Euronews OCEAN Season 4, Episode 4 - Innovation in fisheries

Despite fishermen’s best intentions, fishing can negatively affect the marine environment. In fact, one of the greatest threats to seabirds is that they accidentally get caught in fishing nets. Some 200,000 seabirds are killed in Europe through unintentional catching in fishing gear. But fishing gear is also causing damage when it’s no longer in active use. Abandoned, discarded or lost fishing gear litters the seafloor, trapping marine life and polluting the ocean with microplastics. Can technological innovation help reduce this harm? In this episode, we’ll meet Portuguese fishers and researchers looking for ways to modernise the sector — from a simple “scarecrow of the seas” preventing accidental bycatch of marine birds (EU-funded MedAves Pesca project) to high-tech underwater robots that rely on acoustic sensing and artificial intelligence to locate and retrieve lost fishing gears (EU-funded NETTAG project).

OCEAN is a Euronews magazine in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MARE). Season 4 features monthly 8-minute videos, where we discover fascinating projects and developments related to the ocean and coastal communities.

Broadcast since 2019, OCEAN features episodes on marine protected areas, small-scale fisheries, ocean energy, aquaculture, IUU fishing, sustainable fisheries and much more. Missed one? Check them out on the Euronews website! You will also find some nice extras about these topics.

Share on social media, tag @EU_MARE and @euronews and use the hashtag #oceanEU

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