European fisheries face increasing demands for transparency, sustainability and accountability. Reliable information about what is caught, where and how is essential for managing fish stocks, protecting marine ecosystems and ensuring fair competition. At the same time, monitoring systems must be practical and cost-efficient for fishers operating in demanding conditions at sea.
EVERYFISH addresses these challenges by developing and testing digital technologies for automatic catch registration in different European fisheries. The project supports the modernised EU fisheries control framework, which strengthens electronic reporting, traceability and digital monitoring requirements. It also contributes to broader EU sustainability objectives, including the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and international commitments to sustainable fisheries management.
The overall objective is to develop and validate interoperable technologies that improve monitoring, control and sustainability of fisheries. These include artificial intelligence (AI) systems for automatic species identification, size and weight estimation, detection of unusual fishing patterns, and secure data sharing.
Ten technologies are being developed and tested in tropical tuna, pelagic, demersal, small- and mid-scale, recreational and artisinal fisheries. The project combines engineering, natural- and social sciences to ensure that solutions are technically robust, economically realistic and socially acceptable. Stakeholder workshops and field trials are used to assess operational feasibility, regulatory implications and incentives for uptake.
By improving data quality and transparency, EVERYFISH aims to strengthen stock assessments, support more efficient inspections and build trust between fishers, authorities and markets.
