US Patent Issued on Oct. 7 for "Methods and apparatus for removing and bleeding fish from a gill net" (Washington Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 8 -- United States Patent no. 12,433,270, issued on Oct. 7.

"Methods and apparatus for removing and bleeding fish from a gill net" was invented by Rick Koetje (Tacoma, Wash.) and Andrew Blackstock (Bonney Lake, Wash.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The present invention provides methods and apparatus for efficiently removing fish from gill nets and consistently initiating the bleeding process by providing electronic units having a flat outer surface with a sensor thereon, and a piston-actuated blade mounted behind an opening in the surface adjacent to the sensor. Electronics are provided to receive signals from the sensor and to operate the piston. In operation, a fish en...