Project Overview
The key objective of MarineBeacon is to address the impact of bycatch on the decline of marine biodiversity by producing the knowledge and tools to effectively reduce the bycatch and subsequent mortality of PETS within European waters and beyond.
The project will work from 2024-2028 to:
Engage with key stakeholders to build mutual understanding across groups as to how to effectively mitigate against the bycatch of PETS.
- By working directly with fisheries, policy makers and conservationists Marine Beacon researchers plan to develop real, effective strategies to minimise or eliminate the interactions of bycaught species with fishing gear as well as reducing post-interaction mortality.
Improve knowledge of PETS abundance, distribution, sensitivity to bycatch and bycatch occurrence whilst identifying gaps in data to inform how improved survey and monitoring design can fill such gaps.
- Marine Beacon researchers will expand our understanding of precisely how bycatch impacts the conservation status of species by assessing the rate of interactions, the post-release mortality rates, impacts on population abundance and sustainability, taking into consideration for each of these variances according to fishery or gear-type.
Evaluate spatially and temporally explicit risk of fisheries bycatch and its impact on the vulnerability status of PETS.
- Marine Beacon will provide new data on the spatial and temporal distribution of sensitive species, producing improved understanding of the reasons for and risks of bycatch in targeted fisheries.
Advance next generation monitoring solutions and design optimal monitoring programmes to further improve knowledge regarding risk, and step up MS monitoring programmes towards achieving the target of the EU biodiversity strategy 2030 to eliminate or reduce PETS bycatch.
- The knowledge generated in Marine Beacon will help to improve European Member States’ monitoring and management programmes, further enabling them to reach their EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 targets of eliminating or reducing bycatch of sensitive species and to step up bycatch monitoring.
- Marine Beacon will provide policy makers with information to help them more fully and coherently implement EU environmental and fisheries legislation.
Develop state of the art mitigation solutions that best reduce bycatch and where possible eliminate associated mortality.
- Through new technologies and practices, Marine Beacon will contribute to the European Union’s goal of eliminating or significantly reducing bycatch for marine mammals, sea turtles, seabirds and sensitive or endangered fish species such as sharks and rays.
Develop integrated bycatch management decision support tools for Member States Programmes of Measures.
- Marine Beacon decision support tools will help Member States achieve Good Environmental Status under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive in relation to maintaining biodiversity and ensure that all elements of marine food webs occur at normal abundance and diversity.