The ocean hosts a variety of species that are either not harvested or only marginally utilised. These species could be an important nutritional source for a growing global population, both as seafood, or as high-quality raw materials for food and feed ingredients.

In this session we will address opportunities and challenges associated with harvesting new marine resources. A successful exploitation of such resources requires significant research and innovation efforts within all parts of the value chain, and a close cooperation between industry, research, and regulators. Securing a sustainable fishery and sound estimates of harvest potential underpin the need for fundamental biological and ecological knowledge, as well as suitable methods and technology to obtain this knowledge. If not directly transferable from other fisheries, the harvest of new species also requires the development of new fishing gears, that are both efficient, selective and that have a minimal impact on the ecosystem, as well as new operational procedures that maintain the quality of the harvested biomass. The viability of a new fishery will further depend on marketability of the product, which in turn will depend on nutritional quality and safety, as well as sensory attributes.

This session invites scientific presentations focusing on the opportunities and challenges of harvesting of new marine species. We accept presentation from a broad field within the topic, including biological/ecological studies, theoretical and technological development, catch handling and pre-processing, seafood quality and safety, as well as regulatory aspects related to harvesting new species. Both presentations focusing on harvesting new species for human consumption and as raw materials for feed/food ingredients are welcome.

Chair: Anita Evenset, Akvaplan Niva

Chair: Per Sandberg, Directorate of Fisheries

Fisheries and fish production implies interaction with the natural environment and emissions of harmful substances and climate gases. Compared to other food production, fisheries have a low carbon footprint. Still, the footprint varies between and within fishing fleets, as it does for fish processing and logistics used to deliver the final product to the consumer. It is a goal to reduce the climate impact as well as the emission of harmful substances from the sector further.

This session will address how we can reduce the impact fisheries and fish processing have on climate and the marine environment. To meet these challenges, collaboration between different sectors and a broad range of science disciplines is necessary. Which changes in vessels, gear, processing equipment, labour and fuel are necessary to make commercial fisheries and fish processing more environmentally friendly? How can we reduce the impact of fisheries on the environment, either by a reduction of harmful substances (hydrocarbons, plastic waste, etc.) or through reduced interaction with valuable habitats like corrals? Can we ensure that the whole fish is used to reduce carbon footprint pr kg harvest? What is needed in terms of machinery, labour, and energy to process, preserve and distribute fish products to the market? Are there inventions, or examples of “best practice”, that can be put to work in order to address some of the above-mentioned challenges? Can a change in how we regulate fisheries reduce the environmental footprint? How can we utilize autonomous vessels to collect more information about fish stocks, fish distribution and to monitor the environment? What is the role of the government to provide incentives to convert to climate-efficient solutions and how can we cooperate across national boundaries to make the shift possible?

This session invites scientific as well as practical examples which may illuminate/illustrate how we can move fisheries and the fish processing sector in a direction where the sector reduces its emission of either harmful substances, reduces its interaction with vulnerable species or reduce its carbon footprint. We are seeking scientific papers that address one or more of the concerns/questions raised above.

Chair: Kim Scherrer, University of Bergen

Co-chair: Fabian Zimmermann, Institute of Marine Research

Management has always played a key role for sustainable fisheries, but a broader toolset is required to address both ongoing and rapidly emerging sustainability issues. Technological creep, climate change effects, and the need to facilitate the green transition are all examples of processes that will present both challenges and opportunities for effective monitoring, regulation and enforcement. Being at the forefront of solving these issues is key to ensure long-term benefits from fisheries.

This session will address progress in monitoring and managing fisheries and their impacts. New methods for (real-time, remote or automated) monitoring of fishing fleets, their environmental performance (e.g. emissions), and their impact on fish stocks and ecosystems are constantly being developed. This in turn provides large amounts of data to improve our understanding of fisheries dynamics and assess fish stocks and ecosystems, and facilitates a transition towards real-time, dynamic regulation. Methodological advances in management are also key for addressing future challenges like climate-driven shifts in species abundance and ranges, growing catch efficiency, expansion of fisheries to new species and ecosystems where data and knowledge are often limited, and user conflicts especially in the coastal zones. Management strategies that optimize data usage and integrate available information into a holistic, ecosystem-orientated perspective are therefore required for the green transition of fisheries.

This session invites scientific presentations on monitoring, regulating and managing fisheries, with a specific focus on state-of-the-art methods to track the performance and impacts of fisheries, create standardized fisheries indicators to inform stock assessment and management, and support the transition of fisheries towards improved sustainability and ecosystem-based management.

Key words: Future fisheries management; monitoring technology; real-time management; big data; management for ecological, economic and social sustainability.