2026 Topic Groups Session

Cairns, Australia. May 11-15, 2026

Means and methods for the implementation of FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear (TG Marking)

Conveners

Co-Conveners

 Terms of Reference

  1. Compile data on the status of requirements and implementation of fishing gear marking in countries and regions represented by topic group members
  2. Review and identify fishing gears with a greater likelihood of becoming ALDFG and higher adverse environmental impacts and provide recommendations for prioritization of gear marking methods
  3. Compile results from gear marking trials being conducted through FAO and non-FAO available projects where available, and consider potential for marking to support the circular economy processing (e.g., recycling, repurposing) of end-of-life fishing gear.
  4. Develop guideline methodology for effectively testing new fishing gear mark designs
  5. Review current practices on fishing gear registry and record keeping practices and develop guidelines for establishing a fishing gear registry suitable for broad application across diverse countries and regions ensuring effective integration with existing vessel registries and licenses and/or authorizations to fish.

Outputs

  1. A ranking of prioritization of gear types for fishing gear marking and recommendations on low- and high-tech gear marking solutions for identified priority gear types
  2. Draft guidelines for testing methodology of fishing gear marks
  3. Draft guidelines for establishing a fishing gear registry

Background and justification

Fishing gear marking systems support sustainable fisheries, enhance safety at sea and minimize and facilitate the recovery of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG). Fishing gear marking systems go beyond physically marking the gear items themselves, to support holistic gear stewardship facilitated by the gear marking, including: assessing risks, capacities, costs and benefits and priorities for gear marking; providing a simple, pragmatic, affordable and verifiable means of identifying the ownership and position of the fishing gear, with linkages to gear owners and operators and their licenses and authorizations to fish; ensuring compatibility with traceability and certification systems; aiding resource management systems; being supported by a monitoring process; and being consistent with and meeting obligations of relevant international conventions and guidelines as well as national requirements. Gears can be marked for a variety of purposes, including to identify gear ownership, position in the water column and material composition of the gears.

The FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear (VGMFG), which were endorsed by the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in 2018 and published in 2019, are an important tool in providing broad guidance around developing and applying a system of fishing gear marking and related measures to holistically address ALDFG and gear stewardship across the lifecycle of fishing gears, from design through to use and end-of-life. While the VGMFG are supported by two supplementary information documents around conducting a risk assessment for a system of gear marking and a manual on how to physically mark gears, serious knowledge gaps remain around how to physically mark a variety of gears. These knowledge gaps include considerations of the best materials for and placement of such markings, marking to indicate the presence of the gear in the water column, and ensuring documentation and registration of these gear marks in relevant fisheries management and vessel registries.

While requirements for gear marking are currently largely voluntary in scope, at the national level countries may have adopted regulatory requirements for gear marking. Marking of commercial fishing gear marking has been mandatory for EU Member States since 2009 (Control Regulation 1224/2009). However, it is unknown if EU Members States have been able to effectively implement gear marking on all gears. At the International level, IMO’s Marine Environmental Protection Committee in June 2022 agreed to develop a requirement for the marking of fishing gear under MARPOL Annex V.  The earliest estimated timeline for gear marking coming into force is currently end of 2029.

This topic group will focus on developing knowledge around how to physically mark gears, with a focus on the need for improved methods for static gear marks, and prioritization of gears with greater likelihood of becoming ALDFG, including ALDFG with generally higher adverse socioeconomic and environmental impacts. The topic group will additionally develop guidance around linking gear marks to fishing licenses and the authorization to fish, including vessel registries, through developing recommendations for model gear marking registries. Special consideration will also be afforded to differential capacities and special requirements in small-scale fisheries.

Duration: 3 years (2026-2028)

Vessel and gear characterization: towards a Global framework for Impact estimation and perFormance for Trawl fisheries (TG GIFT)

Conveners

Co-Conveners

Introduction

Trawl fisheries employing bottom-contacting gears all interact with marine sediments, but the extent and significance of these interactions are not rigorously quantified. While some narratives have described trawl fisheries as uniformly high-impact, emerging research indicates that the actual environmental effects are highly variable, depending on gear type, operational practices, habitat characteristics, and frequency of use. Overgeneralizations can hide this complexity and deter the development of targeted, effective management measures. A more evidence-based approach is needed to accurately assess impacts, reduce uncertainties, and guide sustainable management and innovation in trawl fisheries.

Recent global assessments have suggested that bottom-trawling activities may play a significant role in disturbing seabed carbon stocks and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. However, such global estimates remain contentious due to high levels of uncertainty stemming from limited and regionally biased data and simplified modelling assumptions for complex relationships (e.g., remineralisation of carbon). To improve the robustness of these large-scale assessments, there is an need for a more comprehensive understanding of how different trawl gears interact with the seabed, how gear performance (e.g., footprint, penetration, fuel efficiency) varies by vessel, region, and operational practices (e.g., trawl speed) and fishing grounds (e.g., depth), and how these interactions and differences relate to energy use and carbon emissions.

This Topic Group will explore pathways towards a harmonized, global framework for the characterization of vessel and gear parameters, to support more robust and transparent estimates of impact and to reduce the environmental impact and improve fuel efficiency of trawl fisheries.

Terms of reference

  1. Review and summarize research on vessel and gear performance
  2. Discuss the uncertainties inherent in ways that trawl fisheries interact with marine sediments
  3. Understand how gear design and performance is influenced by fishing grounds and operations
  4. Share tools for assessing gear performance (e.g., gear geometry), energy use intensity and emissions
  5. Create a transparent framework for reporting of vessel, gear parameters and performance to facilitate future research and innovation

Justification

The accurate quantification of active, bottom-contacting fishing activity requires an understanding of the type and size of the gears deployed, the type and sensitivity of the seabed habitat and the frequency of interaction. Global seabed footprint estimates are usually reliant on the extrapolation of data from research conducted on European fleets due to a lack of detailed data globally. Most recently this has been used to estimate the global carbon emissions from active, bottom-contacting fishing activity. However, the validity of this extrapolation remains untested. This topic group draws attention to the innovative ways interactions between active, bottom-contacting fishing activity and marine sediments can be measured, especially focussing on gear parameters and fuel consumption estimations. We hope this Topic Group may be used as a catalyst for WGFTFB participants to work towards improving the understanding and documentation of the regional variability in gear parameters and fuel consumption.

Outputs

  • A database/reporting template developed with supporting guidance that can be adopted by members
  • Linkage and active collaboration established with the ICES Working Group on Fisheries Benthic Impact and Trade-offs (WGFBIT) by aligning methodologies, sharing data, and contributing to ongoing discussions.
  • Innovative approaches developed or identified for assessing the impacts and spatial footprint of active, bottom-contacting fishing gear on seabed habitats, with a focus on enhancing comparability and harmonization.
  • Modelling of vessel/gear parameters to identify relationships with fuel consumption, gear openings and seabed interactions

Building resilience and future-proofing commercial fisheries (TG Resilience)

Conveners

Co-Conveners

Introduction

Commercial fishers globally, particularly those using bottom trawls and gillnets, are increasingly challenged by a variety of stressors including stock access, escalating fishing costs, interactions with ETP species, changes in social awareness and expectations, and concerns from Environmental NGOs that then can translate to concerns by the community. There is clear evidence these stressors are overwhelming for many fishers and their mental health is in decline.

To respond to these threats and ensure the long-term supply of seafood, there is a need to develop options and practices that contribute to the future of commercial fisheries. While the development and application of modern fishing technology has contributed in the past to building resilience in these fisheries, these challenges appear to accelerate faster than the solutions and the future of many fisheries is now at risk. A broader, more strategic approach to the problem needs to be considered that strives to find solutions for now and communicates the excellent progress to date, but also plans and executes options for a brighter future. Addressing these needs may include blurring traditional boundaries between disciplines and applying novel and holistic thinking across multiple disciplines.

Terms of Reference

  • Identify, review, and characterise impediments, threats, and other stressors to the longevity of commercial fisheries
  • Identify, review, and characterise fisheries working towards or deemed to have overcome such threats, and attempt to identify commonalities that have contributed to their achievement, including those that have switched gears
  • Identify other discipline areas deemed to provide insight into building resilience in commercial fisheries, such as behavioural science, social science, product marketing, and engineering, and seek opportunities for experts from these disciplines to contribute to Topic Group outcomes
  • Apply novel thinking, and where possible, an evidence-based approach to identify potential best practice guidelines and future steps designed to counter threats to the resilience of commercial fisheries, thereby helping to future-proof such fisheries. This will include consideration of a strategic approach to risk identification, assessment, and prioritisation that can be applied in a commercial fishery context.

Justification

The goal of this topic group is to identify new options and best practices and provide guidance that supports the building of resilient and future-proofed fisheries. Members of the ICES-FOA WGFTFB are uniquely placed to meet this goal given their global perspective and connections to the commercial fishing industry, other ICES Working Groups, and individuals in other relevant discipline areas. This Topic Group will leverage this opportunity by inviting involvement from other relevant discipline areas not normally associated with the WGFTFB, to help identify options and best practices to mitigate the impact of stressors on commercial fishers. The inclusion of these individuals will bring fresh and more holistic thinking to the issue and increase the relevance of our deliberations and likelihood of achieving the following output and outcome:

Output

Guidelines and prioritised next steps (roadmap), aligned to the ICES Science Plan to the extent possible, that helps guide and foster a culture of innovation and best-practice in the fishing industry

Outcome

A more informed fisheries community (fishers, researchers, others) that is increasingly focused, agile, and inspired to help fishers future-proof their fishery and meet 21st century challenges.

Operational and technical constraints of fishing gears to support coexistence with offshore wind and open-ocean aquaculture (Multi-use)

Conveners:

Background

We believe that a science-based approach to better understand the operational and technical constraints from the offshore wind, open-ocean aquaculture and fishing industries can facilitate coexistence. Focus will be given to discuss how one can design wind and aquaculture projects that guarantee safe conditions of work for the fishers given the specificities of their traditional gears and operational tactics with respect to e.g., alignment, space between machines/cages or cable burial, as well as the potential for innovative fishing capture techniques to accommodate for other users.

Terms of reference

  • Better understanding of the constraints from the different stakeholders by inviting keynote speakers from the various industries (e.g., wind, aquaculture, fisheries, insurance, collision risk)
  • Share experiences from the different countries on multi-use of marine areas including presentations of findings from ongoing research projects
  • Identify knowledge gaps in our current understanding of fishing gear operations, e.g., penetration depth or space required to manoeuvre, to support scientific documentation of the fisheries constraints with respect to multi-use
  • Discuss the potential for innovative fishing capture techniques to accommodate for other users (e.g. within offshore wind farms) incl. passive gears

Justification

With increased competition for space at sea, maritime multi-use is key to enhance the sustainable joint use of resources such as wind, capture of wild fish and fish farming. However, coexistence is not always straightforward, as each industry holds technical specificities required to provide economic viability and safe operation. The objective of the topic group is to develop scientific documentation that provides practical solutions, guidelines, and recommendations to support the harmonious coexistence of all stakeholders, ensuring sustainable resource utilization and minimizing potential conflicts.