Back to Company SearchSBIR SUCCESS STORY Blue Ocean Gear
Blue Ocean Gear provides Smart Buoy technology for marine industries to track offshore equipment while collecting low-cost ocean data using an onboard sensor suite. ...
Company
Portfolio Data
Blue Ocean Gear Inc.
UEI: E8KRWWXQCVN7
Number of Employees: 11
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
SBIR/STTR Involvement
Year of first award: 2020
2
Phase I Awards
2
Phase II Awards
100%
Conversion Rate
$251,429
Phase I Dollars
$1,048,531
Phase II Dollars
$1,299,960
Total Awarded
Success Stories
See what our company has achieved through SBIR/STTR funding.
Awards
Enabling Data Measurements Using Smart Buoy Technology On Fishing Gear
Amount: $648,918 Topic: 9.3
As global efforts toward ocean health have gained momentum, it is critical to generate high quality ocean data for industries that operate and/or manage ocean resources. Blue Ocean Gear has demonstrated how Smart Buoys equipped with sensors can be useful to fisheries by tracking gear and providing enhanced marine condition awareness. Building on Phase I efforts, this project will highlight the opportunistic use of fishing gear already out on the water to provide relevant data for adjacent industries. Blue Ocean Gear’s combination of hardware and data will result in a powerful means of obtaining better insights to ocean conditions in high spatial granularity for offshore regions. The proposed project will bring to realization the features required for a low-cost, rugged, sensor-rich Data Buoy. Deployments will demonstrate the value of buoy data from fishing gear in Alaska and/or the Gulf of Mexico for use with meteorologists and offshore wind development. The resulting data products will demonstrate the applicability of these devices for increased markets. The overall outcome will be to bring buoy-generated data into a new realm, where fishing gear can be used to generate high quality data for ocean monitoring and health, and support of the responsible operation of marine industries.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2023
DOC
NOAA
Improving Data Measurements in Alaskan Waters While Reducing Ghost Gear Using Smart Fishing Technology
Amount: $149,478 Topic: 9.3
Climate change impacts on Alaskan waters have created challenges for both fisheries ecosystems as well as the operational safety of mariners in the region, necessitating more accurate weather and ocean condition forecasts. Blue Ocean Gear will demonstrate the application of innovative Smart Buoy devices on fishing gear to capture and transmit data on sea surface temperature and other key ocean conditions in the Bering Sea. The use of fishing gear-based sensors will provide regional meteorologists with more localized data points than currently available, regardless of weather conditions, improving forecast accuracy using fishing gear in exactly the areas where the information is needed most. Blue Ocean Gear’s Smart Buoy is equipped with GPS tracking and other ocean condition sensors and transmits data to a cloud-based database, capable of conveying that information to either a mobile or desktop app. The integrated system is affordable, reliable, and compatible with any fixed-gear configuration. This includes traps, nets, longlines, and aquaculture arrays, all of which are utilized in open Alaskan waters across an area of over 500,000 square miles. This proposal will develop and evaluate a more ruggedized design with increased depth and impact performance as well as the addition of key ocean condition sensors.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2022
DOC
NOAA
Smart Buoy Device to Locate Ropeless Fishing Gear
Amount: $399,613 Topic: 9.2.04
Responsible operation of ropeless fishing gear to avoid whale entanglements must involve a method of rapid retrieval if gear surfaces at a different place and/or time than expected. Blue Ocean Gear has demonstrated the capability of innovative Smart Buoy devices to locate ropeless buoy systems immediately upon reaching the surface. This proposed project will prove operational compatibility on a larger scale and in more fisheries. This technology improves commercial ropeless operations by providing fishermen with an immediate location signal upon surfacing, allowing them to recover gear more reliably and efficiently and time their trips if the ropeless device is passively activated. This technology allows trap fishermen to fish responsibly using ropeless techniques, avoiding whale entanglements as well as lost gear. The Smart Buoy is equipped with GPS tracking and conveys position data to a mobile application on a fisherman’s smart device. The system is affordable, reliable, and compatible with any fixed-gear configurations. This proposed project will evaluate performance in joint deployments with ropeless buoy systems with commercial fishermen in various fisheries, incorporating any improvements to the design based on feedback from the fishers. Design-to-manufacturing considerations will be implemented in preparation for manufacturing and production is put into place.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2021
DOC
NOAA
Smart Buoy Device to Locate Ropeless Fishing Gear
Amount: $101,951 Topic: 9.2.04
Responsible operation of ropeless fishing gear to avoid whale entanglements must involve a method of retrieval if the gear surfaces at a different place and/or time than expected. Blue Ocean Gear will demonstrate the capability of innovative Smart Buoy devices to detect and locate ropeless buoy systems once they have reached the surface, whether planned or unplanned. This will improve commercial operations by providing fishermen with an immediate location signal upon surfacing, allowing them to find and haul their gear more reliably and efficiently, as well as alerts if their gear has come to the surface inadvertently without being signaled to release. This will allow trap fishermen to fish responsibly using ropeless techniques, helping to avoid whale entanglements as well as lost gear. The Smart Buoy design is a standard fishing buoy equipped with GPS tracking as well as communications electronics capable of conveying positioning data to a map display on the fisherman’s smart device. The system is low-cost, reliable, and compatible with current gear configurations. This proposal will evaluate performance under deployment with a ropeless buoy system with commercial fishermen under typical operational conditions.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2020
DOC
NOAA