The Schmidt Family Foundation has announced that its Schmidt Marine Technology Partners program awarded grants totaling $3.5 million in support of 10 sustainable fisheries around the world.

Awarded through the Schmidt Marine global fisheries technology initiative—to which Schmidt Marine committed $2 million and partners Oceankind and Builders Initiative contributed the remaining $1.5 million—the grants will support organizations and universities in seven countries for efforts to reduce bycatch, prevent illegal fishing, improve data collection, and increase industry transparency. Awards ranging from $150,000 to $500,000 include support for Trygg Mat Tracking (Oslo) for development of software that enables countries to make decisions on who can enter their ports and what to target in their inspections to stop illegal fish landings; Centro de Ciencas do Mar (Faro, Portugal) for a redesigned fishing net that could reduce bycatch in certain squid and other fisheries by 40 percent; Wildaid Marine (San Francisco) for an app that provides accurate fishing and vessel data to help rangers deter illegal fishing in marine areas; and Cornell University (Ithaca, New York), in partnership with Fisheye Acoustics (Arlington, Virginia), for new autonomous audio/video technology that enables researchers to identify fish species based on the specific unique sounds they emit.

“Tens of millions of jobs around the world depend on fisheries, and seafood is the primary protein source for three billion people,” said Schmidt Family Foundation president and co-founder Wendy Schmidt. “The innovators chosen to receive these grants are ensuring that fishers and fisheries—and by extension all of us who rely on them—are secure and sustainable worldwide.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Dieter Meyrl)