BIEA STEM 2027 Guideline

Introduction

Reducing Overfishing, Improving Futures

 

Overfishing poses one of the most urgent threats to marine ecosystems, food security, and the livelihoods of coastal communities worldwide. As global demand for seafood continues to rise, unsustainable fishing practices are pushing many fish populations to the brink of collapse, disrupting the oceanic balance and endangering the health of our planet.

Following on from the 2026 theme on reducing food waste sustainably, the 2027 BIEA STEM competition challenges you to come up with innovative solutions to reduce overfishing, whether through reducing bycatch or illegal fishing, or enhancing sustainable aquaculture.

Working as a Fisheries Technologist, you have been tasked with developing new, sustainable fishing methods. Through technological innovation, you will use your ingenuity to restore balance to our oceans and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come.

Using your STEM knowledge and understanding, you will design an innovative solution to reduce overfishing at a single point along the journey from sea to table. This journey includes catching systems, monitoring and enforcement and aquaculture. You will explore a single stage.

 

• Bycatch reduction technology

• Illegal fishing monitoring and enforcement

• Sustainable aquaculture innovation

• Selective and low-impact fishing gear or methods

Team entry

All entries must be from teams of 3–5 students.

Why only teams?
1. STEM innovation is collaborative by nature.
2. Fairness – comparing solo entries to team entries creates an imbalance.
3. Teams build skills for the future: communication, leadership, and teamwork.
4. Diversity of ideas – different perspectives make for stronger solutions.
5. Well-being – teammates share responsibility and reduce pressure.

Age range

This competition is open to anyone between the ages of 6 and 18 years old. Undergraduate teams in universities are welcome to enter as exemplar projects for younger year groups.

Entries will be divided into the following age groups:
• 6–8
• 9–11
• 12–14
• 15–18 (senior school)
• 18–21 / University undergraduate

Team members should fall in the age group that reflects the age they will be on 31st August 2027. If there are multiple ages, the age of the oldest team member should be used.

What to do?

Your team needs to submit Task 1 (a research report), Task 2 (an innovation design artwork)  and Task 3 (short video <3min) by 18 December 2026. Please see below for details.

Task 1

Your team have been asked to produce a report for the Fisheries and Oceans Department. In this report, you will need to consider the importance of reducing overfishing. Examine the fish and seafood you eat locally. Where did it come from? How was it caught? What happens to fish that are caught unintentionally as bycatch? What happens to fish stocks that are overfished?

You can use the Internet, books and media articles to research information. As part of your research, it might be useful to contact fishers, fish farmers, marine scientists or seafood retailers. In your role as a STEM scientist, you could ask them about any changes they have noticed in recent years.

The 2027 BIEA Competition remains flexible, so there are no wrong answers – we just want you to show us how creative and innovative you can be! Your report will need to include several different key ideas. This will depend on your age group.

All age groups must reference their sources and add them to the end of their report or presentation (a website name will be fine for internet sources).

 

Requirements for each Age Category

You will focus only on one stage of the journey from sea to table: catching, monitoring and enforcement, aquaculture, or retail and consumption.

Age 6-8

• Define what overfishing is.

• Define what bycatch is.

• Identify one problem that increases overfishing or bycatch.

• Describe two environmental problems caused by overfishing.

• Propose an innovative solution to reduce overfishing or bycatch at one point in the journey from sea to table.

• Explain how your idea is sustainable.

• Explain how your idea contributes to social or environmental wellness.

Age 9-11

• Define what overfishing is.

• Define what bycatch is.

• State the approximate number of fish caught or lost to overfishing annually (either

globally or nationally).

• Explain how overfishing contributes to climate change and ocean health.

• Identify one problem that increases overfishing or bycatch.

• Describe two environmental problems caused by overfishing.

• Propose an innovative solution to reduce overfishing or bycatch at one point in the

journey from sea to table.

• Explain how your idea will reduce the environmental problems.

• Explain how your idea is sustainable.

• Explain how your idea contributes to social or environmental wellness.

Age 12-14

• Define what overfishing is.

• Define what bycatch is.

• State the approximate number of fish caught or lost to overfishing annually (either

globally or nationally).

• Explain how overfishing contributes to climate change and ocean health.

• Identify one problem that increases overfishing or bycatch.

• Describe two environmental problems caused by overfishing.

• Propose an innovative solution to reduce overfishing or bycatch at one point in the

journey from sea to table.

• Explain how your idea will reduce the environmental problems.

• Identify one potential environmental problem for your idea and how it might be resolved.

• Explain how your idea is sustainable.

• Explain how your idea contributes to social or environmental wellness.

Age 15-17

• Define what overfishing is.

• Define what bycatch is.

• State the approximate number of fish caught or lost to overfishing annually (either

globally or nationally).

• Explain how overfishing contributes to climate change and ocean health.

• Identify one problem that increases overfishing or bycatch.

• Describe two environmental problems caused by overfishing.

• Propose an innovative solution to reduce overfishing or bycatch at one point in the

journey from sea to table.

• Explain how your idea will reduce environmental problems.

• Identify two potential environmental problems for your idea and how they might be resolved.

• Explain how your idea is sustainable.

• Explain how your idea contributes to social or environmental wellness.

Age 18+/University Undergraduates

• Include all 15–18 requirements.

• Use in-text citations (Harvard style) and include a full reference list at the end of the report.

Report Design

Submit your report as a PDF, including any images. Maximum length: 2,500 words (in English). You may include diagrams to illustrate your design ideas where necessary, but note that in Part 2 of the competition, you will be expected to produce detailed artwork. Do not submit editable documents, as formatting may be lost during the transfer, and you may lose marks as a result.

Rules:

-         Must work in a team of between three and five people. Individual entries will not be accepted.

-         The work you submit must be your own.

-         All secondary sources, including webpages and images, must be referenced at the end of your report.

Use of AI & Language Models

You may use AI tools and large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, as part of your research only. For example, you may use them to help you understand a topic, find a starting point for further reading, or check your understanding of a concept.

 

·        AI tools must not be used to write, or substantially rewrite, any part of your report. Copying and pasting AI-generated text directly into your submission is not permitted.

·        All writing, ideas, designs and conclusions in your report must be your own work, in your own words, reflecting your team’s own understanding and creativity.

·        AI-generated images, diagrams or artwork must not be submitted as your own creative work.

·        Any use of AI tools as part of your research process should be acknowledged briefly in your references, in the same way you would reference a website or book.

·        BIEA will run checks for AI-generated content on all submissions. Where a report is found to contain AI-generated content presented as the team’s own work, no marks will be awarded for that submission.

If you are ever unsure whether a particular use of an AI tool is acceptable, the safest approach is to use it only to research and understand your topic and then close it before you begin writing. Write the report yourself, in your own words.

 

Guidance Notes

• A summary of your team members and teacher/mentor, explaining roles.

• How you planned the work (who did what and when).

• The research you conducted to understand the 2027 challenge (including any outreach to industry or organisations).

• Current and relevant environmental problems.

• How your ideas provide solutions to these problems.

• How your ideas contribute to wellbeing.

• References (webpages and print).

Task 2 – Innovation, Creativity and Art

In this round, we would like you to use your research from Task 1 to plan and design an innovative solution to reduce overfishing or bycatch. We would like you to create a prototype or 3D model of your solution and test it experimentally to find out whether your design ideas could reduce overfishing or bycatch.

Your submission should be a poster that describes and explains your design. It must include labels to describe and explain key points.

Your poster may be in any medium (painting, sketch, drawing, mixed media, digital art, photography, mosaic, collage) and may be any size. 

You may use AI to generate initial ideas, but the final submission (model or artwork) must be your own work. Please acknowledge the AI generator and include your keywords in your submission.

As with the Report round, BIEA will run checks for AI-generated content, and no marks will be awarded for artwork or written labels found to be wholly AI-generated.

Your design must reflect the ideas developed in your Task 1 report.

Age 6-8

• Your design title.

• A diagram that shows your ideas for reducing overfishing or bycatch.

• Labels to describe how it works.

• An image that shows your model or prototype.

• Results of one experiment and why you chose this test.

Age 9-11

• Your design title.

• A diagram that shows your ideas for reducing overfishing or bycatch.

• Labels to highlight key areas, such as climate resilience, sustainability, and environmental wellness.

• An image that shows your model or prototype.

• Results of one experiment and how it provides evidence that your proposed design reduces overfishing or bycatch.

Age 12-14

• Your design title.

• A diagram that shows your ideas for reducing overfishing or bycatch.

• Labels to highlight key areas, such as climate resilience, sustainability, and environmental wellness.

• An image that shows your model or prototype.

• Results of two experiments and how they provide evidence that your proposed design reduce overfishing or bycatch.

Age 15-18

• Your design title.

• A diagram that shows your ideas for reducing overfishing or bycatch

• Labels to highlight key areas, such as climate resilience, sustainability, and environmental wellness.

• An image that shows your model or prototype.

• Results of three experiments and how they provide evidence that your proposed design reducing overfishing or bycatch.

 

Age 18+/University Undergraduate

Use the 15–18 requirements and include relevant referencing in captions or a short methods note if applicable.

Innovation Task Helpsheet

Submit the final solution illustration and images embedded into a single PDF document.
Each age category must include at minimum:

• • An image that shows where your city/country is on the planet.

• • Your artwork (solution illustration) for the design.

• • Your design’s name.

You may also include close-up photos to highlight details not evident in the main solution illustration (add labels showing where these details appear).

Task 3 - Presentation Video (short)

A short video from the team talking to camera about your project, not AI generated! No more than 3min. 

Submission Link

You can submit your entry via Google Form: https://forms.gle/tRC2B9TVv7dsCBGc6

Key dates

Submission Deadline: 18th December 2026 (Task 1 Report & Task 2 Design & Task 3 Video)
International Final/Showcase: 13th July 2027
BIEA Youth Voice Forum: 14th July 2027

Frequently Asked Questions

How many students are in a team?
Each team should consist of 3–5 students.

Can students in a team be of mixed ages?
We recommend that students within a team are in the same age group.
If this is not possible, the team must follow the guidelines for the oldest student in the group.

Do we need a BIEA STEM Star?

Yes, all competition participant need to have a STEM Star or registered for a STEM Star when submitting their competition project.

Students new to BIEA competition can register and pay for a STEM Star: https://buy.stripe.com/14A00k6C50269H39vBdnW01

Can one school enter multiple teams?
Yes. There is no limit to the number of teams a school can enter.

Can I form a team with students from other schools?
Yes. Teams can include students from different schools, and even from different countries.

What happens after we submit our entry?
All entries are reviewed by our judging panel.
If shortlisted for the final, your team will be invited to an online panel interview.
All teams are also invited to attend:

• • the Grand Final and International Showcase on 13 July 2027, and

• • the Youth Voice Forum on 14 July 2027.

Where will the International Showcase and Youth Voice Forum take place?
Both events will be held in London. Full venue details will be confirmed closer to the event dates.

Can we use AI tools in our project?
Yes. AI tools may be used to support research and idea development.
You must clearly reference:

• • the AI tools used, and

• • the search terms or prompts applied.

All submitted work must be original, and your own ideas and thinking are the most important part of the project.

Who do I contact if I have a question? Email: competition@biea.org.uk