Rural student’s fishing machine to be showcased in Japan

Mangaluru: An innovative fish catching machine by a government schoolboy from a remote village in Bantwal is all set to be showcased in Japan on Saturday.
Koushik, who is a PU student, designed the fish catching machine, which is eco-friendly, where one can catch a selected fish, and the rest can be freed without any harm coming to them. The innovation by Koushik, the son of tipper truck driver Krishnappa Poojary and beedi rolling mother Harinakshi, comes from his own experience, where he saw that small fishes were dying during fishing. He hails from Maninalkuru village in Bantwal taluk.
His innovation will be showcased during the Sakura Exchange Programme in science, 2019, in Japan. Interestingly, he is the only student from a government school among 19 other participants from India to visit Japan.
Speaking to TOI, Koushik shared that he was interested in science model making since childhood. “During a recent science model making competition, school teacher Vanitha asked me to make a model that is unique. I came up with a fishing machine as I saw that many fishes died when fishing activities were carried out. I designed the model without any help from anyone, and with available resources,” he added.
He was selected out of 350 students from Karnataka for a national level science competition. Later, at the national level he competed with 800 models and was one among 19 students to be selected to showcase his model in Japan.
About the innovation
Koushik explained that whenever chemicals or explosives are used in fishing, it kills fishes in large numbers. He model uses a 12-volt battery and an aluminium rod which electrocutes the fish, causing them to become unconscious. “They stay unconscious for three minutes. One can then choose the right fish and leave the rest alone,” according to Kaushik.
Features of machine
#Fishes do not die of electric shock
#It is easy to catch bigger fishes
#It saves time
#Mass destruction of the fishes are avoided
#The small fishes can be allowed to grow
#No water pollution
#one gets a choice of picking fishes that is required than mass killing
#Can catch fish even if it is hidden inside the big rocks
# Helpful in catching crabs and tortoise without any injury
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