China puts world’s first smart squid fishing robot to the test

China has tested what it calls the world’s first intelligent squid fishing robot that can mimic the motions performed by humans to attract the deep-water creatures to the surface.
The smart machine is currently undergoing sea trials aboard the Song Hang scientific research vessel, which is expected to conduct a survey in the northwestern Pacific Ocean until September.
The robot – which can adapt its behaviour based on how squid bite – can offer more humanlike precision than the automated equipment currently used on squid boats around the world.
The Song Hang set sail on June 8 from Changxing Island off the coast of Shanghai for a 90-day scientific survey of fishery resources in the high seas of the northwestern Pacific, according to state-run People’s Daily.
The squid fishing machine – developed by Shanghai Ocean University and the state-owned China Fisheries Zhoushan Ocean Fishery Co – was also launched aboard the ship.

As the world’s largest seafood producer, China operates a vast distant-water fleet of thousands of vessels such as squid boats stationed around the world, including off the South American coast.
But some of the seafood fleet has drawn controversy over accusations of illegal fishing, poor crew conditions, harming the marine environment, and even spying.
Industrial squid fishing is done through a process called jigging. At night, boats turn on massive lights – which are visible from space – to attract the squid, as these lights also attract their prey.
Fishing lines with bait are then dropped in the water and jerked up and down to mimic prey such as shrimps, which squid will bite before being reeled in.
Chen Xinjun, a professor at Shanghai Ocean University and leader of the intelligent fishing project, said traditional squid fishing relied on crew members to judge when squid were biting, resulting in wasted time, according to a university statement on June 11.
Many industrial squid boats already use automated machinery to perform the repetitive motions of jerking lines and hauling in squid, but these require programmed motions set by humans based on local conditions.
Chen said the intelligent squid fishing machine used sensors and adaptive control based on motions like squid biting and escaping to reduce ineffective operations and decrease reliance on human judgment.

The machine is also able to use algorithms to simulate the optimal fishing rhythm to improve efficiency, according to the university.
Chen said the sea trials would help support the upgrading of China’s squid fishing industry.
“This is not just about sending a piece of equipment to sea, but also a vivid microcosm of my country’s distant-water fisheries transformation towards ‘intelligent deep-sea fishing’,” he said, according to the statement.
The 85-metre Song Hang, which is operated by the Shanghai university, has conducted multiple fisheries resource surveys since it was commissioned in 2017.
In April last year, the Philippine Coast Guard tracked the Song Hang after it crossed through the Sulu Sea near the South China Sea and territory that is disputed between Beijing and Manila.
Last month, the two sides traded accusations after China’s Xiang Yang Hong 33 was approached by a Philippine Coast Guard Islander aircraft while surveying near a disputed reef in the South China Sea.