Catch, Log & Contribute: An App Changing the Game for Fisheries

This presentation features Luyen Chou, an entrepreneur and passionate fly angler, talking about his innovative fishing app, “Got One.” Chou explains that he developed the app to address the lack of tools that help anglers gather and analyze data to improve their fishing performance. The app allows users to log catches, record details such as species and length, and automatically pull environmental data like tide, water temperature, and moon phase from various sensors. The app’s goal is twofold: to help anglers improve their fishing through data-driven insights and to contribute that data to fishery science and management efforts. Chou highlights the importance of protecting user privacy, ensuring that location data is obscured to avoid overfishing hotspots, which has been a concern with other apps. In addition to benefiting anglers, the GotOne app has been embraced by scientific organizations and conservation groups. It provides valuable aggregate data to researchers while protecting individual fishing spots. Chou mentions partnerships with organizations like the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. The app has expanded to support multiple species and is being used to gather catch and release data, particularly for striped bass. Chou shares examples of how the app’s data has already contributed to scientific studies and influenced fishing gear changes to reduce mortality rates in released fish. The presentation emphasizes the potential of the app to enhance both personal angling experiences and fisheries management.