Plastic pollution from fisheries (and aquaculture) was again one of several topics discussed in an international forum. The need to produce food from the sea and lakes is growing with the world’s increasing population. Therefore, the need to develop possible solutions to mitigate the negative effects of this type of pollution was made clear by meeting participants from all corners of the world.
The annual meeting of the ICES Working Group on Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour (ICES WG FTFB) was held May 11–15 in Cairns (Queensland), together with representatives from the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division. A total of 120 delegates from several countries attended, and the many excellent presentations provided the basis for interesting discussions and further cooperation in existing and new partnerships in the years ahead.
During the meeting we had two presentations based on trials in Norway: one related to snow crab pot fishing, and the other on new materials for Danish/demersal seine ropes (. Additionally, a report on “measures and methods by marking to avoid loss of fishing gear” was presented, and it was decided to start a new topic group for 2027–2029 regarding a possible, gradual shift towards use of alternative, biodegradable materials in fishing gear and aquaculture.
Dr. Kristine Cerbule (formerly a PhD candidate at Dsolve), from Heriot‑Watt University (Scotland), presented results from study on snow crab behaviour and how crabs can orient themselves to escape through differently shaped pot escape openings. Several of our master’s students at the Norwegian College of Fishery Science helped with the analyses of video-recordings from a study carried out together with our collaborators at Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada; see: Applicability of different pot escape mechanisms to reduce bycatch of undersized snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) based on laboratory observations.
PhD student Anja Alvestad presented interesting test results from trials of demersal seine ropes with coating of biodegradable materials. The new ropes are developed as part of the SEARCULAR project funded by EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters” and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under lead by the Spanish research institution AZTI. During several months of testing, these ropes have shown valuable properties regarding abrasion resistance which is fully comparable to conventional seine ropes. The samples of new and used conventional and biodegradable seine ropes Anja displayed attracted great interest. Anja’s presentation was titled “Reducing plastic pollution from demersal seine fisheries through biodegradable rope”, see page 58 in FAO-ICES WG FTFB Abstract book.
Roger Larsen, together with Anja and Kristine, contributed to the work of the TG Marking, i.e., the topic group working on means and methods for the implementation of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear (VGMFG). We were able to establish a new topic group, “Alternative Materials” (TG ALT‑MAT), for the period 2027–2029. First round in this TG will take place during the meeting in Mar del Plata, Argentina, next year.
