The Pelagic Freezer Trawler Association (PFA) and the Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen scientific cooperation on pelagic fish stocks, to improve stock assessments and fisheries management across the EU.
The agreement was announced on 18 December 2025 and focuses on improving the use of industry data from pelagic freezer trawlers for scientific research.
The partnership enables data collected at sea to be fed directly into surveys, ecological research, and advice on sustainable fisheries. It builds on earlier PFA agreements with Wageningen Marine Research in the Netherlands and CEFAS in the UK.
Focus on data from fishing vessels
Under the MoU, operational data from pelagic freezer trawlers will be used more effectively to improve knowledge of pelagic stocks.
This includes information collected during routine fishing activities, which can expand the spatial coverage of scientific monitoring.
PFA Chief Science Officer Dr Niels Hintzen said the agreement marked “a significant further step” in cooperation between the fishing sector and science.
He said data and insights from vessels help deliver more reliable information on pelagic stocks and show the sector’s commitment to sustainable fisheries.
Science backs closer industry ties
The Thünen Institute said the collaboration would strengthen its research work. Dr Gerd Kraus, speaking on behalf of the institute, said the pelagic fishing industry had already proven its value by providing additional data that improves stock assessments.
He pointed to the sampling schemes and monitoring systems developed by the PFA over the past few years. These systems, he said, provide broader coverage and use modern technical methods.
According to Kraus, the new MoU is expected to improve data quality and yield better, more widely accepted management advice.
German fleet involved through PFA
German fishing company Doggerbank Seefischerei GmbH, a member of the PFA, is closely involved in the cooperation. The company operates two German-flagged pelagic freezer trawlers.
Annegret Finke of Doggerbank Seefischerei said the company views it as its responsibility to contribute to science. She said its vessels have collected routine acoustic data and taken part in the PFA’s self-sampling programme since 2015.
Through this work, German-flagged pelagic freezer trawlers have contributed around 600,000 individual length measurements of pelagic fish species, according to the company.
The PFA represents eight pelagic freezer trawler companies from six European countries, with a combined fleet of 17 vessels. The association says cooperation with research institutes is central to its goal of maintaining sustainable pelagic fisheries.
The Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries is part of Germany’s federal Thünen Institute. It carries out monitoring and research to support policy advice on the sustainable use of marine living resources.