EU-FP6 Funded Marine Project Reports

FP6 NECESSITY

NEphrops and CEtacean Species Selection
Information and TechnologY

Status: Completed (May 2007)
Coordinator: Netherlands Institute for Fisheries Research - RIVO (now IMARES)

NECESSITY developed ways of modifying trawls to enable by-catch species to escape from the trawl unharmed.

The project:

Studied the behavioural characteristics that make small cetaceans (i.e. porpoises and dolphins), and certain fish species or age groups vulnerable to capture in trawl fisheries
Developed alternative fishing strategies, or fishing gear modifications, to reduce the by-catch in trawl fisheries
Considered the biological and socio-economic ramifications of modifying the fishing gear and practices
Transferred the information gathered to other fisheries subject to similar concerns

IMARES was established in 2006, as a result of the merger of RIVO (the Netherlands Institute for Fisheries Research), elements of Alterra and the Department of Ecological Risks within the TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research).