Could trawler cams help save world’s dwindling fish stocks?

Hager, left, positions a camera with the help of Anthony Lucia, right, as captain Al Cottone watches the feed on a monitor from his boat, the Sabrina Maria, in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Hager’s Maine-based startup, New England Maritime Monitoring, is one of a bevy of companies seeking to help commercial vessels comply with new federal mandates aimed at protecting dwindling fish stocks. But taking the technology overseas, where the vast majority of seafood consumed in the US is caught, is a steep challenge. — AP

PORTLAND, Maine: For years, Mark Hager’s job as an observer aboard New England fishing boats made him a marked man, seen as a meddling cop on the ocean, counting and scrutinising every cod, haddock and flounder to enforce rules and help set crucial quotas.

On one particularly perilous voyage, he spent 12 days at sea and no crew member uttered even a single word to him.