Periodic Reporting for period 1 - REDUCE (REDUCING BYCATCH OF THREATENED MEGAFAUNA IN THE EAST CENTRAL ATLANTIC)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2024-01-01 al 2025-06-30
REDUCE aims to unite stakeholders and apply innovative, interdisciplinary science to reduce bycatch of endangered, threatened, and protected species (ETPS) while promoting sustainable management of EU industrial fisheries in West African waters. By connecting EU and ECAO countries, strengthening monitoring, assessing bycatch impacts, and testing mitigation measures, the project fosters cooperation and co-creation of sustainable solutions. Integrating diverse data and governance analyses, REDUCE supports the goals of the UN BBNJ treaty and the EU’s Blue Economy, addressing current fragmentation in fisheries research and management.
REDUCE will implement a new integrative framework by pursuing six objectives:
1. To obtain high-resolution bycatch data on ETPS across fisheries and taxa by reinforcing capacity in the observer programmes and advancing in the testing and implementation of electronic monitoring (EM) and automated Machine Learning (ML) systems, including bycatch estimates from ghost gears and dFADs.
2. To estimate post-release mortality and sub-lethal effects across taxa using state-of-the-art loggers.
3. To understand key operational, environmental and socioecological drivers of bycatch and evaluate bycatch risk in space and time through integrated modelling of bycatch and mortality, based on data of fishing effort and long time-series of spatiotemporal distributions and demographic data of ETPS.
4. To quantify and understand the impact of bycatch on population dynamics, status and viability of ETPS by collecting and modelling relevant demographic and life-history traits.
5. To reduce bycatch through unifying the efforts of the scientific community and relevant stakeholders to assess and test mitigation measures, co-designing marine spatial planning strategies that account for cross-taxa bycatch effects, and finding workable mitigation solutions through collaborative partnerships with industry.
6. To define requirements for the sustainable management of fisheries, providing the scientific basis for political change that will place reduction of ETPS bycatch at the centre of management efforts in the East Central Atlantic Ocean (ECAO).
REDUCE will implement a new integrative framework by pursuing six objectives:
1. To obtain high-resolution bycatch data on ETPS across fisheries and taxa by reinforcing capacity in the observer programmes and advancing in the testing and implementation of electronic monitoring (EM) and automated Machine Learning (ML) systems, including bycatch estimates from ghost gears and dFADs.
2. To estimate post-release mortality and sub-lethal effects across taxa using state-of-the-art loggers.
3. To understand key operational, environmental and socioecological drivers of bycatch and evaluate bycatch risk in space and time through integrated modelling of bycatch and mortality, based on data of fishing effort and long time-series of spatiotemporal distributions and demographic data of ETPS.
4. To quantify and understand the impact of bycatch on population dynamics, status and viability of ETPS by collecting and modelling relevant demographic and life-history traits.
5. To reduce bycatch through unifying the efforts of the scientific community and relevant stakeholders to assess and test mitigation measures, co-designing marine spatial planning strategies that account for cross-taxa bycatch effects, and finding workable mitigation solutions through collaborative partnerships with industry.
6. To define requirements for the sustainable management of fisheries, providing the scientific basis for political change that will place reduction of ETPS bycatch at the centre of management efforts in the East Central Atlantic Ocean (ECAO).
The project’s scientific impact is being advanced through an integrated framework of interdisciplinary research, standardization of methodologies, and open data management practices.
• WP1 (Ethics Requirements) has laid the ethical and regulatory foundation for all scientific and field activities. By establishing an Ethics Board and conducting a comprehensive self-assessment aligned with international conventions (e.g. Nagoya Protocol, CITES), REDUCE ensures that all research involving animal handling, biological sampling, and data sharing meets the highest ethical standards. This systematic oversight enhances the credibility and reproducibility of the project’s research outputs.
• WP2 (Coordination and Data Management) has strengthened the project’s scientific foundation through effective coordination and the operationalization of data management and quality assurance systems. The launch of the project website (www.reducebycatch.eu) and the implementation of a Quality Management Plan and a Data Management Plan. These frameworks ensure harmonized data collection, standardization, data integrity, long-term storage, open access whenever possible, as well as appropriate progress monitoring. Through data integration workshops and collaboration with sibling EU projects (CIBBRiNA, Marine Beacon), REDUCE has reinforced its position as a reference hub for collaborative bycatch research.
• WP3 (Bycatch Monitoring) has achieved tangible progress in advancing automated monitoring technologies, including the installation of Electronic Monitoring Systems (EMS) across EU fleets, and the development of machine learning algorithms for species identification. These represent significant scientific progress toward scalable, standardized, and objective bycatch monitoring.
• WP4 (Post-Release Mortality Assessment) is generating new empirical insights into post-capture survival and sublethal impacts on marine megafauna through the integration of tagging technologies, accelerometers, and biophysical modelling. These data are critical for understanding the population-level consequences of bycatch events.
• WP5 (Spatial Distribution, Habitat Modelling and Bycatch Risk) is developing predictive habitat and risk models using integrated datasets (VMS, AIS, tracking, sightings). These models will underpin the identification of spatial hotspots, inform the design of the decision-support tool REDUCEWatch and and provide an analytical basis for Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) decisions.
• WP6 (Impacts on Population Abundance and Viability) is advancing quantitative frameworks for assessing population-level effects of bycatch. By developing Potential Biological Removal (PBR) thresholds and Population Viability Analysis (PVA) models for key taxa, including cetaceans, sea turtles, seabirds and elasmobranchs, this WP enables the translation of bycatch data into ecologically meaningful management metrics.
• WP7 (Bycatch Reduction) is translating research into applied innovation, testing mitigation technologies and best-handling practices in collaboration with industry partners. These field trials will yield directly applicable solutions for vessel operators and management authorities.
• WP8 (Marine Spatial Planning) is bridging ecological science with governance and socio-economic dimensions. It is compiling regional Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) frameworks and developing the REDUCEWatch decision-support tool, it bridges science and policy to enable adaptive, ecosystem-based bycatch management.
• WP9 (Dissemination, Outreach and Engagement for Knowledge Transfer) has expanded REDUCE’s scientific visibility and societal reach through targeted communication, stakeholder mapping, and the production of accessible outreach materials. These actions ensure that scientific outcomes are transferred to policy, industry, and the wider research community, aligning REDUCE with broader European research and policy agendas.
• WP1 (Ethics Requirements) has laid the ethical and regulatory foundation for all scientific and field activities. By establishing an Ethics Board and conducting a comprehensive self-assessment aligned with international conventions (e.g. Nagoya Protocol, CITES), REDUCE ensures that all research involving animal handling, biological sampling, and data sharing meets the highest ethical standards. This systematic oversight enhances the credibility and reproducibility of the project’s research outputs.
• WP2 (Coordination and Data Management) has strengthened the project’s scientific foundation through effective coordination and the operationalization of data management and quality assurance systems. The launch of the project website (www.reducebycatch.eu) and the implementation of a Quality Management Plan and a Data Management Plan. These frameworks ensure harmonized data collection, standardization, data integrity, long-term storage, open access whenever possible, as well as appropriate progress monitoring. Through data integration workshops and collaboration with sibling EU projects (CIBBRiNA, Marine Beacon), REDUCE has reinforced its position as a reference hub for collaborative bycatch research.
• WP3 (Bycatch Monitoring) has achieved tangible progress in advancing automated monitoring technologies, including the installation of Electronic Monitoring Systems (EMS) across EU fleets, and the development of machine learning algorithms for species identification. These represent significant scientific progress toward scalable, standardized, and objective bycatch monitoring.
• WP4 (Post-Release Mortality Assessment) is generating new empirical insights into post-capture survival and sublethal impacts on marine megafauna through the integration of tagging technologies, accelerometers, and biophysical modelling. These data are critical for understanding the population-level consequences of bycatch events.
• WP5 (Spatial Distribution, Habitat Modelling and Bycatch Risk) is developing predictive habitat and risk models using integrated datasets (VMS, AIS, tracking, sightings). These models will underpin the identification of spatial hotspots, inform the design of the decision-support tool REDUCEWatch and and provide an analytical basis for Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) decisions.
• WP6 (Impacts on Population Abundance and Viability) is advancing quantitative frameworks for assessing population-level effects of bycatch. By developing Potential Biological Removal (PBR) thresholds and Population Viability Analysis (PVA) models for key taxa, including cetaceans, sea turtles, seabirds and elasmobranchs, this WP enables the translation of bycatch data into ecologically meaningful management metrics.
• WP7 (Bycatch Reduction) is translating research into applied innovation, testing mitigation technologies and best-handling practices in collaboration with industry partners. These field trials will yield directly applicable solutions for vessel operators and management authorities.
• WP8 (Marine Spatial Planning) is bridging ecological science with governance and socio-economic dimensions. It is compiling regional Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) frameworks and developing the REDUCEWatch decision-support tool, it bridges science and policy to enable adaptive, ecosystem-based bycatch management.
• WP9 (Dissemination, Outreach and Engagement for Knowledge Transfer) has expanded REDUCE’s scientific visibility and societal reach through targeted communication, stakeholder mapping, and the production of accessible outreach materials. These actions ensure that scientific outcomes are transferred to policy, industry, and the wider research community, aligning REDUCE with broader European research and policy agendas.
The REDUCE project has advanced bycatch reduction through enhanced monitoring, data integration, and stakeholder collaboration across EU and West African fisheries. Key outcomes include electronic monitoring deployment, AI-based detection tools, tagging studies, and mitigation guidelines that support science-based fisheries management. To maximise impact, further work is needed to scale up technology validation, improve data-sharing, secure implementation funding, and embed REDUCE results into EU and regional policies.