General News
28 November, 2025
AI ends jelly fish by-catches
NEW research has highlighted the potential of AI-powered nets, real-time monitoring and other technologies to help net-based fisheries tackle the growing crisis of jellyfish by-catch.
Globally, fisheries battle jellyfish swarms clogging nets and damaging catches of prawns and fish, creating economic headaches for thousands of fishers.
In severe cases, fishers may need to relocate, shorten fishing times or manually remove jellyfish by-catch – all of which undercut profit margins.
JCU Distinguished Professor Dr. Mike Kingsford contributed to a new scientific review, which spotlights cutting-edge technological solutions – including AI-powered nets – as the most effective ways to adapt net fishing to the escalating impacts of unwanted jellyfish catch.
“With AI, there is scope to develop nets that actually have cameras. So, as soon as the camera detects a jellyfish, the net could close automatically and there’d be, essentially, a gate-type system,” he said.
“Already fishers are using something called a turtle extraction device, which they’ve adapted into a so-called ‘jelly chute’. When jellyfish come into the net they’re collected and sent off down the tube, while the prawns go through to the catch, and therefore the catch is not compromised.
“The Japanese also have a system where they are monitoring a ferry service that goes between China and Japan. So, they have people or cameras on the front of a boat and when they notice a jellyfish drift coming, they use a system that will then warn the fishers that maybe don’t put your nets there over the next few weeks.
“There’s also scope to create a redirecting net which could recognise when a jellyfish is coming down and shoot it off in another direction.”
The sweeping new review of global research classified strategies into three major categories: coping, adapting and transformative approaches.
Each category represented a different scale and ambition of response – from short-term fixes to long-term systemic change, with the research finding that few truly transformative approaches have been trialled or scaled.
“Fisheries cannot rely solely on stopgap fixes – long-term coexistence with jellyfish requires innovation collaboration, and technological advancement,” he said.
“Jellyfish also affect other industries, such as naval vessels and nuclear power plants, where they can cause significant operational issues.”
Read More: Innisfail