Report of the Working Group on Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour (WGFTFB)

The ICES-FAO Working Group on Fish Technology and Fish Behaviour (WGFTFB) met in Merida, Mexico from 25 to 29 April 2016 to hold a FAO-hosted mini-symposium on “Technology Development and Sustainable Fisheries”, and to address four Terms of Reference. 

The two-and-half-day mini-symposium hosted by FAO in collaboration with Marista University of Merida and sponsored by FAO included 40 oral presentations and 14 poster presentations, and was attended by 85 scientists from 23 countries across four continents (Europe, North America, South America, and Asia). 

The mini-symposium contained six theme sessions:

1. Challenges and advantages in static fishing gears;
2. Encouraging technological change in capture;
3. Energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction in capture fisheries;
4. Technology and practice for managing bycatch and reducing;
5. Innovative technologies for observing fish and fishing gear;
6. Fishing technology to eliminate vaquita bycatch from fisheries in the Upper Gulf of California (UGC) - A Special session in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and US Marine Mammal Commission (MMC).