The Fish-X Project is a technology and open-source driven project, which aims at making the European Union fishery industry by support of digitalisation more sustainable. It is a 3-year project starting from June 2022 and ending in May 2025, and it is co-funded by the Horizon Europe Programme.

In support of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), it is the objective of the project to develop accessible technologies and data to take better and more foresighted decisions for sustainable fisheries management. The project helps to lower the bar for small-scale fisheries (SSF) in providing transparency of their effort towards sustainable practices and enhance their credibility towards the customer. The project is mainly developing a Fisheries Dataspace, a Traceability App, and an Insight Platform.  These three components constitute the infrastructure designed under the Gaia-X framework, appropriate to ensure data sovereignty and security for EU fisheries datasets. Fish-X is not going to replace the existing monitoring & control systems presently operational in EU Member States, but will illustrate a parallel option for collection, AI-supported analysis and sharing of fisheries data, able to cover the high numbers of SSF vessels that would especially be relevant to the new control regulation.

• Fight Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing
• Promote a sustainable use of common natural resources
• Support honest fishers and help generate fair economic returns
• Foster synergies between fisheries, authorities, supply chain actors, and consumers
• Advance the digital transition for small-scale and recreational fisheries
• Contribute to traceable, healthy, and sustainable food

MCS Technology Use Cases

The Fish-X Project will produce three technology use cases, throughout which the implementation of the developed digital tools will be tested in order to analyse and report on their respective utility and performance with regard to currently prevailing challenges in SFF in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Baltic/Northern Sea.

Fish-x will apply digital technologies (tracking, simple digital logbook, fishing effort analysis, remote observation system, gear loss reduction tools, etc.) in these use cases to validate scalable approaches to improve sustainable fisheries and digital skills in the fishing industry, improve fisheries inspection and control, and reduce illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

EU Fisheries Roadmap for Digitalisation

One of the primary goals of Fish-X Project is to create a roadmap that will support the digitalisation of the Fisheries Industry across Europe by addressing the main challenges that may hinder its progress and ensuring its smooth implementation. Throughout the roadmap four major action areas have been formulated. Additionally, by carrying out a thorough stakeholder analysis, various stakeholders, as mentioned in the diagram of Fish-X community below, have been identified as key elements with regard to a successful digitalisation of EU SSF. Fish-X looks for contribution of key stakeholders to further develop the roadmap and if you want to contribute, please write to us at info@fish-x.eu.

Fish-X Dataspace

The Fish-X Dataspace will enable the creation of a data ecosystem. A common-place where fisheries related data can be offered to those institutions and services that require or desire information of fish catch or vessel monitoring systems. Building on Gaia-X federation services, data owners can ensure reliable and trustworthy ways of exchanging data, while keeping full control of their data. By offering this digital solution, the establishment of information transfer can not only satisfy regulatory requirements but also provide an added value to fisheries data utilisation and commodity value.

Insight Platform

The Insight Platform is the user-interface of the dataspace to visualise and better understand fishing activities. It uses fishing vessels locations, activity reports, and environmental data to analyse the patterns of fishing activities. It supports the adaptation of digital systems for small-scale fishing boats and allows to share general information while protecting fishers’ privacy.

Traceability App

The Fish-X traceability application will aim at providing the highest possible degree of transparency across European seafood supply chains, while also adopting the overall Fish-X project focus of SSF. It targets efficient traceability of the seafood supply chain from point of catch to final point of sale. Following the approach of digital traceability and utilising blockchain technology, it will be ensured that the relevant data necessary for a transparent display of the supply chains is recorded and transmitted for every step of a seafood product. The Fish-X traceability application will furthermore be developed in a user-friendly and easy-to-use manner to secure a successful implementation.

Policy Recommendations

The Fish-X Project also targets to present policy recommendations that may cover aspects of EU fisheries. Small-scale fisheries usually face a lot of challenges and so do the people associated with them. The Fish-X Project aims to support small-scale fisheries and provide protection to their businesses through digitalisation and innovation. Research is another key area of the Fish-X Project, and the development of research papers and resources is one of the goals where scientific bodies, institutions, as well as other interested parties can contribute and support the generation of valuable insights of the project.

Whitepapers

White Papers are another key component of the Fish-X Project based on the consultation with stakeholders at multiple levels to identify the challenges prevailing across EU small scale fisheries, their potential solutions, recommendations, and evaluate the readiness of the fisheries towards digitalisation and become more sustainable.

Under this EU Horizon Europe Programme, Fish-X Project is a platform for community engagement, with EU fisheries at the centre and relevant actors around it, to work hand in hand to achieve the objectives of the project.

In order to tailor the key deliverables such as Fisheries dataspace (Fish-X), Insight Platform, and Traceability App to the needs of EU fisheries, structured consultation or dialogue are imperative with the external stakeholder groups as defined in the following diagram.

Fish-X always looks for valuable contribution from its stakeholders for events and several deliverables. Please fill in our Stakeholders Survey as success of the project depends on your active participation and it will also allow us to share the updates of the project and invite you to the upcoming events.

The Farm to Fork (F2F) Strategy is a plan developed by the European Commission as part of the European Green Deal initiative, with the aim of making food systems more sustainable and resilient. The F2F strategy is focused on the entire food supply chain, from production to consumption.

The main objectives of the F2F strategy are to:

• Ensure food security, safety and quality
• Reduce the environmental and climate impact of food systems
• Encourage the shift to sustainable food consumption patterns
• Promote fair and transparent food systems

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is a policy of the European Union (EU) that aims to manage and regulate fishing activities in EU waters and beyond. The CFP undergoes several reforms to improve its effectiveness and sustainability from time to time. The main objectives of the CFP are to ensure the long-term sustainability of fish stocks, to support the livelihoods of fishing communities, and to promote the competitiveness of the EU’s fishing industry.

Gaia-X is a European initiative aimed at developing a secure and sovereign data infrastructure for Europe. It is a joint project led by the German and French governments, supported by other European countries and companies.

The main objective of Gaia-X is to establish a European cloud platform that enables secure and efficient data sharing among companies, public institutions, and research organizations. The platform aims to facilitate the secure sharing and processing of data while ensuring compliance with European data protection and privacy laws.

In order to enhance communication and provide assistance to stakeholders and interested organisations, Fish-X has established a dedicated email address, info@fish-x.eu. This email serves as a centralised point of contact where stakeholders can submit their queries, concerns, or requests for information.

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