Using automatic species recognition and artificial intelligence to fight illegal fish discards and revolutionise fisheries control
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
The farm to fork strategy and the common fisheries policy aim to ensure that fishing and aquaculture are ecologically, economically and socially sustainable and provide a source of healthy food for EU citizens. The successful proposals should unequivocally contribute to phase out the practice of discarding unwanted fish and improving catch-reporting data by using automatic species recognition and artificial intelligence to analyse data sources, such as video footage, rapid DNA-based assays and sensor data in real-time through, for example, internet of things or similar monitoring systems.
To ensure that fisheries are ecologically, economically and socially sustainable and provide a source of healthy food, the EU needs to have in place a technologically advanced and effective fisheries monitoring and control system and the digitisation of fisheries is a key element.
Detailed Call Description
Proposals should develop innovative and cost-effective solutions for automatic species recognition and quantification and assessment of health status of species (e.g., presence of parasites), and automatically analyse Remote Electronic Monitoring video footage, rapid DNA-based assays and sensor data in real-time. They should also develop mechanisms to ensure that the data collected by the cameras and sensors to be automatically analysed cannot be tampered with and that the system can automatically identify cases of system malfunction or missing information. Additionally, proposals should test the suggested solutions in real conditions, including the development of at least three pilot cases in three different European seas. They should also analyse vulnerabilities, dependencies and critical infrastructure in expanding the use of the solutions to Europe and worldwide (e.g., Regional Fisheries Management Organisations and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements).
Moreover, proposals should investigate possibilities for the integration of the results of the artificial intelligence analyses for the purposes of automated catch recording and reporting recommend effective designs of remote monitoring systems to cover processing activities on board of fishing vessels, and explore the possibilities of the system to contribute to the identification of parasites in processed fish (e.g. via DNA-based assays). They should also recommend standardised remote electronic monitoring formats for the exchange of the information between different control authorities or to be used for scientific purposes, including standards based on FLUX that could be potentially proposed for recognition by UN/CEFACT.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
70%
EU contribution per project: €5,00 million
Thematic Categories
- Environment and Climate Change
- Fisheries/ Aquaculture and Maritime Policy
- Information and Communication Technologies
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Semi-governmental organisations
- State-owned Enterprises
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou Street, 1075 Nicosia
T.Th. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
+357 22205000
Email: support@research.org.cy
Contact Persons:
Marcia Trillidou
Scientific Officer A’
Email: trillidou@research.org.cy
Dr. Mary Economou
Scientific Officer
Email: meconomou@research.org.cy
(Publish Date: 16/01/2023-for internal use only)
EU Contact Point
European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/research-and-innovation_en#contact