Mr Sihle Victor Ngcongo, the founder of Imvelo Blue Environment, has created a device called Imvelo BSL device, which monitors the deployment of bird scaring lines on fishing vessels. The device is able to collect data every second and can even record attempts of tampering.

For many years the bird scaring lines have been accepted as part of the recommended best practices for the protection of seabirds. Over the years, lines have been improved to be more efficient and user friendly but it has not been easy to determine if the bird scaring line had actually been deployed by fishing vessels and with an increasing number of reports, from other sea users, that some vessels were not deploying the lines that assist in the conservation of seabirds, I took it upon myself to find a solution for this.

Together with Dr Nelson Miranda of Argonaut Science, the technical developer of the device, we came up with a tool to ensure that fishing companies, who are committed to the conservation of marine ecosystems, are able to use the device to determine whether the bird scaring lines are actually being deployed on their fishing vessels, thus the device can assist with verifying non-compliance. Dr Miranda’s scientific background was a great advantage to this development as he solely came up with ideas that improved the device drastically.

With many years of experience as a fisheries observer, Mr Ngcongo understands the challenges faced by other scientific observers in collecting scientific data. The data collected from the device can be measured against official logbook data and clearly identify sets where the bird scaring line was deployed and when it was not. This will also release some pressure off the observers and allow them to focus on other tasks while relying on the device to ensure that the vessel is compliant.