Context

OptiFish aims to unlock the full potential of monitoring technologies to reduce discards, unreported landings and unreported fishing activities, providing a data system fit for the digital age in support of fisheries sustainable management that ensures economic and ecological future of provisioning ecosystem services.

The project will lay a solid foundation for full technological development from which other projects and initiatives can be built. The project will place a strong focus on species recognition in different fisheries equipped with distinctly different catch handling facilities and in different European sea basins.

To ensure that these innovations are relevant to fisheries management, OptiFish has participation from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, and has received written support from the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), the Basque, Danish and Belgian Fisheries Authorities.

Expected results

• OptiFish onboard technologies (including AI-based) will improve catch composition, health assessment and reporting capabilities, regardless of the vessel type.
• OptiFish will help lose legislative loopholes enabling IUU, by laying the groundwork for a multi-lateral control agreement and developing performance standards for catch reporting systems.
• Development of business models and a marketing strategy and performance standards.
• Increase of the quality of fish being processed along the value chain and the flow of data to increase transparency.
• Increased exchange and flow of data specific to vessel types and catch handling facilities that can be used to advance research and innovation.
• More sustainable caught, as a result of fewer discards, and higher quality from the data obtained from rapid DNA assays.