By uniting strategic forecasting with tactical and strategic autonomous scouting , fishing vessels can more easily target the best fishing areas and perform more efficient operations. This can improve both economic performance and environmental sustainability, which is important as modern commercial fishing fleets face mounting pressures such as:
- Higher sustainability requirements and an urgent need to reduce environmental impact
- Rising fuel costs that make inefficient search operations increasingly expensive
- Climate-driven shifts in species distribution.
Autonomous marine vehicles
Autonomous systems offer a step-change in how fishing vessels gather intelligence. Instead of using a large vessel to search for fish, small autonomous vehicles can perform the same tasks at a fraction of the cost. They can operate semi or fully autonomously, allowing the crew to focus elsewhere and incorporate the data when convenient. These systems can provide both strategic and tactical intelligence. Strategic intelligence supports medium- and long-term decisions, while tactical intelligence supports short term decisions and ongoing fishing operations.
Different autonomous vehicles are relevant, each with different strengths and weaknesses:
- Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) and Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASVs)
- Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs)
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
Strategic intelligence and forecasting: Planning of fisheries operations
Advances in satellite remote sensing, ocean modelling, and in situ observations by autonomous marine vehicles now offer unprecedented insight into the marine environment. This can support fishers in finding the best fishing grounds, with respect to quotas, bycatch, weather forecasts, and market developments. Strategic insights can also be leveraged for stock monitoring, supporting sustainable fisheries management.
SINTEF develops algorithms that fuse these diverse data sources to predict promising fishing locations across pelagic, demersal, and emerging fisheries such as Calanus.
Our models may account for:
- Oceanographic drivers
- Climate effects
- Habitat preferences
- Vessel activity patterns
- Bycatch risk
Tactical intelligence: Optimisation of ongoing fisheries operations
The use of autonomous marine vehicles can be adapted for pelagic, demersal, and novel fisheries.
Tactical use in demersal fisheries
Unmanned vehicles can provide information on fish aggregations, seabed characteristics, ocean currents, and local oceanography. This supports more precise trawling and reduced seabed impact. Over time, these data streams can feed into closed-loop control systems, helping keep gear optimally positioned relative to the seabed.
Tactical use in pelagic fisheries
For pelagic fisheries, USVs and UUVs can operate as autonomous scouts, surveying local waters to locate schools. This significantly expands the effective search radius of a single vessel and opens opportunities for pre-catch assessments, such as in purse-seine operations.
Challenges & how SINTEF solves them
Deploying autonomous systems in demanding fishing environments requires robust, user-friendly solutions tailored to real operational conditions. Key challenges include:
- Efficient launch and recovery from constrained deck layouts
- Vessel-compatible endurance, speed, and range
- Stable sensor performance in rough seas
- Reliable data transfer and crew-friendly interfaces
- Processing and interpretation of the data
- Balancing of compactness (ease of handling) with payload and endurance needs.
How SINTEF addresses these challenges
SINTEF's long-standing relationships with the fishing industry, public sector, and technology suppliers, combined with leading expertise, make us uniquely positioned to develop and deploy innovative solutions. These approaches are already being advanced through Horizon Europe projects such as Infinifish and MarineGuardian, SFI Harvest, and multiple industry-led initiatives.
SINTEF brings a unique combination of expertise in:
- Decision support systems
- Integration and coordinated operation of disparate systems
- Hydrodynamics, hull design, propulsion systems and energy solutions
- Sensor integration and data engineering
- Automation and control
- Maritime operations, modelling, and simulation
- Technology transfer and innovation with industry partners.
Our interdisciplinary teams guide the full development pathway, from concept and modelling to full-scale trials. This ensures the resulting systems meet the needs of fishing vessels, crews, and managers.
Our approach encompasses the following:
- Integrated system design: We analyse vessel layouts, fishing patterns, and operational constraints to define optimal drone hulls , handling systems, and energy solutions.
- Sensor and platform robustness: Our experience in sensor integration, hydrodynamics, and maritime operations ensures stable data capture under harsh weather and sea states.
- Full-scale testing and iterative development: We emphasise stepwise prototyping with real-world trials to ensure solutions are practical, safe, and beneficial from day one.
- Use of existing maritime technology: We prioritise leveraging existing technology ecosystems while developing new subsystems where necessary.
Header image: SFI Harvest, background extension using Adobe Firefly.