Project Details

Description

This project aims to strengthen the technological development of fisheries in order to (i) reduce search time and fuel consumption per capita. tonnes of industrial fish caught, (ii) ensure better utilization of the sprat quota, (iii) pave the way for sustainable self-management of resources in the Danish industrial fishing sector and (iv) contribute to the maintenance and innovation of jobs in the local fishing communities.

The specific project goal is development of an IT tool that will include (i) a platform that can help optimize knowledge sharing and registration of observable and derived variables (data), and (ii) custom and user-controlled digital sea charts with the ocean data, which fishermen consider important as background information when planning and conducting fishing trips. This ocean data includes (but is not limited to) a portfolio of ocean charts from North Sea hydrography and bottom conditions over the distribution of plankton and fish species to aquatic DNA.

Trends in industrial fishing today: The average size of each vessel has gone up, while the number of large vessels has been reduced to about 1/8 of what it was in the past. The immediate consequence is a reduction in collective search efficiency and knowledge sharing. In addition, in 2011 an area based management was introduced in the sandeel fishery, which has further contributed to limiting the fishermen's opportunities to diversify the fishery and search a wide range of fishing grounds. In addition, the sprat fishery is uncertain due to by-catch restrictions and a very variable catchability controlled by e.g. wind and weather. This has meant that the sprat quota is currently underutilized by around 100,000 tonnes per year. The fishermen's previous knowledge of good fishing opportunities is based on covariation between historical catches and observable variables at the time of capture such as season, wind, waves and tides, and it is precisely this type of knowledge that the project wants to combine with a technological solution. data is made widely available to the fisherman in the form of user-controlled digital sea charts.

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

Funding
The project is funded by Green Development and Demonstration Programme (GUDP) under the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries. 

Research area: Marine Living Resources
Research area: Marine Populations and Ecosystem Dynamics
Research area: Population Genetics
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date01/01/201531/12/2018

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