Innovations in Fishing Technology Aimed at Achieving Sustainable Fishing

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Background

Over the last fifty years, human exploitation of marine resources has become more efficient as the understanding of the habits and behaviour of the various species available in the sea gradually increased. Thus, technologies have developed naturally over time and fishing gears and practices have become more sophisticated. These technical advances in fishing gear have generally led to more efficient economic fishing operations and better access to resources. However, fishing implies the harvesting of marine organisms directly from their natural environment, therefore general awareness of environmental problems due to the exploitation of fishery resources has also increased. In particular, the poor selectivity of some gears is responsible for the capture of juveniles, immature and undersized specimens of many species, with negative consequences on the state of stocks. In addition, bycatch in marine fisheries is a major source of human-caused mortality of marine megafauna, often leading to the capture of vulnerable species. Finally, many bottom-towed gears are responsible for high impacts on bottom communities and habitats, with cascading consequences on the entire marine ecosystem. All these impacts can lead to changes in the structure, function and integrity of ecosystems, including effects on the food webs and multispecies predator-prey relationships.

The main objective of reasonable fisheries management is that fishing and fish processing are conducted in such a way as to minimise environmental impact, reduce waste, preserve the biodiversity of caught fish and aquatic ecosystems, maintain stock abundance within safe limits, preserve population structure and ensure fish quality, while maintaining the economic viability of fisheries and developing the working conditions for fishers.
In order to find ways to preserve fish resources and the marine environment, fishing gears and their impact should be further studied and less impactful techniques developed. In this regard, fisheries technologists have the responsibility to provide fisheries managers as well as fishermen and stakeholders with useful advice and technical solutions to mitigate the negative impact of fishing gears.

This Research topic is mainly conceived to increase knowledge on technical modifications to fishing gear and practices as possible solutions to mitigate the impact of fishing gears. To this end, articles on the selectivity of fishing gears, the effects of technical modifications on achieving more sustainable fisheries, and the development of Bycatch Reduction Devices to reduce unwanted catches of vulnerable species will be considered for publication.
We encourage contributions that offer new insights and approaches that can help improve fisheries management and governance in order to move towards sustainable fisheries. A range of article types will be considered, including but not restricted to Original Research, Reviews, Perspective and Opinion articles.

Keywords: Fishing technology, Fishing impact, Selectivity, Bycatch, discards, ghost gears, greenhouse emissions

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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