Fish-X project makes a solid contribution to the digitalisation of small-scale fisheries

The Fish-X project, funded by the Horizon Europe programme, came to an end last May. It involved three case studies of small-scale fisheries in different areas of the European Union (Portugal, Ireland and Croatia). The main objective was to develop two digital platforms (Fish-X Dataspace and the Insight Platform) that could serve as a basis for monitoring fisheries and using data to identify fishing hotspots, areas with a high risk of catching endangered species, among others. The project arose in the context of the new Control Regulation, which aims to digitalise this aspect of the fishing sector, with an exclusive focus on small-scale fisheries. Sciaena was one of the seven partners in the project consortium and one of its main responsibilities was the case study that took place in Portugal, in collaboration with WWF Portugal.

The case study began in the summer of 2023 with the installation of NEMO devices (VMS – Vessel Monitoring System equipment) on several small-scale vessels in the fishing communities of Albufeira, Armação de Pêra, Alvor, Ferragudo, Portimão, Nossa Senhora da Rocha and Quarteira, which work with different fishing gears: trammel nets, gillnets and longlines. Once the VMS equipment was installed, fishermen had access to a platform where they could view their own data. To give them the skills they needed to understand and use these new technologies, training sessions were organised in the different fishing associations. In these sessions, volunteer fishermen learned how to access their data, navigate the platform and activate the main features. To overcome some language barriers, step-by-step guides were created in Portuguese, as most of the platforms were in English.

During the project, despite some initial scepticism, the fishermen gave very positive feedback about their experience with the equipment and the fact that they had access to their own data. The project helped them learn more about changes to the control regulation and familiarise themselves with some of these technologies. The importance of fishermen’s associations in ensuring active and present channels of communication in communities, in order to have an informed and empowered sector, was always clear.

The collaboration of fishermen and associations was crucial to achieving the project’s objectives, helping this crucial part of the fishing sector and giving them a voice to provide information on how digitalisation should be implemented and adapted to regional realities.

As the new control regulation and real-time monitoring of small-scale fisheries come into force, it is essential that policymakers clarify the specific technical requirements to enable systems such as NEMO to comply or be adapted accordingly. Transparent dialogue between authorities and fishing communities will help build trust and avoid confusion. It is also essential to provide technical support to fishermen and financial support mechanisms for the acquisition of devices.

As a result of the project, based on the experiences in the different case studies and the sharing of knowledge among various stakeholders in the sector over these years of work, a document with recommendations was developed, which can be consulted here.

It was a period of great learning for Sciaena’s team which was involved in this project, which also allowed us to strengthen relationships with fishermen and association representatives who are committed to a more transparent and responsible fishing sector. We would therefore like to thank all the fishermen’s associations that accepted the challenge, as well as the Fish-X project partners.