Baltic harbour porpoise © Thünen Institute/Th.Noack

About

WHAT IS ECO-CATCH?

ECO-CATCH brings together a consortium of 15 partners from across the seafood value chain, including fishing industry innovators, leading scientists, and market incentive schemes. The project is coordinated by DTU Aqua and funded by the European Union.

We work collaboratively across sectors on innovations that will help fisheries in the Baltic and North Sea to achieve environmental, social, and economic sustainability. We will trial and refine 10 innovative fishing technologies and gears that reduce: bycatch of sensitive species and juvenile fish; and impact on habitats.

OUR MISSION

To make sustainable fishing practices a commercial reality in the Baltic and North Sea through proven, scalable innovations that protect sensitive species, young fish, and key habitats.

Objective 1
– Improve understanding of bycatch risk

Deliver 3 AI detector systems for accurate real-time estimates of bycatch onboard commercial vessels, providing rapid and accurate knowledge on bycatch levels.

Objective 2
Innovate real-time fisher information

Deliver 2 scalable Wheelhouse Visualisers that inform fishers in real-time on the fishing areas of lowest-impact and highest-return.

Objective 3
Facilitate implementation of new technologies

Compile a Catalogue of 10 decision-support tools and gear designs that allow fishers to reduce bycatch in existing fisheries, or transition to economically viable alternative fishing methods.

Objective 4
– Demonstrate practical use of new technology and gear

Showcase all 10 technologies and gears under commercial conditions in at least 3 countries. Through this process, we will investigate and resolve technical, economic, social, and legal barriers to widespread implementation.

Objective 5 – Deliver market-ready solutions

Showcase the impact and economic benefits of adopting the technologies and gears by delivering 4 replicable business models, and requirements for certification, rating and sustainability reporting.

WHAT ARE WE DOING?

ECO-CATCH is working across 2 European seas and 9 case study fisheries. Bringing together partners and sectors across the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, the project will not only develop a catalogue of 10 scalable solutions, but we will demonstrate their use aboard commercial vessels. We will showcase the impact and economic benefits of adopting the technologies and gears, developing requirements for certification, rating and sustainability reporting.

OUR PARTNERS

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