The ICES Working Group on Innovative Fishing Gear (WGING) held its second meeting at the headquarters of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) in Rome.

Chaired by Antonello Sala of CNR, Italy, and Julia Calderwood of the Marine Institute, Ireland, the hybrid meeting brought together 27 participants from 20 organisations in 11 countries. Eleven participants attended in person, while sixteen contributed online.

The countries represented were Australia, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, including institutions based in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

From innovative gear catalogues to implementation

WGING builds on the work undertaken through the ICES Workshops on Innovative Fishing Gear, WKING and WKING2. These initiatives developed a catalogue of fishing gear innovations and methods for assessing their catch efficiency, selectivity, ecosystem effects, technological readiness and economic characteristics.

The 2023 ICES advice concluded that many documented gear innovations appeared technically ready for use. However, the actual level of uptake by fishing fleets and the factors encouraging or preventing implementation could not yet be adequately quantified. The current WGING programme is addressing these knowledge gaps by improving data collection and developing more systematic approaches for evaluating uptake.

Main areas of work

During the three-day meeting, plenary discussions and breakout sessions focused on:

• refining the Gear Innovations Catalogue template and designing the associated database;
• developing the PESTEL framework for assessing political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors affecting gear uptake;
• reviewing preliminary qualitative and quantitative information on barriers and incentives;
• developing a roadmap for future data collection;
• reviewing the proposed data-call template for documenting the use and uptake of innovative gears;
• examining how existing gear factsheets can support advice on which innovations are ready for implementation or require further testing;
• identifying synergies and potential conflicts between gear innovations and existing EU technical measures;
• considering the information needs of STECF and the evidence required for the forthcoming DG MARE advice request.

The meeting also included a presentation from the Horizon Europe OptiFish project on stakeholder perspectives concerning onboard cameras and related monitoring technologies across six European case-study areas. Particular attention was given to ensuring that the future catalogue is more than a repository of technical descriptions. The group discussed how it could become a practical and transparent tool for comparing gear performance, technological maturity, operational feasibility, regulatory compatibility and the wider conditions influencing implementation.

The final sessions were dedicated to reviewing progress, defining intersessional tasks and planning the work required to support the next ICES advice process and the 2027 WGING meeting.

Participants

In-person participants: Antonello Sala, Julia Calderwood, Hans Nilsson, Nathalie Steins, Marc Robert, Mikael Ovegard, Caecilia Manago, Sophie Kuijten, Thomas Catchpole, Rosie Ashworth and Carla Franco.

Online participants: Blair Easton, Daragh Browne, Matthew McHugh, Vaishav Soni, Alexis Konidis, Elsa Cuende, Max Giaroli, Martin de Beer, Monika J. Szynaka, Robert Kynoch, Steve Eayrs, Valentina Meli, Martin Pastoors, Henn Ojaveer, Ben Collier and Andrea Petetta.

The meeting strengthened collaboration among fishing-gear technologists, social scientists, fisheries organisations, research institutes, industry-related initiatives, ICES, STECF and the European Commission. It represented another important step towards turning promising fishing gear innovations into practical, evidence-based solutions for more selective, efficient and environmentally responsible fisheries. The meeting followed the priorities announced ahead of the Rome event on the WGFTFB website.

🔗 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

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, 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

The 2025 Meeting Report of the ICES-FAO Working Group on Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour (WGFTFB) is now available on the WGFTFB community page.

The citation for this report is:

ICES, 2025. ICES-FAO Working Group on Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour (WGFTFB). ICES Scientific Reports. 7:95, 347 pp. https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.30231325

FAO recently published a news item, which can be accessed here: https://www.fao.org/responsible-fishing/news-events/news/news-details/en/c/1738720/

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A 2025 meeting report, and full details for the 2026 meeting, will be provided on the ICES/FAO website https://wgftfb.org/

Further information: Jon Lansley (jon.lansley@fao.org) NFI, FAO Headquarters