The MSC is working with partners on two projects - ECO-CATCH and MarineGuardian - funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe.
These projects are part of the EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters program. This program aims to protect and restore aquatic ecosystems, eliminate pollution, and promote a sustainable, carbon-neutral "blue economy".
The projects contribute directly to the EU Mission goals by developing innovative tools and strategies to:
- Reduce bycatch of sensitive species and juvenile fish,
- Minimise discards,
- Mitigate the impact of fisheries on marine habitats.
Through research, stakeholder engagement, and technological innovation, ECO-CATCH and MarineGuardian support the transition toward more sustainable and resilient fisheries across European waters.
The research challenge
This research is crucial for incentivising the fishing industry to adopt practices that protect vulnerable species, juvenile fish, and marine habitats.
Supporting fisheries that actively invest in sustainable practices is central to the MSC’s mission, and consumer demand for responsibly sourced seafood plays a vital role in driving this transition.
The MSC contributes to the ECO-CATCH and MarineGuardian projects by:
• Providing expertise on certification requirements and how innovative fishing methods align with the MSC Fisheries Standard.
• Supporting capacity building, drawing on our global perspective to help design training modules that guide fisheries in the effective use of new technologies.
• Participating in research tasks, ensuring that development of gear innovations is informed by real-world sustainability and certification needs.
How the MSC labelling program may incentivise gear innovation adoption
A key focus of ECO-CATCH and MarineGuardian is to explore how the MSC ecolabelling program can serve as a credible incentive for fishers to adopt innovative gear technologies.
Through close collaboration with fisheries, both projects aim to:
- Develop and trial a catalogue of technologies that reduce environmental impact and are viable in commercial fishing operations.
- Assess the broader context of adoption, including technological, social, economic, political, environmental, and legal factors that may facilitate or hinder the uptake of these innovations.
- Align gear innovations with MSC certification criteria, making it easier for fisheries to demonstrate sustainability and benefit from ecolabelling and consumer recognition.
By aligning these technologies with the MSC framework, we help ensure that sustainability improvements are not only technically feasible but also economically and socially viable.
Expected impacts
The anticipated outputs of ECO-CATCH and MarineGuardian projects include:
- Catalogues of fishing gear technologies tailored to diverse fisheries and their environmental and economic contexts.
- Training modules to equip a broad audience with tools to integrate innovative fishing gear technology into fisheries, highlighting its adaptability, feasibility, and economic benefits.
- Improved alignment with MSC certification standards, enabling fisheries to more easily demonstrate sustainability and meet reporting requirements.
- Enhanced visibility and market access, as fisheries adopting these innovations can leverage the MSC label to meet growing consumer demand for sustainable seafood. These anticipated benefits align with our MSC Theory of Change.
About the MarineGuardian project
MarineGuardian takes a holistic approach to reducing fisheries environmental impacts on marine species and habitats. Co-developed with stakeholders and tested in six case studies, MarineGuardian will produce a scalable roadmap toward sustainable, economically viable European fisheries aligned with EU Mission Ocean goals.
About the ECO-CATCH project
ECO-CATCH will develop innovative methods of fishing to reduce the bycatch of juvenile fish and endangered, threatened and protected species and to reduce the impact on habitats, while keeping fishing profitable. The project will focus on case studies in the Baltic and North Sea.
