In order to prepare the report described in Article 31.1 of Regulation 2019/1241, the EU DG-MARE seeks ICES advice on the progress that has been made, or impact arising from innovative gear within European waters. This advice will assess the benefits for, or negative effects on, marine ecosystems, sensitive habitats and selectivity. To the extent possible, the advice will provide information on what kind of innovative gears are being used, their objective, their technical specificities and the impact on both target species, non-target species and the environment in which they had been deployed.
Specifically, in response to the EU DG-MARE request, the ICES Workshop on Innovative Fishing Gear (WKING) will work by correspondence and meet in Copenhagen, autumn 2020 to address the request:
- develop a suite of criteria to objectively define what an 'innovative gear' is;
- develop a catalogue of gears considered 'innovative', including their objectives, technical specificities and known impacts/benefits (in terms of selectivity on target and non-target species and environmental impact in terms of benefits for, or negative effects on, marine ecosystems and sensitive habitats);
- produce a report detailing the process taken and presenting the results;
- draft a summary advice on the basis of the report produced.
