The CatchID symposium
Welcome to the 3rd International Symposium on Catch Identification Technologies, taking place in Trondheim, Norway, on 3.–4. November 2026.
Following the success of the previous symposiums, which attracted participants from around the world, the Directorate once again invites stakeholders from across the fisheries sector to come together and exchange knowledge.
The symposium will bring together representatives from the fishing industry, management authorities, researchers, policy makers, exporters, marketers, and other interested parties.
Program
3. november
Registration: 08:00 - 09:00
Symposium opening: 09:00
Program ends: 16:30
09:00 – 10:00 | |
Introduction to the 3rd International Symposium on Catch Identification Technologies | Hanne Hjelle Hatlebrekke, Conference host, SINTEF Ocean |
| Welcome to Trondheim | Kent Ranum, Mayor of Trondheim |
| Official Opening of the 3rd International Symposium on Catch Identification Technologies | Frank Bakke-Jensen, Director General of Fisheries, The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries |
| Welcome Address by the State Secretary | Secretary of State Kristina Sigurdsdottir Hansen |
| Catch Identification: Perspectives from Research and Industry | Guldborg Søvik (IMR) Ingunn Marie Holmen (SINTEF Ocean) Jan Roger Lerbukt (The Norwegian Fishermen's Association / Hermes) |
10:00 – 10:40 | |
| Introduction to AI | Key Note: Inga Strumke |
Pause 10:40-11:00 | |
| Session 1 | Emerging technologies |
| Seeing the unseen: Open-world Species Identification for Electronic Monitoring in Fisheries | Mahagedara Waththe |
| From Controlled Capture to Verifiable Catch Records: An Open AI Image Library, 3D Edge Vision, and Selective Wireless Monitoring for Demersal Fisheries | Josh Wiersma, Ph.D, Integrated Monitoring |
| Machine Vision solutions for Catch Monitoring | Einar Johan Mehl, CEO , Mohn Technology |
| LLM-Assisted Data Augmentation for Rare Bycatch Species | Vasilis Minasidis, PhD candidate, University of Coimbra Portugal |
| SynFish: Scalable synthetic training data for automated fish species recognition | Hanne De Rijcke, Scientific researcher, AI & Machine Vision Team, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food |
ShrimpScan: Development and Validation of an AI-Based System for Automated Shrimp Length Estimation | Sander Delacauw, Research scientist, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food |
Automated Bycatch Monitoring in Pelagic Longline Fisheries Using YOLO-Based Object Detection Models | Nina Del Rio , Institute of Marine Research (IIM-CSIC) in Vigo, Spain |
AI-powered Species Identification to Support Sustainable East African Small-Scale Fisheries | Giacomo Gardella, PhD Researcher, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) |
Wireless Connectivity as an Enabler for Automated Catch Identification on Fishing Vessels | Sander Delacauw, |
| Improved detection of occluded fish in cluttered conveyor belt imagery | Mark Fisher, Research Fellow, Hon. Snr. Lecturer, School of Computing Sciences, University of East Anglia |
Lunch 13:00-14:00 | |
| Session 2 | From Technology to Operations |
| From Telescope to AI: Iceland’s Journey in Electronic Fisheries Monitoring | Viðar Ólason, Director of surveillance, Directorate of Fisheries in Iceland |
| From REM Implementation to AI-Assisted Catch Verification: Scotland's Approach to Pelagic Fisheries Monitoring | Alex Eldridge, Fish Behaviour and Gear Scientist, Marine Directorate, Scottish Government |
| CatchREG: Automated Catch Registration Is No Longer a Research Problem | André Ødegårdstuen, AI Lead, Adigo |
| AI on board: near real-time insights for sustainable fishing | Daniel Olhagaray, Tryo Labs/The Nature Concervacy |
Collect Once, Use Many Times: Embedding Catch Identification into Onboard Processing | Tom Rossiter, Co-Founder & CEO, CatchCam |
| CamSounder: Real-time catch statistics for shrimp and bycatch | Jarl Gunnar T. Flaten, Researcher, Ph. D., SINTEF Nord |
Pause 15:00-15:15 | |
| CatchWatch-a system to estimate species and volume for fish in baskets | Michal Mackiewicz, Professor of Computer Vision at the Colour & Imaging Lab, School of Computing Sciences, University of East Anglia |
| Tracing the Evolution of Electronic Observation Technologies in Spanish Fisheries | Luis T. Antelo, Tenured Scientist and Vicedirector for Research, Institute of Marine Research (IIM-CSIC) in Vigo, Spain |
15:30-16:30 | |
| Session 3 | Decision Support Tools |
| Beyond Control: Electronic Monitoring for Greater Flexibility and Decision Support | Sissel Kolls Bertelsen, Phd. Candidate, DTU Aqua |
| Measures for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in European Fisheries | Petter Olsen, Senior Scientist, Nofima |
| From AI Model to Fisheries Data: An End-to-End Execution Framework | Poul Skov, AI/Software Student Developer, Anchor Lab |
| Dinner from 19:00 | |
| Introduction | Hanne Hjelle Hatlebrekke, Conference host, SINTEF Ocean |
| 60 Kilos of Catch | Hallgrimur Helgason, author |
4. november
Coffee an mingling: 08:30 - 09:00
Program starts: 09:00
Program ends: 16:00
09:00 - 09:20 | |
| Welcome | Hanne Hjelle Hatlebrekke, Conference host, SINTEF Ocean |
| Opening statement | Siv June Hansen, Director of Division of Monitoring, Control and Compliance, Directorate of Fisheries |
09:20 – 10:00 | |
| Session 3 | Decision Support tools |
| When automated monitoring fails: Uncertainty and error prediction in fish detection models | Axel Streit, PhD. Candidate, Agricultural Biosystems Engineering, Wageningen University |
| From ROVs to AI-riven decission support: Smarter monitoring for sustainable coastal fisheries | Luis Taboada Antelo, Tenured Scientist and Vice director for Research, Institute of Marine Research, Vigo |
| Precise and low impact commercial and scientific trawling with cameras and active selection. | Maria Tenningen, Researcher IMR – Institute of Marine Research |
| Improved resource control of fisheries using deep learning (COFUD) | Helge Fredriksen, Associate Professor, UiT The Artic University of Norway |
10:00 – 10:40 | |
| Session 4 | Governance, Trust and Implementation |
From Technology to Governance: Automatic Catch Registration in International Fisheries Management | Ina Helene Ahlquist, Researcher, SINTEF Ocean, |
From input to outcome: Rethinking fisheries governance under full catch documentation. | Jordan P. Feekings, Head of Section / Senior Researcher, DTU Aqua |
Can Electronic Monitoring Make Norwegian Fisheries More Governable? An Ethical Analysis of Stakeholder Perceptions | Mael Manuel Bueno, Ph. D. Fellow, UiT – The Artic University of Norway |
Pause10:40 - 11:00 | |
11:00-11:45 | |
Responsible Reuse of Fisheries Data for Digital Monitoring and Traceability | Sander Delacauw, Research Scientist, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food |
Implementing REM programs tailor-made to fisheries and local conservation needs | Laetitia Paugam, Strategic Business Development Manager, SINAY |
Beyond Accuracy Metrics: Validating AI with Human Observers | Angelo Mencarelli, Researcher, Wageningen University and Research - Wageningen Plant Research |
| Standards as a Bridge from Innovation to Scalable Catch Identification | Johanne Irene Knutsen, Project lead, Standards Norway |
11:45 – 12:15 | |
| Panel Discussion | |
| Perspectives from Fisheries Regulatory Authorities | Norway (Siv June Hansen) Iceland (Viðar Ólason) Scotland (Stuart Griffin) |
12:15 – 13:00 | |
Session 5 | EU Initiatives and Collaboration |
| Every Fish Counts: From Automatic Catch Identification to Trusted Uptake | Rachel Haug Fossbakk, Chief Scientist, SINTEF Ocean |
| Scaling CatchWAM for European Fisheries Monitoring | Angelo Mencarelli, Researcher, Wageningen University and Research - Wageningen Plant Research |
| Photogrammetry-Driven Synthetic Data for Fisheries Monitoring AI | Roel Klein, Researcher, Wageningen University and Research - Wageningen Plant Research |
Lunch 13:00-14:00 | |
14:00 – 14:50 | |
| Session 6 | Market, Traceability and Data Infrastructure |
| From Catch Identification to Verified Seafood Traceability | Truls Bakkejord Ræder, Senior Research Scientist, SINTEF Nord |
| Trusted First Landings | Zlatko Mastnak, CEO, EMA Ltd, Blue Traker |
Universal Fishery IDs: A Global Standard for Seafood Traceability | Martin Bello, Data analyst and Advisory Services Manager, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership |
| From Harvest to Value | Frank Terzoli, CPO/CSO, CertiHarvest |
14:50 – 15:25 | |
| Session 7 | Biotechnology and Alternative Monitoring Methods |
| Estimating catch composition using environmental DNA in demersal fisheries samples | Sara Maggini, Postdoc, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Aqua) |
| Beyond the Bucket: Benchmarking eDNA Against Full-Landing Sorting for Bycatch Assessment | Nina Strand, PhD Fellow, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Aqua) |
Acoustic and optical technologies for catch identification: Supporting fishing operations and collecting data for fisheries management | Nils Olav Handegard, Senior scientist, Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway |
Closing 15:25 – 16:00 | |
| From Pilot to Industrial Scale | Yngve Brathaug, Commercial Adviser, Inventas |
| Closing remarks | Tore Haferstrom, Head of section, Strategic Fisheries Compliance Section, Directorate of Fisheries |
Conference Wrap-Up | Hanne Hjelle Hatlebrekke, konferansier, SINTEF Ocean |
A global meeting place for innovation and transparency
The main objective of the symposium is to provide an international arena for presenting, discussing, and sharing knowledge on catch identification technologies. The event will focus on technological solutions that enhance the accuracy and efficiency of documenting resource extraction, strengthen the knowledge base for fisheries management, and support responsible harvesting practices.
By facilitating dialogue between industry, science, and management, the symposium aims to contribute to improved data quality, more sustainable fisheries management, and increased trust in seafood products.