Advancing Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystem Conservation in the Atlantic and Arctic Sea basin

MarineGuardian will, through a holistic approach, provide impact-driven solutions to reduce fisheries´ environmental impacts on marine species and habitats in line with the Common Fisheries Policy, Marine Action Plan, EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The seafood sector contributes to global food security, but is largely unsustainable, with 38% of fish stocks overexploited and significant ecological implications. 79% of EU’s coastal seabed habitats are disrupted, and a quarter lost, mainly due to intense bottom trawling. Current solutions for more sustainable fisheries exist but are fragmented and often lack real-time actionable insights for fishers and policymakers.MarineGuardian will advance tools, technologies and operational strategies, and enhance knowledge to accelerate the transition towards sustainable and economically viable fisheries. The project will deliver: 1) innovative technologies to reduce and prevent incidental catches of sensitive species and juveniles, 2) best practice guidelines for reduced discard and damage to catch, 3) decision support systems for effective mitigation measures to protect sensitive marine ecosystems, whilst optimising fishing operations, 4) new methods for data sharing in seafood value chains to ease corporate sustainability reporting and ecolabelling processes. These will be co-developed with fishers, management authorities, and policy makers, tested in 6 case studies to demonstrate their feasibility and ensure long term viability of the European seafood sector. A roadmap for sustainable fisheries will be drawn-up to demonstrate scalability and replicability of the solutions in line with the Mission Ocean objectives. The consortium holds the cross-cutting knowledge and expertise within private and research sectors from across the Atlantic and Arctic Sea basin, needed to successfully reach the project’s objectives and have a long-lasting impact on the seafood sector and marine environment.