Hook and Net vs ER Buoy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hook and Net
This trade journal covers the international commercial fishing industry, focusing on political and technical aspects. It explores the industry's crucial role in the global food network.
- International commercial fishing industry coverage
- Political aspects of fishing
- Technical aspects of fishing
- Global food network analysis
- Trade journal format
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Hook and Net is a trade journal for the international commercial fishing industry, examining political and technical aspects of this vitally important aspect of the global food network.
ER Buoy
This application displays anonymized fishing gear locations in real-time to help fishermen deploy their gear safely and avoid conflicts. It indirectly contributes to reducing whale entanglements and mortality by minimizing gear interaction.
- Real-time location sharing
- Anonymized fishing gear display
- Minimizes gear conflict
- Reduces whale entanglements
- No login required
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This app enables users with an iOS or iPadOS device to automatically send their location to the EarthRanger platform so that anonymized on-demand fishing gear within 5 nautical miles of the user's location can be shown on the map in real-time. This app makes it easier for fishermen to deploy their ropeless gear while minimizing gear conflict with other fishermen, and indirectly reduces whale entanglements with fishing gear and reduces whale mortality There is no login required to use this app. All gear data shown is completely anonymized to ensure data privacy. Terms of use are governed by the EarthRanger End User License Agreement (EULA), which is available at https://EarthRanger/EULA. For more information about Al2's policy on location data, please visit https://www.earthranger.com/privacy-policy.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: ER Buoy at every 6 weeks against Hook and Net's every 12 months. Hook and Net's advantage is ratings volume (9 vs 1). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Hook and Net against 5.0 for ER Buoy. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hook and Net has 9 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Hook and Net ships an update every 12 months, ER Buoy every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hook and Net | ER Buoy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (9 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 9 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 60 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Storholt | Allen Institute for AI |
Customer experience
Hook and Net
ER Buoy
In-app purchases
Hook and Net
No in-app purchases
ER Buoy
No in-app purchases
