While lighted nets can reduce the bycatch of sharks and sea turtles, their batteries are short lived, expensive to replace, and not always easy to dispose of. Importantly, the net-illuminating gear is also highly effective at preventing sea turtles from getting tangled in the gillnets. “Sea turtles are important for maintaining healthy oceans, which are needed to sustain resilient fisheries,” Senko said. As far as we know, they are the only fishers on the planet fishing with solar-powered lighted nets.”The team is now working with manufacturer Fishtek Marine to make commercially available solar-powered lighted buoys for fishing nets. They are also working to better understand sea turtle’s responses to the light.