Second WGING meeting to advance the uptake of innovative fishing gears

Following the first meeting of the WGING in Copenhagen, the ICES Working Group on Innovative Fishing Gear will meet again in Rome from 16 to 18 June 2026.

The meeting will focus on the Gear Innovations Catalogue, the PESTEL framework, data collection for innovative gears, links with STECF needs, and the evidence base required to support future DG MARE advice.

Objective

Move from documenting innovative gears to understanding their readiness, uptake, barriers and opportunities for implementation in European fisheries.

Why WGING?

The 2026 meeting will focus on consolidating the work initiated during the first WGING cycle and further developing the scientific basis needed to support advice on innovative fishing gears. Discussions will address the Gear Innovations Catalogue Template, the design of a future database, the PESTEL framework for assessing barriers and incentives to uptake, and the data call template for innovative gears. Particular attention will be given to how preliminary quantitative and qualitative information can be collated and used to support the upcoming DG MARE advice request.

🔗 Find out more about WGING and its three-year Terms of Reference (TORs) here: ICES WGING

🔗Details of the TORs for WGING on pages 5 to 7 of the document: HUDISG EG Resolutions 2024.pdf

🔗Draft Meeting Agenda

Second Meeting

📅 When? 16–18 June 2026
📍 Where? Hybrid format – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Silvestri Room), Piazzale Aldo Moro, 7, 00185 Rome, Italy https://www.cnr.it/it/strutture-congressuali-sede-centrale

Get Involved!

WGING is chaired by Julia Calderwood (Marine Institute, Ireland) and Antonello Sala (CNR, Italy), and we are looking for enthusiastic participants to join our efforts.

✅ If you are interested in becoming a member and attending our first meeting, please get in touch—we can nominate members as chairs of the group.
✅ Feel free to share this information with colleagues who might be interested in contributing to this initiative!

⚓ We look forward to shaping the future of innovative fishing gear research together.

#SustainableFisheries #InnovativeFishing #ICES #WGING