What is the name of your organization?
LiftLabs, Inc.
What is the name of your solution?
EchoLift
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
EchoLift provides affordable ropeless fishing to protect whales and keep fishers on the water.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Lowell, MA, USA
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
United States
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Over 300,000 whales die each year after getting entangled in fishing gear. In New England alone, the lobster fishery uses over a million vertical ropes that pose a serious threat to endangered whales like the North Atlantic right whale, which is down to just 350 animals, with only about 70 breeding females left. More than 80% of them show scars from entanglement. So, what's being done? To try and fix this, the government has closed fishing zones, but that’s created a new problem in that fishermen are being pushed off the water, and in a place like Maine, where lobster brings in over $1 billion to the economy, those closures ripple through entire coastal communities. The problems with rope don't end there, though. Fishermen can often get dragged overboard by these 600 ft+ ropes, and they lose up to 30% of their traps every year due to storms and other boat traffic, cutting into their profits.
What is your solution?
At LiftLabs we've developed EchoLift, which is a ropeless fishing gear designed alongside fishermen in New England to grant them access to the closed fishing areas. Essentially, we cut the rope off entirely, and by not having that rope and buoy being lost in storms or being cut off by passing shipping vessels, they can significantly reduce their gear loss.
It works by clipping directly onto the existing traps, and sinks to the bottom of the ocean with the traps. When the fisher is ready to bring it back, they send a signal down to it, and a buoy inflates, lifting the traps up to the surface, allowing for them to have the first trap ready, reducing up to 2 hours from their average workday. To reset and re-deploy the gear, it takes under 1 minute.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our solution serves fishermen, NOAA, and of course the whales. For fishermen, it provides them access to their often multi-generational fishing grounds which stimulate and underpin much of the coastal economies. NOAA is in search of a solution, as the North Atlantic right whale on the east coast, and humpback whale on the west coast has forced them to close fishing areas due to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and due to a large lawsuit, they are required to reduce entanglement risk by 90% by January 1st, 2029. Lastly, it helps the whales and everyone who benefits from them, as they are on the brink of extinction, and they serve critical roles in the ocean ecosystem.
