | Allen Institute (EarthRanger tracking app), Blue Ocean Gear (communication buoy, acoustic transceiver), delResearch (open-source acoustic) |
| Interoperability | 2 | $975K—$1.35M | Teledyne Benthos (multi-manufacturer chart plotter integration), Desert Star (standardized deck box) |
| Community engagement and adoption | 4 | $420K—$3M | Maine CCF, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, Maine DMR gear lending library ($3M --- largest single award), New England Marine Monitoring |
| Socioeconomic analysis | 1 | $475K | Massachusetts DMF (cost/benefit model for gear conversion) |
| Safety | 1 | $399K | Whale and Dolphin Conservation (man-overboard and proximity alert systems) |
| Alternative retrieval | 1 | $1.19M | Lobster Foundation of MA (grappling + gear marking as rope alternative) |
| Timed release (non-acoustic) | 1 | $420K | New England Marine Monitoring (galvanic timed release mechanism) |
What the portfolio reveals: Every funded project addresses one piece of the ropeless puzzle — better releases, better tracking, better adoption pathways, or better economic understanding. Zero projects involve on-device species classification, autonomous bycatch release, catch analytics, or any form of on-trap intelligence. The entire $18.3M portfolio is about removing the rope. None of it is about making the pot smarter.
Application process used 2-page pre-proposals via NFWF Easygrants, followed by invited full proposals with rolling review. Award range: $170K—$3M. Matching funds were encouraged but not required (most awards had $0 match).
Related active program: NFWF’s Electronic Monitoring and Reporting (EMR) program has an open 2025—2026 cycle with proposals due September 24, 2025. Its focus — “electronic technologies that improve timeliness and quality of fisheries data” — aligns with SmartPot’s per-pot catch analytics capability.
Source: NFWF NEGIF Grant Slate, November 2023.
Industry Reality
Section titled “Industry Reality”Fishermen aren’t opposed to innovation — they’re opposed to going bankrupt.
Testing has revealed real problems: release mechanisms failed 20% of the time in some trials. Rope repacking adds deck time. Acoustic systems can interfere with each other in congested fishing grounds. Virtual gear marking is still immature — fishers can’t see each other’s submerged gear reliably.
And the fundamental objection remains: “A couple of years ago fishermen would say ropeless would never work. Now they say it will be the technology that keeps them on the water.” The shift is happening, but the cost barrier is real.
What None of Them Do
Section titled “What None of Them Do”Every ropeless system on the market solves exactly one problem: removing the vertical buoy line. That’s critical and necessary — but it’s not sufficient.
None of them can:
- Tell you what’s in the trap before you haul it
- Release bycatch at depth, alive and unhandled
- Generate per-pot, per-species catch analytics
- Send real-time telemetry (battery, temperature, GPS, drift alerts)
- Accept bidirectional commands (lock door, unlock door, capture image)
- Detect and alert on ghost gear conditions (drift, tether fault, servo fault)
They’re ropeless. They’re not smart.
Where SmartPot Fits
Section titled “Where SmartPot Fits”SmartPot doesn’t compete with ropeless gear — it subsumes it. The ropeless recovery capability is one feature among many, not the entire product. And at a target cost of ~$80 per pot (at scale, with shared base station), it undercuts acoustic releases by an order of magnitude.
The key difference isn’t technical — it’s architectural. Acoustic ropeless systems are one-way: the fisher sends a command, the trap surfaces. SmartPot is bidirectional and continuous: the trap reports what’s happening inside it, the fisher decides what to do, and the trap executes. The communication channel that enables ropeless recovery also enables everything else.
Data sourced from WHOI Ropeless Consortium, NOAA Fisheries, Desert Star Systems, Frontiers in Marine Science, and SeafoodSource.