ECO-CATCH will deliver a set of alternative fishing gears, designed to replace existing gears and help reduce bycatch and other negative impacts on the environment, whilst maintaining fishing profitability. The alternative gears will be trialled and tested under a range of different conditions, to ensure they meet ECO-CATCH’s main objectives, and are practical and durable at sea.
ILVO, DTU, SLU, THUN
In order to design new pots that are feasible for fishermen, ECO-CATCH will study how effective different pot designs and lures or baits are at attracting their target species. New flatfish pots will target species such as sole and turbot; and multi-species crustacean pots will seek to attract crustaceans such as velvet crab and green crab. Understanding how these species interact with the pots will help inform designs that effectively reduce bycatch, without compromising target catch.
THUN, DTU, SLU
Demersal fisheries are those that fish on or close to the seabed. ECO-CATCH will work closely with demersal seine fishers, researchers, and manufacturers to develop a new small-scale demersal seine system, the MicroSeine System. This new system will help reduce fishing impacts on the seabed, and be designed in collaboration with the industry to facilitate uptake.
DTU, ILVO, SLU, THUN
Following the initial trials and development of the alternative pots and the MicroSeine System, the leading prototypes will be tested in field trials in the Baltic and the North Sea. Utilising the latest observational technology in combination with onboard sampling, data will be collected to assess how the new gears perform against their objectives, in terms of their catch rates, environmental impact, and durability at sea under different conditions and seasons.
SLU, DTU, ILVO, THUN
To ensure that the new gears are commercially viable, ECO-CATCH will compile and analyse all of the field data to inform the next steps in their development. The analysis will focus on the environmental impact of gears, including how effective they are at reducing bycatch and impacts on the seabed; as well as the practicalities of implementation for fishermen in terms of catch rates, associated fuel consumption, and ease of use at sea.
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info@eco-catch.eu
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