An easier and faster evaluation of gear designs to avoid cod catches in mixed species fisheries (104053)

The project UnCod aims at developing an easier and faster framework to compare gear designs that can be used to reduce unwanted catches, and in particular cod, in mixed species trawl fish-eries. By combining gear selectivity data, stock assessment data and newly developed statistical approaches, the predictive framework will identify the most effective gear designs, balancing ecological objectives (such as the required reduction in cod catches) and economical objectives (such as the retention of other valuable species). The predictive framework will allow scientists, fishermen and fisheries managers to rank the performance of different gear designs, in terms of cod catches and in terms of multispecies catch profile.

Moreover, the project UnCod aims at transforming how the selectivity of fishing gears is described and presented to the stakeholders by applying data visualization approaches (i.e. visual summary of complex information). These approaches will enable users to explore the results of the predictive framework according to their specific needs, for example exploring the performance of different gear designs in relation to specific catch goals.

Partners
DTU Aqua, National Institute of Aquatic Resources (coordinator)
Danish Fishermen PO, Denmark

Funding
This project is funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and National Fisheries Agency.

Research area: Fisheries Technology
Research area: Fisheries Management