Nova Scotia — Protecting the North Atlantic Right Whale

BUOY.fish is deploying 60 smart buoys in Nova Scotia's Lobster Fishing Area 35 (LFA35), partnering with Go Deep International, the Global Ghost Gear Initiative, Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), and IRNAS to tackle ghost gear in one of the most ecologically critical marine habitats in the world.

Why Nova Scotia — and Why It Matters

The Bay of Fundy, which includes portions of LFA35, is one of the most productive marine systems on earth — and one of the most critical habitats for the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. With fewer than 400 individuals remaining, this species is on the brink.

Nearly 90% of right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once. Some have been entangled as many as nine times. In 2022, one of the 372 remaining individuals was observed entangled next to her calf. She is presumed dead. Gear entanglements remain the leading cause of death for this critically endangered species.

In some surveys, ghost gear accounts for over 70% of anthropogenic debris on the seafloor. Preventing gear loss isn't just about protecting fishermen's livelihoods — it's directly connected to the survival of a species.

The Deployment

Building on our proven deployment in Punta Abreojos, Mexico, we're bringing next-generation smart buoys to Atlantic Canadian waters. The Nova Scotia project includes:

• 3 long-range outdoor LoRaWAN gateways installed at strategic elevated sites
• 5 vessel trackers (mappers) installed on fishing boats
• 60 smart buoys — resin-housed, inductively charged GPS trackers with Bluetooth trap tag synchronization — deployed across 5 local fishing vessels (12 per vessel)
• 12 months of connectivity and platform services

The smart buoys represent a significant evolution from our Baja deployment. They feature a redesigned inductive charging system that allows complete potting (waterproofing with two-part expanding foam), eliminating any potential for water ingress. Firmware improvements preserve network session state during outages, so buoys reconnect faster when coverage returns.

Hardware Built to Last

Our buoys are built on proven blow-molded resin plastic hardshell designs, manufactured by Tidal Marine (Go Deep International) in New Brunswick — a company that has shipped over one million lobster fishing floats to North Atlantic fisheries. The tracking electronics are embedded inside the spindle (the stick portion of the buoy), counterweighted with a 3/4" stainless shackle. The design is rated to last 10-15 years.

The hardware is engineered in partnership with IRNAS, a leading applied R&D firm in Slovenia with 16 engineers specializing in PCB assembly, firmware development, and IoT systems. IRNAS is an official development partner of Nordic Semiconductor and a silver member of the Zephyr Project.

New Capabilities Being Tested

Nova Scotia is the testing ground for several new technologies:

• Bluetooth intelligent trap tags — small tags attached to individual traps that broadcast a unique ID and synchronize with smart buoys overhead, creating a digital audit trail for every pot deployment and retrieval. First of its kind.
• Direct LoRa-to-vessel communication — a specialized appliance for NMEA 2000-compatible vessel hardware that lets boats see their buoys at 10-30 mile ranges, even outside LoRaWAN or satellite coverage.
• AIS broadcast support — for extreme offshore deployments where vessels operate hundreds of miles from shore.

On the Ground

In October 2025, two BUOY.fish team members will travel to Digby, Nova Scotia for an 11-day field deployment — installing gateways, setting up vessel trackers, training local fishers in a hands-on workshop, and joining them for the first deployment at sea.

Key lessons from our Baja deployment are shaping this one. Antenna height and line-of-sight are the most critical factors for coverage range — so we're prioritizing elevated installation sites. And we've learned that local relationships are everything: Go Deep International and GGGI's network are essential for securing sites and building trust with the fishing community.

The Bigger Picture

The U.S. seafood industry alone supports over 1.7 million jobs and generates $255 billion in annual sales. Without action on ghost gear and whale entanglements, regulated domestic fisheries face reduced seasons, closures, or complete shutdowns — pushing demand to imported seafood from regions with far weaker environmental enforcement.

BUOY.fish offers a cost-effective alternative to the status quo. Traditional satellite buoys exceed $2,000 per unit with $30-100/month service fees. "Pop-up" ropeless fishing gear — while promising in concept — costs roughly 10x a traditional trap and, as one fisheries commissioner put it, "the only one we've tried is still at the bottom of the bay." Our LoRa-based approach provides comparable tracking at a fraction of the cost, with network fees measured in fractions of a cent per data packet.

Follow our progress, try the live demo, or contact us about deploying BUOY.fish in your fishery.