On June 22, 2022, the EU project “Fish-X” started as part of the kick-off workshop in the Transfer Center for Maritime Technologies SH at the Seefischmarkt in Kiel.
The aim of the project is the development of a new information and data infrastructure for European fisheries. The focus is particularly on traditional fishing. This should be better controlled in the future, but above all better supported with various technologies.

Embedded in the European Gaia-X infrastructure, the “Fish-X” data platform is intended to help enforce and control fishing regulations more effectively in order to protect endangered fish stocks. At the same time, the platform and the associated infrastructure should help fishing companies to improve their fishing methods and achieve higher yields through more transparency in the supply chain.

The international project consortium consists of seven partners, which is managed by the Transfer Center for Maritime Technologies Schleswig-Holstein GmbH (TransMarTech) from Kiel as project coordinator. In addition to the startup OURZ GmbH from Flensburg and north.io GmbH from Kiel, other partners from Germany such as EUTEC GmbH, CLS from France, SCIAENA from Portugal and WWF from Belgium are involved in the project. In addition, the WWF is involved in the project with additional representatives from Portugal, Italy and Croatia.

The project is funded with the Horizon Europe program as part of the Form2Fork strategy for the EU Green Deal over a three-year period. The total project volume is around 6 million euros, of which 4.5 million euros are being funded by the European Commission.

importance of the project

“We don’t need to discuss how important it is to protect the oceans. But what do we do about it now? When it comes to fishing, the question is: How can we avoid overfishing in the future, protect endangered species, biodiversity, pollution and hazards (e.g. from ghost nets) and at the same time offer traditional fishing an economically viable future again? This requires a transparent network with a large amount of information. The Fish-X platform is intended to shed light on the downsides of fishing and fish trade. Regardless of whether it is a supervisory authority, fishing company, trader or Consumers, everyone involved should be able to accurately and reliably understand where, when and how their fish was caught.To do this, we combine tried-and-tested solutions such as satellite-based systems with new approaches such as artificial intelligence and blockchain technology.” explains project manager of the TransMarTech SH, Marius Hölter.

How important is the project for Kiel and Schleswig-Holstein?
“Fish-X will provide an essential building block for transparent supply chains in fishing with the latest data and satellite technology. Nele Dageförde, Managing Director of TransMarTech SH, is certain that we are thus making an active contribution to developing a seal of quality for species-appropriate catching for ‘fish’ as a basic food source and to guaranteeing the protection of endangered stocks.

Responsible for this press release

Julia Plath | Project & Marketing Manager
Mobile: +49-151 53900706 | Email: julia.plath@transmartech.sh