PISCES - Reducing bycatch – Saving fishing crews money – Facilitating compliance Enabling the long-term sustainability of the fishing industry

Project Information

PISCES

Grant agreement ID: 790835

DOI

10.3030/790835

Project closed

EC signature date 21 November 2017

Start date 1 December 2017

End date 30 April 2018

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

SAFETYNET TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PISCES (PISCES - Reducing bycatch – Saving fishing crews money – Facilitating complianceEnabling the long-term sustainability of the fishing industry)

Reporting period: 2017-12-01 to 2018-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Overfishing is a huge problem globally, with billions of fish (and other species) being wasted each year. This leads to decreased food security, financial implications for fishing businesses and a decrease in marine biodiversity. Commercial fishing capture technology hasn't progressed much over the last 40 years to address this. Most innovations are incremental, changing the geometries of nets with marginal returns in terms of bycatch/fish discard reduction. The science that SNTech devices are based on is new and evolving, and we're working with many of the global research leads. Around 1/5 of the global population relies on fish as a primary protein source, and coastal (and other) communities rely on the income that catching and selling fish generates. As the global population continues to grow (+2bn by 2050), it is increasingly important to protect the ocean food source. Changing regulation and consumer pressure across the fishing supply chain means that fishermen and fish processors are being punished for their inability to catch more selectively and avoid non-target species such as turtles, juveniles and seabirds. However, they currently don't have access to tools to enable them to catch more selectively. This is where SNTech aims to provide a solution, in the form of Pisces, introducing our technology to help fishermen catch only the right fish. The objectives are therefore to lower non-target species capture, preserve biodiversity and protect the ocean food source through the introduction of affordable, easy to use bycatch mitigation devices.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

SNTech undertook the following activities in order to generate the Phase 1 report:

- Stakeholder interviews
- Market research
- Competitive analysis
- Supply chain interviews
- Strategic partner interviews
- Product manufacture process research and pricing calculations
- Generation of IP, Tech, Regulation and Business strategies
- Impact analysis
- Risk analysis and Mitigation measures
- Financial forecasting

Results have already been used to inform SNTech's wider business strategy, customer engagement and accelerated our IPR identification and protection. The report has been distributed to SNTech's Advisory Board (under NDA) for feedback and further discussion.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The Phase 1 Feasibility Report project is now completed. Results were the Feasibility Report that will underpin an application for SME Instrument Phase 2 Project funding.

SNTech works on introducing light to commercial fishing processes to lower bycatch.