October 14, 2025 — Imagine a troller headed out to sea in search of its catch. Logbooks and experience tell the captain where to look. But ocean conditions are changing, and so is fish behavior. Historical knowledge is not as helpful as it once was.
Today’s fishermen need more information, according to Melissa Sanderson, Chief Operating Officer of the Cape Cod Commercial Fisherman’s Alliance.
“We’re looking primarily at salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature and chlorophyll-a – so how much phytoplankton is in the water,” she explained. “And those correlate really well with what we think are going to be the environmental triggers for when fish change their behavior.”
Enter the robots. Yes, robots. It turns out robots could be the next tool in the toolbox for local commercial fishermen.
“So they’re about three feet long,” Sanderson said. “They’re sort of in the shape of a torpedo. And the fisherman can just toss them overboard when they get out to sea.”
The fishermen program the robots, tell them what data to collect, then get down to work.
“The fishermen just keep doing what they’re doing,” said Sanderson. “They’re hauling their gear. They’re catching their fish. And the robot will come back when it’s done with its assignment. And when it gets onboard they can have all of the data and they’ll know what the temperature and salinity and the other environmental variables are over in that area.”