FIDEL
HORIZON European Project
Kick-Off Meeting: Building Smarter, Fairer Fisheries Monitoring for Europe!
In June 2026, the FIDEL consortium gathered in Volos, Greece, for its official Kick-off Meeting (KoM), marking the start of a new Horizon Europe project dedicated to transforming how Europe monitors, controls and safeguards its fisheries. Hosted by the project coordinator, the University of Thessaly, the meeting brought together representatives from 24 partner organisations spanning Greece, Cyprus, Belgium, Portugal, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Croatia, Italy, Germany and Mauritius.
About FIDEL
FIDEL — short for “A ground-breaking Framework for Integrated Data-Driven IntelligEnce in Fisheries Monitoring, ControL and Surveillance” — is a 36-month project funded under the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme (Grant Agreement No. 101286574). The project brings together technology developers, research institutes, fishing industry associations and regulatory bodies to combat illegal, unreported and unsustainable fishing practices through a suite of innovative digital tools, including AI-powered e-logbooks, vessel tracking, computer-vision monitoring systems, and blockchain-based traceability.
Beyond the technology itself, FIDEL places strong emphasis on trust, fairness and legal compliance — ensuring that the fishers and communities affected by these tools are protected, informed and fairly represented throughout the project’s lifetime.
WISEFOUR’s Role in FIDEL: Ethics, Law and Responsible Innovation by Design
Wisefour Innovation and Development Organisation leads two key tasks within FIDEL: data management, research ethics and legal compliance (WP1), and the social, legal and ethical assessment of the project’s technologies (WP2). During the Kick-off Meeting, our team presented the ethical and legal governance workflow that will guide the consortium for the next three years, covering areas such as GDPR compliance, Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA), Fundamental Rights Impact Assessments (FRIA), and Trustworthy AI (ALTAI) assessments for each of FIDEL’s technology components.
“FIDEL puts real people at the centre of every technology decision — from small-scale fishers to large fleet operators,” said the Wisefour team. “Our role is to make sure that innovation moves forward responsibly, with fairness, transparency and legal certainty built in from day one.”
Wisefour's
Kick-off meeting
What's Next
Following the Kick-off Meeting, the consortium held a virtual follow-up session to align on next steps. Over the coming months, partners will begin stakeholder mapping, technology assessments, and the first data governance milestones, with the first pilot activities to follow once ethical and legal clearance has been completed.
Stay tuned to the Wisefour blog for more updates as FIDEL progresses.
Τhe consortium
- University of Thessaly – Coordinator (Greece)
- Eigen Vermogen van het Instituut voor Landbouw- en Visserijonderzoek – Belgium
- Instituto de Engenharia se Sistemas e Computadores Inovacao – Portugal
- Fondazione Coispa – Italy
- Netcompany S.A. – Luxembourg
- EMA d.o.o. – označevanje in Sledljivost v industriji in logistiki – Slovenia
- Xsealence – Sea Technologies SA – Portugal
- Biocos IKE – Greece
- Fisheries Technologies – Iceland
- eBOS Technologies Ltd – Cyprus
- Quadible Greece IKE – Greece
- Dissemify OU – Estonia
- StreamOwl IKE – Greece
- Wisefour Innovation and Development Organisation Ltd – Cyprus
- Psaragora Georgios Chr. Giallouros Ltd – Cyprus
- Telesto Technologies Pliroforikis Kai Epikoinonion EPE – Greece
- Westcours Charter Ltd – Mauritius
- Giorgos Hadjiyiannis Fishery – Cyprus
- International Organisation for the Development of Fisheries & Aquaculture in Europe – Denmark
- National Federation of Hungarian Anglers – Hungary
- Hrvatski savez za športski ribolov na moru – Croatia
- Coopescamadeira-Cooperativa da Pesca do Arquipelago da Madeira Crl. – Portugal
- Secretaria Regional do Mar e das Pescas – Portugal
- European Anglers Alliance – Germany
Start date 01-05-2026 – End date 30-04-2029
The project is co-funded by the European Commission, and by Horizon Europe.
Project Number: 101286574 — FIDEL — HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-11
The FIDEL project has received funding from the Horizon Europe’s project call HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-11 under Grant Agreement n. 101286574
