Seatrec, a renewable energy company that harvests power from temperature differences in the environment, and Cocodrie, La.-based game fishing charter, Fish Heads LA, announce the successful launch of Project FISH. The pilot program successfully deployed a scientific float in the Gulf of Mexico that will gather important data, including temperature and salinity from the surface down to 1,000 meters, used to better predict hurricanes.

“Scientists have few choices when deploying scientific equipment and often must use large research vessels that take months to coordinate and cost as much as $50K per day,” explains Yi Chao, Ph.D., CEO and Founder of Seatrec. “Sharing a boat with anglers lets us tap into their unparalleled knowledge of local waterways to quickly deploy equipment for 10X less than the cost of a traditional research vessel.”

Project FISH marks the first time that sport fishing enthusiasts have teamed up with scientists and the bluetech industry - companies innovating to help preserve the health of the ocean - to deploy oceanic sensors. The new initiative provides a roadmap for reducing the time and cost of deploying scientific equipment like the autonomous profiling floats used by the international Argo network.

Temperature data, particularly at depth, is critical to predicting the rapid intensification of hurricanes. The lack of that data is identified by NOAA as a contributing factor in hurricane prediction errors.
 
The recent deployment was chartered by International Game Fish Association (IGFA) member and fishing legend Steve Wozniak (no relation to the Apple founder), who holds the world record for most different species of fish caught by one person (2K). Wozniak chartered Fish Heads' boat and scientists from Seatrec hitched a ride and deployed the float on the way to the fishing spot. The two parties shared the cost of Fish Heads' charter.

“Anglers and charter companies have skin in the game when it comes to better understanding the ocean and better predicting the paths and intensities of hurricanes,” points out Lance Wall, owner of Fish Heads LA. “We're excited to have the opportunity to help scientists do their work quicker and cheaper, while still getting in a good day's fishing.”

About Seatrec
Seatrec designs and manufactures energy harvesting systems that generate electricity from naturally occurring temperature differences in ocean waters. This renewable energy can be used to power deep water oceanographic research equipment such as floats, gliders, and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), resulting in the most scalable, cost-effective deep ocean data collection possible. Incorporated in 2016 by CEO, Dr. Yi Chao, Seatrec's technology originated at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, to provide clean power for remote off-grid locations. The company is headquartered in Vista, CA. Visit us at www.seatrec.com and @seatrecinc.

Media contact
Sean Yokomizo
Seatrec
sean.yokomizo@seatrec.com
+1 925.878.1200

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