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MARINFORSKFISK-Marine ressurser og miljø - fiskeri

Technology for effective and sustainable resource control.

Alternative title: Teknologi for effektiv og bærekraftig ressurskontroll.

Awarded: NOK 10.8 mill.

According to the Norwegian white paper (NOU 2019: 21), illegal over harvesting and unregistered catch of TAC's represents a significant problem in Norway. According to NOU 2019: 21, such overfishing is revealed as fishermen exceeding their allocated fish quotas, high grading (keeping only fish of larger sizes), and black-market transactions throughout the value-chains, especially within the NEA cod fisheries. Due to weak- and outdated institutions and lack of modern technologies to secure a sufficient resource- and harvest quota control, the white paper identifies severe weaknesses in the public quota control systems and illegal fish transactions. If commercial fisheries significantly exceed the limits for a sustainable fishing mortality (F) to maintain a MSY TAC-production in the long run, unreported catches undermine the data-input to scientific models for a sustainable quota production. In total, the present situation thus threatens the scientific methodologies for a sustainable resource management described above. Automatic catch registration is a technology that may contribute to a more effective and sustainable resource management and combat illegal over harvesting and provide more accurate input to a more sustainable quota production (NOU 2019:21). The project R-Control will develop generic methods and technologies that enable estimating the catch composition arriving on the fishing vessel, applicable to multiple fisheries. The catch composition from each fishing effort will automatically be analyzed regarding species composition and size composition of each species in terms of length and weight. The capture information will automatically be linked to the time and location of each fishing effort, gear used, and other parameters regarding the fishing process.

The main hypothesis of this project is that the implementation of automatic catch registration systems in commercial fishery can lead to a more effective resource control, precise resource management at lower costs while simultaneously providing decision support for fishers and managers leading to increased compliance with regulations. The project will develop generic methods and technologies that enable estimating the catch composition arriving on the fishing vessel, applicable to multiple fisheries. The catch composition from each fishing effort will automatically be analyzed regarding species composition and size composition of each species in terms of length and weight. The capture information will automatically be linked to the time and location of each fishing effort, gear used, and other parameters regarding the fishing process. This will lead to a full-documented fishery that will: • Enable automatic check for compliance with regulations regarding species and size compositions of catch and bycatch. • Enable certification to consumers on sustainability of the fishing process. • Provide decision support for the fishers in between fishing efforts. • Enable information for real-time decisions regarding potential area closures to maintain sustainability. • Provide data for stock assessments directly from the commercial fishing activity.

Funding scheme:

MARINFORSKFISK-Marine ressurser og miljø - fiskeri

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