Busy days ahead for the RoundGobies!

24 September 2024

Long gone are the lazy days of summer – the RoundGoby project is buzzing with activity.

Our Polish partners Gdynia Maritime University and Port of Władysławowo organized the first round of test fishing with local fishermen on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea. The fishermen used two boats and had three full days of fishing in two areas: Puck Bay and around Port Władysławowo and Chłapowo areas. For each day, the two boats caught around 1-3 kg of Round Goby each day using fyke and trap nets. The fishing in Polish waters was an initial trial before full-scale test fishing begins in spring 2025. Although the catch might seem small it was a first indication that Round Goby is back in Polish waters after some absence.

The test fishing aims to find the spots most suitable for commercially fishing Round Goby around central, south and the west Baltic Sea. Our scientist and fishers will also test different fishing gear to find out what is most appropriate and efficient for low-impact, passive fishing of Round Goby.

In Sweden, our project partner SLU has collected data from spring’s test fishing trial, which will be fed into their database. SLU has also planned a 10-day autumn fishing trial in the Blekinge Archipelago to investigate fishing opportunities outside the regular spring season. In Sweden, the Round Goby test fishing has drawn some attention from the media and our fishers in Blekinge will be joined by the national Swedish Radio (SR) that are interested in doing a short news story on the topic. Stay tuned to find out more!

There is also plenty of activity in our Round Goby food product pilots! Marine Centre Simrishamn has bought frozen Round Goby from Estonia to secure enough raw material for our fish processing companies to develop new products. Soon our project partners and fish processing companies Skillinge Fisk and Branteviks Fisk will test filleting Round Goby with Herring filleting machines to optimize processing. They will also provide chefs working at Kalmar Municipality with Round Goby to test during the annual Sustainability week in mid-October. Hopefully, the first Round Goby products will be launched at selected events next year. Exciting times ahead!

On the Eastern shores of the Baltic, our partners in Estonia, TFTAK will organize a sensory test with a tasting panel. The panel will rate existing Round Goby products as well as canned products developed by our partner Baltijos Konservai in Lithuania. More news about this come October!