A new multi-stakeholder project has launched at DTU Aqua in Hirtshals to develop innovative methods of fishing in the Baltic and North Sea with the task of maintaining the profitability of fisheries while reducing the bycatch of juvenile fish and endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) species.
Focusing on the Baltic and North Sea, and alongside two sister projects for the Arctic–Atlantic and Mediterranean, over the next five years the EU multi-stakeholder project ECO-CATCH aims to play a key role in helping both marine ecosystems and fisheries in Europe to thrive.
The ECO-CATCH team are leading scientists, industry innovators, and certification bodies brought together by the funding by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), and led by Dr. Valentina Melli and Dr. Lotte Kindt-Larsen at DTU Aqua.
‘ECO-CATCH is about turning scientific innovation into real-world solutions for Europe’s seas, fishers, and communities. By working across the value chain, we can deliver technologies and business models that make sustainable fishing the new standard,’ Valentina Melli said.
The aim of ECO-CATCH is to turn ten promising innovations for protecting habitats and minimising bycatch of juvenile fish and ETP species into ready-to-use commercial technologies to enhance the sustainability of fleets and thereby support their access to premium seafood markets.
Collectively, the intention is for these technologies to boost the ability of fishers to avoid vulnerable habitats and areas of high bycatch risk, and provide more selective or alternative gear to minimise the capture of juvenile fish and ETP species. This includes wheelhouse visualisers to guide skippers to areas where they can fish efficiently without damaging habitat or catching non-target species, modifying trawls to make them easier for cod to escape from, progressing the new MicroSeine gear for small-scale demersal fishers, and developing alternative gear such as seal-proof pots.
The last phase of the project will focus on demonstrating the viability of these technologies in commercial fishing conditions, addressing legal and social barriers to their adoption, and enabling them to be recognised in certification assessments.
Fishers are seen as vital to the efforts of ECO-CATCH and other initiatives. They can help spot and flag changes to the environment and populations of fish and other marine animals, and they can play an important role in developing, trialing, and adopting innovations.
Team members from across the consortium converged on DTU Aqua’s Hirtshals Campus for the kick-off meeting in June to make and strengthen connections, discuss the project’s objectives and ambitions, horizon-scan for opportunities and challenges, and prepare for the months and years of fruitful work to come.
‘It was amazing having the partners together in the same room and sharing their wishes for change and collaboration. Everyone is making the effort and positive engagement to make ECO-CATCH fly!’ said Dr. Lotte Kindt-Larsen, the project’s co- coordinator.
Alongside the Technical University of Denmark, partners include the Institute of Marine Research (Norway), the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Belgium), the Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute (Germany), the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Anchor Lab (Denmark), Espersen (Denmark), Egersund Group (Norway), the Electronic Fish Information Centre Europe (the Netherlands), Atlas Maridan (Denmark), the Marine Stewardship Council (UK), the International Seafood Consulting Group (Finland), the Good Fish Guide (Luxembourg), the European Association of Fish Producers Organisations (Belgium) and Mindfully Wired (UK).
ECO-CATCH has received €8.5 million in funding from CINEA, with a further €18.5 million from the EU for its sister projects in the Arctic-Atlantic and Mediterranean to deliver joint fast-track sustainability solutions and provide return-on-investment for society.
