This spring, the NETTAG+ team achieved a significant milestone with their acoustic transponder technology designed to locate lost fishing gear. Extensive testing was conducted in the North Sea by Newcastle University and Succorfish Ltd aboard the research vessel RV Princess Royal, focusing on the range, reliability, and accuracy of the transponders.

On June 8, 2024, in celebration of World Oceans Day, the fishing community of Vila do Conde and Póvoa de Varzim in Portugal came together for a beach clean-up event titled “The Sea is Also Cleaned by Us!”.

Fortunately, the mooring also included a NetTag underwater acoustic transponder developed by UNEW to locate lost fishing gear. So on the 14th Nov 2023, around 6 weeks after the mooring was deployed at sea, the NetTag Surface Location System was successfully used to pinpoint the position of the transponder. All instruments and rigging gear were recovered by pulling a grappling hook over the exact resting place of the mooring.