Tag: Marine

A report released today from Fisheries Innovation and Sustainability, funded by the Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust, marks a significant step towards understanding the requirements for a net zero fishing industry. The report represents the culmination of a collaborative effort between Macduff Ship Design, the University of Exeter’s Centre for Future Clean Mobility (CFCM), and FIS. It sets out six first-of-their-kind designs for alternatively-powered fishing vessels, highlights the barriers to their development, and proposes next steps for the industry in exploring the transition to a net zero future.

In April 2022, industry leaders and key stakeholders converged in Glasgow for the FIS-organised ‘Vessels of the Future‘ workshop, to discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with the creation of net-zero fishing fleets. Following this participatory workshop, FIS commissioned Macduff Ship Design, in collaboration with the CFCM, to identify critical barriers and obstacles to achieving net-zero emissions in the fishing sector, with a focus on three distinct vessel types.

A second stage, supported by Marine Fund Scotland, focused on the development of six concept vessel designs based on the most viable clean fuel options identified in the earlier stage. These designs have undergone rigorous proof-of-concept validation to ensure feasibility and are set out in the report launched today.

The concept designs we provided for this report represent a feasible way for fishing vessels to transition away from diesel to a net zero alternative. Whilst we ensured that all the designs are viable from a development perspective, the report also highlights the significant challenges facing this transition that need to be overcome in order to achieve the goal of a net zero fishing fleet.

Duncan Boag, Naval Architect at Macduff Ship Design.

The report presents two concept designs for each of the following vessel types: under 10m creel boats, 15m Nephrops trawlers, and under 24m whitefish trawlers. These designs are tailored to use some of the most promising alternative fuel options – battery electric, methanol, and LNG (Liquified Natural Gas).

Underscored within the report is the need to address technical, regulatory, and financial barriers before widespread industry investment and adoption becomes viable. Technical challenges noted include equipment availability and the development of the critical underpinning infrastructure for the alternative fuels listed. Regulatory compliance remains a concern, but the report anticipates smoother interactions with regulators as understanding relating to zero-emission vessels accumulates. Financially, increased capital costs and uncertainties surrounding fuel prices require careful consideration and remain a significant challenge for the sector.

These designs show what could be possible for UK fishing vessels if we can address current financial, regulatory, and technical barriers. However, they do verify concerns raised in our earlier project – that vessel owners trying to do the right thing in switching to alternative fuels will, for now, be at a critical disadvantage competing in a market with diesel vessels. These early adopters must be able to access financial assistance, business advice, and regulatory support. Not only that, the enabling architecture (such as ports and harbour infrastructure, fuel supply chains, vessel finance packages, and skills and safety training) must be established before these designs can become a reality, meeting government and retailer net zero targets whilst also keeping fishermen safe and competitive.

Kara Brydson, Executive Director of FIS.

Looking ahead, the report identifies potential next exploratory steps to further progress on the road to net zero fishing vessels, including a review of harbour infrastructure, the investigation of retrofitting options for existing vessels, and the use of the concept designs to build a demonstration vessel. Findings from the report have the potential to influence new innovations and regulatory frameworks, taking practical steps to move towards a sustainable future for the UK seafood industry.

Until now, it has not been possible to evaluate the practical implications of our work on optimised clean powertrain design on the performance and operation of vessels. This ground-breaking work from Macduff Ship Design has shed invaluable light on the challenges of developing clean propulsion vessels, and highlights the necessary regulatory, operational, and infrastructure-related changes needed to make this work a reality.

Professor Chris Smith, Director for the CFCM.

Read the report.

View the vessel designs.

Support from the Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust has delivered the launch of a new apprenticeship programme designed to bring through the next generation of fishers. With recruitment presenting a key challenge to the future of the UK fishing industry and the sector facing an ageing work force, it is hoped that this programme will help develop a new cohort of British fishermen who can continue the legacy of this historic industry.

The programme, developed by the South Western Fish Producer Organisation (SWFPO) will support the first fisher apprenticeship programme in England. The 18 month apprenticeship allows students to get a hands-on experience and learn about the whole fishing operation from sea to sale.

As an apprentice, students will be employed by Supplytrain, but get to work across different boats within the SWFPO membership, catching different fish and learning from experienced crew while also studying seamanship, gear construction and how to care for the catch at South Devon College.

The life of a commercial fisher is physically demanding but immensely rewarding, providing the skills and opportunities to become an experienced deckhand, a skipper, a marine engineer or even a future vessel owner.

The programme has now secured the support of the Morrisons supermarket chain, who are transferring over £100K of apprenticeship funding to the fishing sector. Morrisons is transferring an Apprenticeship Levy to Supplytrain to help train ten new apprentice fishermen.

The Government Apprenticeship Levy is paid by employers to help fund apprenticeship programmes and Morrisons has agreed to transfer £100,000 of its funds to pay for the SWFPO’s first cohort of ten apprentices. The first cohort will start their programme this September.

Fisheries Innovation and Sustainability, a coalition of experts working to drive strategic innovation for a prosperous UK fishing industry, funded by the FCFCT’s Good Practice in UK Fishing programme, are developing new technology which could significantly reduce the amount of bycatch (the unintentional capture of non-targeted species) in fishing vessels.

Smartrawl – an underwater robotic sorting device which helps fishing trawlers prevent bycatch by identifying and sizing fish and other marine life in real-time – is being developed by researchers from Heriot-Watt University in partnership with FIS, and funded by the UK Seafood Innovation Fund.

The technology has now been covered on STV, you can watch the footage here.

Smartrawl uses AI-technology to determine the individual size and species of marine life captured inside a trawl net using images taken by an underwater stereo camera. It then releases or retains each marine animal depending on whether it qualifies against a trawler’s intended catch using a computer-controlled robotic gate.

Trawling is a fishing practice that herds and captures target species, like fish or prawns, by towing a net along the ocean floor. This method of fishing is known to cause discarding and bycatch, where fish or other marine animals are accidentally caught and returned to the sea, most often dead. According to global marine fisheries data, it is estimated that 46% of all marine fish that are discarded come from this method of fishing.

Developed by researchers from the Lyell Centre and the National Robotarium at Heriot-Watt University, the sorting device has been designed in collaboration with the UK fishing industry. An industry steering group composed of commercial skippers, fisheries scientists and seafood experts have fed into the unique project since 2017, led by FIS. The Smartrawl device is able to fit into existing nets of all sizes of vessels and requires no additional cables due to the device’s patented gate system which works with the force of the water to rotate between open and closed states.

Using the system, fishers will be able to programme trawls to catch specific marine animals according to their size and species, market conditions and allotted quotas, resulting in no discards or bycatch.

Components of the project have already been tested at sea, and further trials are scheduled for later this year [2023] in Shetland using the research vessel Atlantia, operated by the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Paul Fernandes, the inventor of Smartrawl, is scientific lead for the project. He is a professor of fisheries science and technology at the Lyell Centre and Heriot-Watt Bicentennial Research Leader. He said:

“More than 4 million tonnes of marine fish are unintentionally caught by trawlers around the world every year, as well as bycatch of sharks, rays, dolphins, critically endangered turtles and seabirds. The sad reality is that these creatures, more often than not, are returned to the sea dead or dying.

“Current methods used on trawlers are unable to distinguish between different species and animals or give skippers enough information to build an accurate understanding of the size of individual fish prior to capture.

“Smartrawl has been developed to ensure that vessels only catch the fish they’re targeting, releasing other animals back into their natural environment quickly and without harm. As a result, we’re confident that discarding and bycatch could quickly become a thing of the past and our precious marine life preserved.”

David Richardson, chief entrepreneurial executive at Heriot-Watt University, said:

“Smartrawl presents a significant step towards benefiting the marine environment whilst protecting the business reputation of seafood producers and contributing to the UK economy. Significantly, it has the potential to revolutionise fisheries around the world by supporting them to be more commercially viable and sustainable.

“Across Heriot-Watt’s breadth of research facilities, institutions and campuses, we’re delivering real-world impact everyday, developing ground-breaking research into commercial applications and pioneering solutions to some of our planet’s most pressing challenges.”

FIS Executive Director, Kara Brydson, noted:

“The UK Seafood Innovation Fund supports bold and ambitious tech-driven projects that will enable a step-change in the productivity and sustainability of the UK seafood sector. That perfectly describes Smartrawl, and this grant will take us nearer to our goal of enabling UK fishers to select and retain their high-quality catch while releasing non-target species back into our seas.”

Fishing into the Future is playing a pivotal role in a social research project providing industry guidance, communications support, and fishermen facilitators to build trust and bridge connections between industry and academia.

The industry-led charity and long term partner of our Fisheries Charitable Trust, Fishing into the Future (FITF), are working alongside industry to design a Commercial Fisheries Social Survey, which will will collect data on health and wellbeing, cultural identity, community, traditions, and values amongst fishers. The survey will be led by the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) at the University of Gloucestershire and is funded by DEFRA. Industry stakeholders will have an opportunity to say what they feel needs to be included in the survey. Fishing into the Future are helping CCRI to directly reach members of the catch sector. This includes online and in-person workshops at fishing ports, held between March and May 2023.

Emma Plotnek, FITF Executive Director said:

“We have many experienced, forward-thinking people on our Trusteeship, so we are very well positioned to play a supporting role to communicate, provide advice and build trust and connections in projects such as this one. In particular, being able to have fishermen from our Board of Trustees facilitating and actively participating in the workshops has been so valuable to the work.

Participants see a member of their local industry vouching for the credibility of this work, and are able to keep the jargon to a minimum helping to bridge gaps in understanding between industry and the researchers, and vice versa.  

When the team at the University of Gloucestershire asked us to be involved in the co-design process, we saw this as a fantastic opportunity to support the advancement of industry, researchers and policymakers towards co-management.  It’s well known that social data is scarce in the fishing industry, so we want to encourage meaningful research that could potentially inform future fisheries management and capture the social situation within the industry and how it changes over time.”

More information on the project can be viewed on the Fishing Porthole Website. If you would like to get involved with the charity you can visit the website, follow them on social media or contact the FITF Executive Director, Emma Plotnek, for more information.

Contact: emma@fitf.co.uk

The Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust, in partnership with UK Women in Fisheries, is offering five free places on The Oxford Women’s Leadership Development Programme from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

This 6-week online course offers a space to critically examine, acknowledge, and develop your leadership style and skills within a community of like-minded professionals. The course will help you to gain an understanding of the challenges female leaders face within the workplace and explore the unique strengths that will enable you to lead, negotiate, and influence others. Discover how to analyse and navigate cultural dimensions, and expand your mentorship capabilities in order to empower others to pursue leadership roles. Based on an overarching programme framework of self-acceptance, self-management, and self-development, you’ll gain the skills and confidence to broaden your impact and realise your full potential as a leader.

Applicants for the Fishmonger’ grant do not need to have formal qualifications, but they must have knowledge of and experience within the fishing and seafood sector. Applicants should also express an interest in supporting fisheries management, with preference given to those who currently manage or would like to support the development of fishing associations. The grant forms part of Fishmongers’ ambitions to support the development of fishing and seafood associations that address regional and national opportunities and challenges.

In order to complete the programme, you’ll need a current email account and access to a computer and the internet, as well as a PDF Reader. You may need to view Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, and read and create documents in Microsoft Word or Excel.

To apply, please email Alison.Freeman@Fishmongers.org.uk by 26th February 2023.

Working alongside the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation (SCFF) and Herriot Watt University, the Company is helping to support the development of ropeless fishing gear, helping to make fishing practices safer for wildlife and ultimately save the lives of sharks, wales and dolphins.

Entanglement is the biggest identified cause of death due to human activity for minke and humpback whales, and the extent of the issue has not been well understood. Whales and other marine animals can become entangled in fishing equipment, including the ropes linking creels (also known as pots), which are set around Scotland’s coasts to catch prawns, crabs and lobsters.  There is now a legal obligation in Scotland for fishers to report entanglements.

In 2021, a study involving the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA), the Scottish Government, and academics, estimated that in Scottish waters, approximately six humpback whales and 30 minke whales become entangled in creel fishing ropes each year. Other marine species such as basking sharks and dolphins were also recorded to have been entangled.

‘Ropeless gear’ technologies do exist to mitigate the issue of entanglements. Developed in the US, they work by using an acoustic release device to allow the rope that would usually be in the water column to be stored at depth and then released on demand. However, the current technology is too expensive or cumbersome for use in the UK fishing sector.

In 2022, the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation (SCFF) approached the FCFCT’s Fishing Industry Science Partnership Network for their help to devise ‘ropeless’ technology that would be fit for purpose.  The FISP Network connected the SCFF and SEA with Heriot Watt University. Following a collaborative process, the stakeholders designed and developed an acoustic release device and associated gear marking technology that will be trialled by the fishing industry this year.

Yvan Petillot, project lead and professor in robotics at Heriot-Watt University, has previously developed acoustic communications suitable for underwater use and has developed solutions for underwater sensing using connected acoustic modems. His team of students will utilise underwater remote sensing technology to develop and test a new generation of low-cost systems, linked to a state-of-the-art software app to provide the capabilities required by the creel industry in Scotland. They will integrate modems (which come with low power electronics) with a latch system attached to the creel to release on demand. Alongside this, there will be development of a top station with a Bluetooth link to a mobile phone app to release the rope. Finally, the project will develop an electronic marking system in place of where a buoy would mark gear.

The Scottish inshore fishing industry makes a significant contribution to the national economy and forms the backbone of many small coastal communities. Entanglements have conservation, welfare and economic consequences, costing the industry in gear replacement. This project aims  to make an affordable technology, predicting £50 a unit when produced in bulk, to ensure a workable mitigation strategy for reducing entanglements.

Yvan Petillot, project lead and professor in robotics at Heriot-Watt University, has previously developed acoustic communications suitable for underwater use and has developed solutions for underwater sensing using connected acoustic modems. His team of students will utilise underwater remote sensing technology to develop and test a new generation of low-cost systems, linked to a state-of-the-art software app to provide the capabilities required by the creel industry in Scotland. They will integrate modems (which come with low power electronics) with a latch system attached to the creel to release on demand. Alongside this, there will be development of a top station with a Bluetooth link to a mobile phone app to release the rope. Finally, the project will develop an electronic marking system in place of where a buoy would mark gear.

The Scottish inshore fishing industry makes a significant contribution to the national economy and forms the backbone of many small coastal communities. Entanglements have conservation, welfare and economic consequences, costing the industry in gear replacement. This project aims to make an affordable technology, predicting £50 a unit when produced in bulk, to ensure a workable mitigation strategy for reducing entanglements.

The Company’s Oceans Programme works to facilitate the global sharing of knowledge around the management of fisheries and the ocean. As part of this, the Fisheries Charitable Trust organised an exchange visit with a group of civil servants and industry members to learn about the co-management frameworks operating in the USA. The experience provided options for consideration as the UK builds a new system for fisheries management and collaborative research, post-Brexit.  

The group attended the federal ‘New England Fisheries Management Council’ meeting in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and travelled to Rhode Island to visit the Commercial Fisheries Research Institute, and to Port Judith speak to the local fishing industry on fisheries research and management.    

Fisheries Exchange Program Delegation Members 

Robbie Fisher, Head of Domestic Fisheries Sustainability and Devolution, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs  

Richard Hoskin, Head of Fisheries & Marine Conservation Management, Marine Management Organisation 

Lewis Tattersall, Head of Fisheries Management 

Fiona Taylor, Head of Sea Fisheries, Policy and Grants, DAERA 

Hannah Fennell, Head of Orkney Fisheries Association 

Emma Plotnek, Executive Director, Fishing into the Future 

Alison Freeman, Fisheries Programme Manager, Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust  

Emma Plotnek, shared some of her experiences from the exchange:  

“The U.S. has a very formalised management system conducted with authority, integrity and accountability and sets the right tone for the discussion when making decisions. Whilst the structure may not be perfect, stakeholders understood the processes in place, and subsequently, they knew when and how to intervene. At its core, this is the essence of co-management.  

Important, life altering , decisions on fisheries and marine management are discussed and agreed upon at Fisheries Council meetings.  All participants at the council meetings had the opportunity to speak publicly to the council – but there was one rule – you have a strict 3-minute timer to keep to. We saw a range of politicians, fishers and scientists take the stand, with carefully curated messages on emotional issues but, they tended to be spoken in a respectful, interesting and succinct manner. We saw speakers preparing and perfecting their speeches beforehand in the lobby – crowds of fishermen huddled round, offering advice to their nominated spokesperson. I asked myself, could the UK benefit by having more order in how we communicate, and could we work harder on our messaging?   

The Commercial Fisheries Research Institute (CFRI) values the contribution the fishing industry play in the design and development of research projects and was thus set up to support industry’s ideas and to obtain funding. Just like the Council meetings, collaboration, in this instance between industry and academics, are part of the landscape of fisheries management. The UK differs from the U.S. system in that, whilst we also value this collaborative approach, a scientific support body like the CFRI, which is open to all fisheries and offers its services for free, does not exist.  

This leads to me to my third and final point. It was clear from the lavish hotel where the Council meeting was held, the extensive support network that surrounds each of the Council meetings, and the resources channelled into the CFRI and fisheries research more broadly, that significant funding was being spent on managing the U.S’s fishing and marine resources. These funds were being spent on processes and systems which enable stakeholders from a wide range of backgrounds an equal and fair opportunity to influence fisheries management and/or science. Whilst the UK also invests heavily in its fisheries and marine resources, in comparison, these processes don’t exist. Subsequently, the ability for the industry to communicate and to use research as evidence widens between rich and poor fishing associations/businesses. Charities are often left responsible for trying to bridge the funding gap and growing divide. Moving forward it is important that the UK Government  invests enough thought, time and financial resource to ensure that everyone who wants to engage in the fisheries management process is able to and comes away satisfied with the mechanisms to participate.”

Fishers across the UK are eligible for a range of grants to support their businesses and the industry, however the application process is often complicated, particularly for a community that often has limited time, IT capacity and literary skills. The Fishing Animateurs, whom the Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust have supported and worked closely alongside since 2018, support fishers all over the UK to access government grant funding through three main themes of work: 

• improving health and safety on board vessels, 
• adding value to catch 
• improving shoreside infrastructure  

In 2022 they also secured funding to help make people’s vessels more energy efficient. 

The Animateurs focus on supporting the under-10-metre fleet and those who lack the IT or literacy skills to apply for funds. 

6 Month Review:  

• 62 applications 
• 35 projects have secured 

• £1.8m of funding 

Processing facilities 

5 funds have been secured for small processing businesses that demonstrate support for the small- scale fleet. 

Harbour Improvements 

Over £300,000 of harbour infrastructure improvements that mainly aim to increase fishers’s health and safety. Projects include: installing safety ladders, safer-to-use winches and a quad bike to transport equipment safely around the harbour. 

Health and Safety 

Keeping fishers safe at sea is one of the core goals of the animateurs’ work. Health and safety work can vary from helping fishers to putting in safety bars, securing spare lifejackets for vessels, to improving a wheelhouse to keep fishers dry and warm at sea. 

Energy Improvements 

When fuel prices increased, the Animateurs saw a huge demand in grant support for more fuel-efficient propellers. Since April 2022, they have supported 6 fishers to access funding to improve energy efficiency. 

Adding Value to Catch 

The Animateurs have been supporting individual fishers, and fishing associations to add value to their catch from catching to selling. The ability to add value to catch leads to a more resilient and productive fleet without needing to increase fishing efforts. 

One project is led by a collective of fishers in the south-east, who are investing in shared ice facilities as well as a cold processing room. Once complete, this will open the option of direct selling for 12 fishers who have access to the facilities. 

Other projects include accessing funding for refrigerated vehicles, to enable fishers to reach markets further afield where prices may be higher. We have also supported many shell-fishers to access high-end shellfish holding systems to reduce mortality of their catch. 

Looking Forward 

Before April 2023, the Animateurs aim to have submitted over 120 applications to the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme, securing £2.5 million for the industry. 

The involvement and support of local government is essential in developing a thriving UK fishing and seafood industry. To help raise awareness of the industry and the Company’s work within in, the Company hosted a stand at the 2022 Local Government Association Conference. A team of four, including Fisheries Programme Manager, Alison Freeman, met with hundreds of councillors, senior executives and CEOs showcasing the Fisheries Charitable Trust’s projects and educated delegates on the challenges and opportunities facing the fishing and seafood sector. The LGA Conference was held in-person for the first time since the pandemic, which resulted in a strong turnout of local government from across England. 

The level of interest in the FCFCT stand, across coastal and landlocked authorities, was outstanding, with many new and promising relationships forged. Councillors were keen to learn how their local authority could support their local seafood industries and become involved with our charitable work. 

One highlight from the conference was a visit from Lisa Nandy, Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. We discussed the importance of fishing and aquaculture to coastal communities and the role the sector plays in supporting onshore and offshore livelihoods.  

The Conference followed a presentation at the LGA’s Coastal Special Interest Group, which featured the FCFCT and the Fishing Animateur project.  

You can follow the LGA Annual Conference as it happened via Twitter.

Last year, The Fishmongers’ Company, Fishing Animateurs, and Fishing into the Future formed a collaborative approach to fisheries research whereby fishers and scientists jointly develop a scientific proposal, based on a set of research needs set by the government with stakeholder input. This coalition, the Fisheries Industry Science Partnership (FISP) Network, works to connect fishers with scientists to identify potential research areas and unlock funding.

In 2022, the Animateurs spent February and March visiting ports across the UK to get ideas from industry. Ideas range from understanding new fisheries, creating more selective gear and reducing bird bycatch. From there, we have linked fishermen with researchers to develop project proposals. In 2022, FCFCT provided £180k to fund key research projects, that would have otherwise not been developed. The matched funding helped to leverage funds over £2.5m. 

Projects That Have Secured Funding 

• Identifying the most viable solutions and gear modifications to reduce bycatch in UK Nephrops fisheries. Lead applicants: Fishers, Peter Clarke (the Lily James) and Andrew Mack (Bright Ray), MarFishEco and Seafish 
• Evaluating lobster fishery opportunities at an offshore wind farm in the UK. Lead applicants: Welsh Fishermen’s Association and fisher Carl Davies, Aberystwyth University and Bangor University. 
• Addressing the impact of lost shell fishing gear. Lead applicants: Holderness Fishing Industry Group (HFIG) In partnership with the University of Hull 
• Investigating toxicity of pyridines to crustaceans, bringing evidence to the mystery mass crustacean mortality events in NE England (not FISP) Project leads: Whitby Commercial Fishing Association, Northeast Fishing Collective, Newcastle University 
• Using ‘disco’ lights to attract scallops into pots and traps. Lead applicants: FishTek Marine, Skipper Jon Ashworth, and other individual fisheries across England and Scotland.  
• Stock and population assessments for brown crabs in England and Wales, Lead applicants: Crab and Lobster Management Group, Bangor University, Seafish, Aberystwyth University. 
• Stock assessments for king crab in the northeast of England. Lead applicants: Holderness Fishing Industry Group (HFIG) and fisher Karl Price, University of Hull. 
• Quantifying ecosystem Benefits of UK Oyster Aquaculture Sites. Lead applicants: Envision, Atlantic Edge Oysters, Lindisfarne Oysters, University of Essex  

We also provided seed funds to support the development of the fisheries science ‘Centre of Excellence’ housed by the Highlands and Islands University and based in Shetland.  

Projects in the Making 

There are more projects in the making for this winters’ round of the FISP and UK Seafood Innovation Fund. 

Projects include: 

• Developing ropeless creels to reduce cetacean bycatch 
• Adding value to scallop by-product 
• Enhancing shellfisheries with oyster cultivation 
• Trials of catalytic hydrogen system designed to reduce carbon emissions in fishing vessels   
• Stocks assessments for herring and sprat in the Irish Sea