and the environmental damage caused by commercial fleets.

With one of the biggest fisheries in Europe,

France takes a hefty 900,000 tonnes every year,

with at least 65 per cent of that catch coming from the sea.

The French Research Institute for the Exploitation

of the Sea, or Ifremer, is developing new ways

to fish sustainably.

We need to ensure that the fishing doesn't impact

too much the stocks, but also does an impact too much

the environment and the ecosystems around.

Right, right.

I'm diving into the Ifremer test lab at the Port of Lorient

and examining some innovative projects,

starting with the intriguingly-titled game

of trawls.

The most common type of commercial fishing in France,

bottom trawling, drags weighted nets over the ocean floor.

Indiscriminate and wasteful, that

leaves up to half the catch unwanted or undersized

and thrown away.

Game of trawls aims to make the process

smarter and more selective.

This one is really about using video, real-time video

and artificial intelligence.

A stereoscopic camera linked to a microcomputer

classified species in the blink of an eye.

The computer is detecting some fish

and then is able to classify them.

Like, in pink we can see the sardine.

And in blue, the horse mackerel.

Here, unwanted horse mackerel, or scad,

are identified and isolated amid a prime catch of sardine.

Illuminated by LED lamps against a white background.

The scad and any other undesirable undersized fish

can be released automatically into an escape chamber.

Lined with a wider mesh, it allows them to swim free.

Undersea tests like these show smarter

nets can trap the targeted fish, while allowing the others out.

If you didn't want one of these species of fish,

or there were too many of the unwanted species,

that's when you would open the trap, which

can either be operated manually or automatically.

Yeah.

The entire system, designed to withstand extreme pressure

at depths of up to 300 metres, is on its way to ocean testing,

along with other promising designs.

Experiments with fluorescent-coloured material

and different kinds of lights have

shown that nets can be made to attract or repel

different kinds of fish.

That could be a simple way to save unwanted species

from getting caught in the first place.

Other sustainability experiments have been successfully tried

at sea.

Research scientist Benoit Vincent

is showing me the test tank used to develop more efficient nets

and hydrodynamic-weighted shoes fixed at the mouth of the net.

The latest designs minimise contact with the seafloor,

reducing environmental damage and drag,

which saves fuel and cuts costs.

When we went aboard the fishing vessels

and found it quite efficient, we could

measure that an average savings of fuel is about 10 per cent.

Researchers are keenly aware that making sustainable fishing

more viable and profitable is crucial to having such a system

successfully fitted and used by trawlers and other fishing

boats.

Here's a new take on a well-worn method that's been around

for millennia, the drop pod.

The idea is to design a trap that

would be able to catch commercially-valuable fish.

Traditionally used to capture crustaceans,

the humble lobster pod is being redesigned

to bring up premium species like black seabream.

Ifremer's fish pod is suspended just above the seafloor

so there's little, if any environmental impact there.

Adjusted and baited to attract specific targets,

it's a gentle and potentially profitable way to fish.

Because it's a static gear, the fish

is attracted, enter the trap on its own so there is no stress.

So this gear provide the fish with very high quality.

The new design is big enough to bring in a viable catch, yet

collapsible and therefore small enough to stack on a boat.

Oh, that's smart.

Smarter still, the pods are foldable and flexible,

yet strong enough to withstand collapse

in the notoriously strong currents of the Brittany Coast.

Like his father before him, long-time local fishermen

and fleet manager Eric Guicgnac knows these waters intimately.

Eric welcomes scientists on board his vessels.

Testing equipment like the Ifremer net cameras he hopes

will soon be able to sort his catch on the sea floor.

Eric tells me he's also experimenting with nets

that emit sonic pings to deter dolphins and other mammals.

Commercial fishermen have not always

seen eye-to-eye with governments and agencies

working to manage stocks and regulate the industry.

But with the marine environment under pressure

like never before, cooperation is

key to sustaining a viable future for the fish

and for the fishing industry.