Oostende, Belgium – The Marine Beacon project held an in-person annual meeting from 1 to 3 April 2025, bringing together over 40 participants from across Europe. Hosted by ILVO at their InnovOcean campus, the event took place as the project moves beyond its initial establishment phase, with roughly a third of the four-year Horizon Europe initiative now completed. Marine Beacon is focused on reducing the incidental capture of sensitive marine species in European fisheries.
Led by the Marine Institute and coordinated by Julia Calderwood, the meeting provided a valuable opportunity for partners to reflect on progress, strengthen collaborations, and plan for the work ahead. With many of the project’s work packages now entering active implementation phases, the agenda focused on technical updates, planning for fieldwork, stakeholder engagement strategies, and coordination with parallel efforts across Europe.
Project teams presented a wide range of developments, including innovations in bycatch mitigation tools, improved data pipelines for observer reporting, and tagging protocols to assess post-release survival in protected species. Among the technical highlights was an update on Game of Trawls, an initiative led by Ifremer and now being further developed within Marine Beacon. Recently featured by EuroNews, this work aims to create real-time, AI-driven selectivity tools for trawl fisheries, using underwater imagery, acoustic sensors, and onboard data analysis to help fishers actively reduce unwanted catches and minimise environmental impact. Several sessions also addressed the challenges of designing field trials that are both scientifically robust and ethically sound, especially where sensitive species and invasive techniques are involved.
A key focus of the meeting was also communication and collaboration. Discussions included how the project is developing new visual and narrative tools to increase public awareness and support for bycatch mitigation, and how stakeholder insights are shaping engagement strategies within and beyond the scientific community. The project’s work on co-creating outreach materials, including immersive and emotionally resonant content, was highlighted as an important strand of activity that will support later policy uptake.
The meeting featured a series of invited presentations from complementary European initiatives working at the intersection of biodiversity observation, fisheries innovation, and ocean data. These included LIFE PROMETHEUS, which is advancing elasmobranch conservation in the Mediterranean through fishers’ engagement and ecotourism; DTO-BioFlow, a Horizon Europe project aiming to integrate biodiversity data into the EU Digital Twin Ocean; the EFMZVA-funded ELASMON project, working to improve monitoring and sustainable management of sharks and rays in the North Sea; and MARCO-BOLO, which is working to enhance marine and freshwater biodiversity monitoring methods and infrastructure. Other invited contributions included SEAwise, focusing on ecosystem-based fisheries management through systematic evidence reviews, and VISTools, which is exploring how AI and imaging technologies can improve discard monitoring while building trust with the fishing sector. ILVO also presented innovations in environmental DNA sampling using low-cost and autonomous devices, with the potential to dramatically increase the availability of fishery-independent data.
These contributions underscored the project’s commitment to working within a broader network of initiatives striving to modernise fisheries management and strengthen biodiversity protection across Europe’s seas. As the project approaches its next major reporting milestone this summer, the focus will increasingly shift toward real-world trials, cross-sector collaboration, and preparing for long-term impact.