Patent ID: 8919034

Claim:
A fish trap system, comprising: a submersible geodesic mesh fish enclosure; a cone-shaped fish guideway extending radially inward from an outward end thereof at an opening in the geodesic mesh fish enclosure and tapering towards an inward end thereof within a central portion of the geodesic fish enclosure; an arcuate wall having a first end and a second end, the tapered inward end of the cone-shaped fish guideway being connected to the arcuate wall between the first and second ends at an opening allowing fish to pass through the arcuate wall; a pair of rotating bifurcated arms extending to meet the ends of the arcuate wall, thereby forming a temporary fish trap between the rotating bifurcated arms and a concave portion of the arcuate wall; a first elongate wall extending from the first end of the arcuate wall to a peripheral wall of the geodesic mesh fish enclosure; a second elongate wall extending from a rotational axis of the rotating bifurcated arms to the peripheral wall of the geodesic mesh fish enclosure, the first elongate wall, one of the bifurcated arms, the second elongate wall, and the peripheral wall of the geodesic mesh fish enclosure forming a permanent trap area for the fish, and the second elongate wall, the other one of the bifurcated arms, and the peripheral wall of the geodesic mesh fish enclosure forming a release area for the fish; means for remotely observing the fish in the temporary fish trap, the permanent trap area, and the release area for the fish; means for remotely rotating the bifurcated arms so that the other one of the bifurcated arms sweeps the arcuate wall from the second end of the arcuate wall to the first end of the arcuate wall, thereby transferring fish caught in the temporary fish trap to the permanent trap area; means for remotely rotating the bifurcated arms so that the one of the bifurcated arms sweeps the arcuate wall from the first end of the arcuate wall to the second end of the arcuate wall, thereby transferring fish caught in the temporary fish trap to the release area for the fish; a release door disposed in the peripheral wall of the geodesic mesh fish enclosure in the release area; and means for remotely controlling opening and closing the release door, thereby controlling release of the fish from the geodesic mesh fish enclosure.