The 2023 annual meeting of the ICES-FAO Working Group on Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour (WGFTFB) and the International Symposium on “Innovations in Fishing Technologies for Sustainable and Resilient Fisheries” was held from 13 to 17 February 2023 in Kochi, India. [Author] The symposium was hosted by FAO in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries, Government of India, organized by the Bay of Bengal Programme Intergovernmental Organisation (BOBP-IGO) and National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Fisheries Institutes and State Fisheries Universities. [Author] The symposium brought together 325 participants comprising of scientists, researchers, officials, policymakers, diplomats, industry, entrepreneurs, and students from 32 countries both online and offline delivering a total of 137 presentations providing a platform for discussions on the challenges facing world fisheries including depleted fish stocks, habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, fish loss and wastage bycatch, and ghost fishing. [Author] This report summarizes the symposium on “Innovations in Fishing Technologies for Sustainable and Resilient Fisheries” which comprised of eight thematic sessions: (i) active gears (ii) passive gears (iii)indicators (iv) abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) (v) survival/behaviour/physiology (vi) energy efficiency (vii) general topics and (viii) gear design. [Author]

The 2019 annual meeting of the ICES-FAO Working Group on Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour (WGFTFB) was held from 8 to 12 April 2019 in Shanghai, China. The meeting was hosted by FAO in close collaboration with the Shanghai Ocean University. More than 120 fishing technologists, scientists and other stakeholders, representing 23 countries from Europe, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia, attended this meeting. This report summarizes the four-day symposium, on “Responsible Fishing Technology for Healthy Ecosystems and a Clean Environment”, which was organized as part of the 2019 annual meeting of the ICES-FAO WGFTFB. The symposium comprised eight thematic sessions: (i) abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG): assessment of quantity and measures to prevent ALDFG and its impact; (ii) interactions of protected species in capture fisheries; (iii) light, fish behaviour and fishing; (iv) technology and management to reduce bycatch and discards; (v) selectivity of fishing gear: means and methods; (vi) new technologies for fisheries research and education; (vii) energy, technology, analysis and simulation; and (viii) Chinese fisheries - status, challenges and future. The symposium provided an opportunity for fishing technologists and other experts from ICES and FAO member countries to exchange knowledge and ideas from around the world, especially from non-ICES member countries in Asia and Latin America.

Over the last fifty years, human exploitation of marine resources has become more efficient as the understanding of the habits and behaviour of the various species available in the sea gradually increased. Thus, technologies have developed naturally over time and fishing gears and practices have become more sophisticated. These technical advances in fishing gear have generally led to more efficient economic fishing operations and better access to resources. However, fishing implies the harvesting of marine organisms directly from their natural environment, therefore general awareness of environmental problems due to the exploitation of fishery resources has also increased. In particular, the poor selectivity of some gears is responsible for the capture of juveniles, immature and undersized specimens of many species, with negative consequences on the state of stocks. In addition, bycatch in marine fisheries is a major source of human-caused mortality of marine megafauna, often leading to the capture of vulnerable species. Finally, many bottom-towed gears are responsible for high impacts on bottom communities and habitats, with cascading consequences on the entire marine ecosystem. All these impacts can lead to changes in the structure, function and integrity of ecosystems, including effects on the food webs and multispecies predator-prey relationships.

This open access book provides a comprehensive examination of the European Landing Obligation policy from many relevant perspectives. It includes evaluations of its impacts at economical, socio-cultural, ecological and institutional levels. It also discusses the feasibility and benefits of several potential mitigation strategies. The book was timely published, exactly at the time where the Landing Obligation was planned to be fully implemented. This book is of significant interest to all stakeholders involved, but also to the general public of Europe and to other jurisdictions throughout the world that are also searching for ways to deal with by-catch and discard issues.

BEHAVIOR OF MARINE FISHES BEHAVIOR OF MARINE FISHES: Capture Processes and Conservation Challenges Understanding fish behavior in relation to capture processes in marine fisheries is of fundamental importance to reducing bycatch and discards, and to enhancing marine fisheries conservation efforts. A thorough understanding of this allows commercial fishers to more effectively capture target species while reducing the catch of unwanted species. Behavior of Marine Fishes: Capture Processes and Conservation Challenges provides the reader with principles, patterns, and characteristics on fish behavior and fish capture processes using several types of important commercial fishing gears. The book also highlights conservation challenges facing the marine capture fisheries in efforts to maintain sustainable use of marine resources and to reduce negative impacts to the marine ecosystem. This volume, with contributions from leading applied fish behaviorists and fishing gear technologists from around the world, will be a valuable reference for researchers, fishing gear technologists, fisheries managers, students, and conservationists. SPECIAL FEATURES: Synthesis of current research and valuable knowledge that will help reduce bycatch and discards in commercial fisheries Review of basic fish behavioral principles and patterns and their relation to capture methods and conservation efforts Contributions from leading international applied fish behaviorists and fishing gear technologists

Potentially harmful contact between fisheries and marine vulnerable species represents a global conservation issue and efforts to mitigate the negative repercussions of these interactions belong in strategies for ensuring the sustainability of fisheries. This literature review offers a survey of mitigation measures and techniques that have been developed and tested around the world, aiming to address both the incidental catch of highly mobile species – specifically, cetaceans, seabirds, sharks and rays, and sea turtles – and depredation caused by dolphins. Based on research detailed in over 300 documents, including peer-reviewed publications, reports from international organizations and papers available on the internet, most of the mitigation techniques illustrated are still under development, with only a few already adopted through legislation. The selected mitigation measures are grouped by main types of fishing gear – gillnets and trammel nets, longlines and lines, trawls, purse seines, traps and pots – and further subdivided according to which of the four main groups of vulnerable species – cetaceans, seabirds, sharks and rays, or sea turtles – they are designed to protect. Preventive and curative approaches covering both technical measures (gear modifications, strategies, as well as acoustic, visual, magnetic and chemosensory deterrents) and management measures are described.

This document elaborates the revised International Standard Statistical Classification of Fishing Gear (ISSCFG), as endorsed and adopted for implementation by the FAO Coordinating Working Party on Fishery Statistics (CWP) at its Twenty-fifth Session in February 2016 in Rome, Italy. The classification applies to commercial, subsistence and recreational fisheries in marine and freshwater fisheries. The document provides definitions and illustrations of the configuration and mode of operation of typical fishing gears. The primary purpose is to assist FAO Members, regional fishery bodies, as well as those working on fishery statistics and management, to correctly attribute and report fisheries catches made by different gear types. The document also contributes to the prevention, deterrence and elimination of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by providing monitoring, control and surveillance personnel with information to identify the type of fishing gear with regard to licence and authorization to carry out fishing operations. Finally, the document also provides context and references for some contemporary conservation issues related to major fishing gear types; it can therefore be used as a reference text for students and researchers in fisheries and marine conservation.