MacArtney Provide Lobster Monitoring Technology to SLU in Sweden

Caption: Lobster Sledge ready to launch

Working with the Swedish University for Agriculture and Sciences (SLU) the MacArtney Group have co-designed a Lobster Sledge for investigation into lobster stocks.

In 2009, MacArtney supplied SLU with a camera and light system that utilised direct telemetry and standard cabling for the original Lobster Sledge.

A decade later MacArtney is still collaborating with SLU and has completed the co-design of the Lobster Sledge upgrade that incorporates an HD camera, LED lights, fibre optic multiplexer and interfaces.

The system, designed to be towed along the seabed, collects data on the current lobster population. The data collected monitors the lobster population and informs fishing quotas for the southern coast of Norway and the Swedish coast.

The Norwegian lobster is a commercially important species in the waters of Norway and Sweden, and fisheries have expanded rapidly to exploit this valuable market. Academic organisations like SLU are collecting vital data to monitor lobster stocks and help standardise data acquisition for successful ecological management of this commercial resource. Supporting SLU in this endeavour MacArtney has supplied, integrated and equipped the Lobster Sledge with a wide scope of supply:

• NEXUS Multiplexer MK C
• Topside portable control
• Kongsberg M3 Sonar
• Steel Armoured Electro-optical cable
• Focal Electrical Slip Ring Model 180
• LUXUS HD Camera
• LUXUS Power LED
• LUXUS Laser Pointer
• SubConn® Connectors
• Installation
• Commissioning & Training

Looking to the future, the Lobster Sledge system is designed to be fully compatible with the infrastructure and winches of the new SLU research vessel, the RV Svea, and will require no modifications. The MacArtney Group has also provided an exciting system solution package for the RV Svea including a FOCUS 3 and TRIAXUS ROTV and a CTD (to be announced in more detail soon).

MacArtney is a trusted system solution provider that fosters long and enduring partnerships with academic institutes and ocean space companies alike.

Location: Sweden