Project Details
Description
There is an increasing demand to produce seafood in a sustainable and circular way that also takes animal welfare into account. Over 50% of the total catch value in Danish fisheries are caught with bottom trawls. At the same time, bottom trawling is currently being categorized as being destructive for the environment with respect to seabed impact, fuel consumption and unwanted catches. These impact heavy fisheries are demanded banned by several NGOs challenging the seafood supply and industries depending on fisheries.
The resilience of the demersal fisheries in the years to come will depend on the sector’s ability to transform to sustainable harvesting and circular seafood production while improving catch value and so the revenue.
The EMFAF ACCELERATOR project is a value chain project which aims to accelerate this transformation in several ways:
- Firstly, by replacing the current trial-and-error approach to gear development with a generic, information-based approach. This will pave way for monitoring catch distribution dynamics along the gear when developing more sustainable and animal welfare-enhancing trawl modifications that do not compromise the revenue of the fishers, which again stimulate industry uptake.
- Secondly, by investigating how gear components and modifications influence the catchability and selectivity of different catch components.
- Thirdly, by strengthening the commercial relations in the blue sector to new catch value in all steps of the value chain.
The aim is to establish a common understanding of the barriers and potentials related to seafood caught with bottom trawls throughout the value chain as well as to establish common goals to overcome the barriers. New collaborations for innovative development of seafood products based on circular production are promoted and encouraged. A Wild fish Industry Sustainability Hub (WISH) will be established where established collaborations and innovative product development can continue beyond the project period.
The EMFAF ACCELERATOR-project builds on established and ongoing knowledge, methods, technologies in national and international projects as well as initiatives in industry networks. The project is a collaboration between DTU Aqua, Danish Ocean Cluster and Danish Fishers Producer Organisation and is conducted with an active involvement of the fishing and fish processing industry, retailers, eco-labels and other relevant stakeholders.
Funding
The project is co-funded by the European Union through the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Programme (EMFAF).
Research area: Fisheries Technology
Research area: Marine Populations and Ecosystem Dynamics
Research area: Observation Technology
The resilience of the demersal fisheries in the years to come will depend on the sector’s ability to transform to sustainable harvesting and circular seafood production while improving catch value and so the revenue.
The EMFAF ACCELERATOR project is a value chain project which aims to accelerate this transformation in several ways:
- Firstly, by replacing the current trial-and-error approach to gear development with a generic, information-based approach. This will pave way for monitoring catch distribution dynamics along the gear when developing more sustainable and animal welfare-enhancing trawl modifications that do not compromise the revenue of the fishers, which again stimulate industry uptake.
- Secondly, by investigating how gear components and modifications influence the catchability and selectivity of different catch components.
- Thirdly, by strengthening the commercial relations in the blue sector to new catch value in all steps of the value chain.
The aim is to establish a common understanding of the barriers and potentials related to seafood caught with bottom trawls throughout the value chain as well as to establish common goals to overcome the barriers. New collaborations for innovative development of seafood products based on circular production are promoted and encouraged. A Wild fish Industry Sustainability Hub (WISH) will be established where established collaborations and innovative product development can continue beyond the project period.
The EMFAF ACCELERATOR-project builds on established and ongoing knowledge, methods, technologies in national and international projects as well as initiatives in industry networks. The project is a collaboration between DTU Aqua, Danish Ocean Cluster and Danish Fishers Producer Organisation and is conducted with an active involvement of the fishing and fish processing industry, retailers, eco-labels and other relevant stakeholders.
Funding
The project is co-funded by the European Union through the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Programme (EMFAF).
Research area: Fisheries Technology
Research area: Marine Populations and Ecosystem Dynamics
Research area: Observation Technology
| Acronym | ACCELERATOR |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Effective start/end date | 01/05/2024 → 05/07/2027 |
Collaborative partners
- Technical University of Denmark (lead)
- Danish Ocean Cluster
- Danish Fishermens Producers Organisation
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