Research project Climate-friendly and resilient fisheries through innovation and co-learning

In progress INFINIFISH 01/06/2025 → 31/05/2029

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Els Torreele

ILVO researcher

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General introduction

The central goal of the Infinifish-project is to address climate-driven challenges in fisheries. Practical innovations are developed or optimized across the entire fisheries value chain, ranging from fishing operations and processing to management and governance. Since the climate and biodiversity crises demand immediate action, the project also focuses on the rapid market introduction and broad adoption of these innovations within the sector. This paves the way towards a climate-friendly, resilient, and profitable fishery.

Research approach

This project relies on transdisciplinary collaboration between technological, social, and natural sciences. The innovative technologies are demonstrated and validated in several pilot cases, each carried out within a specific region and fishery. Early and repeated testing makes it possible to use intermediate results to improve the technologies. Their performance and potential impact will be assessed using predefined indicators. A subset of the pilot cases will also be linked to social studies, which will identify opportunities and barriers for adoption and thereby provide valuable feedback to the developmental process.

Relevance/Valorization

Due to climate change, the global fish biomass is expected to decline by 30% this century. European fisheries are particularly vulnerable because of changes in sea surface temperature and ocean acidification. These changes lead to altered migration patterns, a higher occurrence of non-indigenous species, and other disruptions of the marine ecosystem. Infinifish aims for immediately-applicable measures: improved monitoring of ecosystems and fisheries, reducing the impact of fisheries on climate and nature, or strengthening the resilience of fishers and other stakeholders, by means of innovative technologies, and others. This will ensure the sustainability of exploitation of the marine environment in the future.