ARCFISH 1st General Assembly in Lisbon: Charting the Course for Arctic Fisheries Innovation

The ARCFISH consortium held its first General Assembly on 11–12 June 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal, bringing together 11 participants from partner institutions across Europe. This in-person meeting marked a key milestone at the end of the project’s first year and served as an opportunity to strengthen collaboration, assess progress, and align efforts for the next stages of implementation.

Over the two days, participants reflected on the achievements of Year 1, including stakeholder engagement activities, the development of data ingestion services, and the creation of new data products. The two ARCFISH use cases—focused on Western Greenland and Icelandic waters—were central to the discussion, with partners sharing updates and engaging in a hands-on working session to refine strategies for local implementation. These sessions underscored the importance of integrating diverse Arctic datasets and working closely with end-users to ensure the tools developed will be practical and impactful.

The meeting also featured a discussion on ARCFISH’s recent endorsement as an official UN Ocean Decade Action. This recognition brings new opportunities for visibility and collaboration, particularly as the project aligns with broader efforts to build a climate-resilient and sustainable blue economy. Communication, dissemination, and exploitation strategies were also reviewed, alongside coordination and management topics to ensure smooth delivery in the months ahead.

The General Assembly fostered a strong sense of community and shared purpose among the partners. It laid a solid foundation for the next phase of the project, which will focus on delivering user-driven services, advancing the Digital Twin of the Ocean platform, and contributing meaningfully to sustainable Arctic fisheries management.