Undertaking fishing waste with an app

About this project

Naturally, fishers spend a lot of time at sea. That simple observation is the key to addressing one of the greatest problems of our time: ocean pollution.
The international Fishing for Litter project specifically encourages fishers to (also) collect waste and bring it ashore in big bags, where they can be recycled. 

That already sounds like a great idea in theory, but actually making it happen requires some practical organisation.

“First and foremost, De Rederscentrale and other fishermen who participate in the project needed a tool that makes it easy to register how much waste is being collected,” says Andries De Reyghere, founder and managing partner at Bits of Love.

“At their request, we developed an app in which all of the necessary data can be entered very easily: the quantity of bags, where they’re brought ashore, where the waste was collected and by whom, … Until now, all of this data needed to be collected manually and threatened to quickly become a hassle.” 

Basic and time-saving

Sea fishing is intensive work as is, and under no circumstances should the app affect daily activities.

Andries De Reyghere: ​“This was the customer’s main requirement: simple data entry for the fishers, who are the end-users of the app. That is why we mainly reasoned from their point of view and reduced the registration process of a big bag down to its pure essence. The result is a basic, but very smooth and time-saving app that does what it’s supposed to do without any distractions or unnecessary functionalities.”

An additional advantage is that the customer gains insight into the data in a structured and clear manner. 

“Because the information is also public, De Rederscentrale is able to further raise awareness about Fishing for Litter and highlight their contribution to the fishing industry”, Andries concludes.