Fishing industry in transition: selective, sustainable and future-proof

Available fishing grounds are dwindling, because fishermen do not have access to wind farms, for example. The fishing industry is also dealing with Brexit, the landing obligation and the pulse trawling ban. Attention to fish welfare and the climate impact of the fishing industry is growing. The fishing industry must therefore change: less seabed disturbance, less fuel consumption and less unwanted by-catch. WUR is addressing this together with fishermen and other partners. 

Researchers are working on fishing gear innovations that reduce by-catch, increase by-catch survival, reduce seabed disturbance and save fuel. This is done in a multidisciplinary way and in close collaboration with the fleet. 

WUR has a statutory duty with respect to stock estimates and provides data and analysis for this purpose within ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea). To gather knowledge, we combine research surveys, and landing and self-sampling with statistical models. For species for which few data are available, such as rare ray and shark species, we use trend information and supplementary projects.