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The final results and outputs of the four-year EU funded Myfish (Maximising yield of fisheries while balancing ecosystem, economic and social concerns) project are now available.

The Myfish Legacy booklet highlights the key outcomes of the project, recommendations made for fisheries management and reflections from stakeholders regarding their experience engaging with the project.

Myfish Project Coordinator, Anna Rindorf said: “The Myfish project has been a journey into the unknown, attempting to satisfy the broad range of ecosystem, economic, social and governance objectives while the new CFP was only just entering into force. We have challenged ourselves and the NGO, industry and management stakeholders joining us in the process with high aspirations to provide the scientific advice needed to make relevant, effective and informed policy decisions.”

The other final outputs of the project, including the third Myfish Newsletter and a Policy Brief are also available to download.

Myfish final Legacy Booklet

Event announcement

We invite all stakeholders to attend the Myfish Policy Information Meeting where we would like to discuss the use of the results obtained in the FP7 project ‘Maximising yield of fisheries while balancing ecosystem, economic and social concerns’ (Myfish) with you. The project is approaching the end of the four years duration, and we would like to use this opportunity to discuss how the results are relevant to fisheries management, which challenges have been solved and which challenges still remain.

Practical Information:

The meeting will be held on Thursday 25 February 2016 from 9:30 to 16:00 in the premises of the European Commission, Directorate General for Research and Innovation, Place Rogier 16, 1210 Brussels, Belgium. Registration is open from 9.00.

Please click here for the draft agenda.

To register go to http://www.conferencemanager.dk/MYFISHpolicyinfomeetingBrussels or send an e-mail to Lis Vinther at lvi@aqua.dtu.dk.

Attendance will be limited to the capacity of the conference room.

For more information, please check the Myfish website: http://www.myfishproject.eu/policy-meeting

Yours Sincerely,                          

Anna Rindorf,                                                                   
Myfish Project Coordinator

Press release: January 2016

Best quality scientific approaches to fisheries management advice and implementation under potentially conflicting objectives were the main topic of the final Myfish symposium held in Athens (Greece) from 27-31 October 2015. The event, held under the auspices of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), brought together experts from across the world to discuss targets and limits for successful long term fisheries management.

To read the full press release, please click here.

Best quality scientific approaches to fisheries management advice and implementation under potentially conflicting objectives were the main topic of the final Myfish symposium held in Athens (Greece) from 27-31 October 2015. The event, held under the auspices of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), brought together experts from across the world to discuss targets and limits for successful long term fisheries management.

The ICES/Myfish symposium brought together more than 70 high-level experts from 12 European countries, Canada, the USA, Chile, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. At the symposium, successful case studies from the different geographical areas were presented and discussed to assess possible future implementation in European fisheries management.

The Myfish Newsletter issue 3 is intended to inform fisheries managers and stakeholders of the advantages and disadvantages of different options for fisheries management within the framework of Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY). The newsletter summarises the latest updates and project outcomes of the 5 regional Myfish case-studies including the Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Western Waters and Widely Ranging Fish. Trade-offs are predicted from scientific models in all regional studies. Simplified Decision Support Tables (DST´s) are presented to enhance user-friendliness and understanding. Click on the image below to read the new issue:

This course is organised by Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation and will take place form Monday 30 November 2015 until Fri 18 December 2015. The deadline for application is 19 October 2015 and will cost 3,800 euros.

In this course participants will learn about fisheries governance and the relation to fisheries management. It will provide new insights on challenges that fisheries governance face, such as IUU fishing, and explore ways to strengthen fisheries governance.  The course provides a framework in which participants will acquire insights and skills to bring stakeholders in the fisheries system and help them understand each other's perspectives, manage their conflicts and learn together. The program is interactive and participants will practice a range of participatory tools and methodologies in a real-life case. They will be challenged to apply the concepts learned by presenting an action plan for their own professional situation.

Upon completion of the course you will: know about fisheries governance and co-management concepts, challenges faced in governance and management; be familiar with various perspectives on fisheries management; understand the importance of stakeholder engagement in governance; be able to apply  participatory methodologies and tools in support of the fisheries management planning process; be familiar with the tools available to the fisheries manager for controlling fishing effort.

Applicants should have an academic degree (BSC or equivalent) in a discipline relevant to fisheries management (i.e. fisheries management and/or research, fisheries extension training, development of coastal or lakeside communities). At least three years of relevant professional experience and competence in English language are required.

For more information please visit http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Research-Institutes/centre-for-development-innovation/short-courses/show/cdicourse_fisheries_governance_2015.htm

A webinar on ‘Environmental Defense Fund EU Discard Reduction Manual’ will take place on Thursday 25th June 2015 at 16.00 BST and 17.00 CET.

Environmental Defense Fund recently published the EU Discard Reduction Manual to help support those seeking ways to implement the EU Common Fisheries Policy Landing Obligation. The webinar will focus on how the Manual can be used and also answer questions on its contents. This webinar is for anyone interested in finding ways to implement the Landing Obligation.Fishermen and their representatives, fishery managers, academics, scientists, NGOs, politicians and European Commission officials are invited. Two of the key developers of the Manual will discuss the management tools presented in the document and elaborate on how they can be practically applied on the water, drawing on a number of fisheries management success stories in Europe and around the world.

To register for the webinar, click here: http://www.openchannels.org/upcoming-events/webinar/eu-discard-reduction-manual-guide-fishermen-fishery-managers-and-member - Once you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the Webinar. 

To download Environmental Defense Fund’s EU Discard Reduction Manual, please visit our website: http://www.openchannels.org/upcoming-events/webinar/eu-discard-reduction-manual-guide-fishermen-fishery-managers-and-member - or see our Manual Fact Sheet

Provide questions in advance. Whilst we will of course take questions on the webinar we encourage you to send them to us to help ensure good discussion. They may be presented anonymously if preferred.

Please contact Jo Pollett if you have any queries and send her your advance questions: Europe@edf.org and feel free to circulate this invitation to your networks.

The main Bluefin Tuna fishing season runs from 26 May to 24 June; this is when large vessels, purse seiners, are allowed to fish for Bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean and the Eastern Atlantic.

This year, for the first time since the establishment of the Bluefin tuna recovery plan in 2006, there is a marked increase in the quota that the European Union is allowed to fish (over 9,372 tonnes). This is due to the progressive recovery of the stock, as demonstrated by scientific evidence, which led to an increase of 20% of the overall quota for Bluefin tuna. To find out more information please visithttp://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/mare/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=23400&subweb=343&lang=en 

This course will be organised by Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation from Monday 30 November 2015 until Friday 18 December 2015.

One of the primary tasks of the fisheries manager is to balance the pressure on the fish stocks and the aquatic habitat. This requires innovative solutions which can be created when stakeholders are able to meet, share experiences, learn together and contribute to decision making processes. In this course, that is organised in cooperation with other Dutch and international institutes, participants will learn about fisheries governance and the relation to fisheries management. It will provide new insights on challenges that fisheries governance face, such as IUU fishing, and explore ways to strengthen fisheries governance. The course provides a framework in which participants will acquire insights and skills to bring stakeholders in the fisheries system and help them understand each other's perspectives, manage their conflicts and learn together. The program is interactive and participants will practice a range of participatory tools and methodologies in a real-life case. They will be challenged to apply the concepts learned by presenting an action plan for their own professional situation.

Upon completion of the course you will; know about fisheries governance and co-management concepts, challenges faced in governance and management; be familiar with various perspectives on fisheries management; understand the importance of stakeholder engagement in governance; be able to apply participatory methodologies and tools in support of the fisheries management planning process; be familiar with the tools available to the fisheries manager for controlling fishing effort.

Applicants should have an academic degree (BSC or equivalent) in a discipline relevant to fisheries management (i.e. fisheries management and/or research, fisheries extension training, development of coastal or lakeside communities). At least three years of relevant professional experience and competence in English language are required.

To apply for this course, please visit the website or Apply here!.

On 20 May, 2015 the European Commission announced a further proposal aimed at halting the decline of sea bass in the Celtic Sea, Irish Sea, Channel and North Sea.

The Commission’s proposal is the third of a series of proposals in relation to this stock this year. This proposal is addressed to the Council of Fisheries Ministers and will enable the ministers to decide about catch limits for particular fishing gears in order to protect sea bass. The Commission's proposal would also allow extending a prohibition, currently applied to Irish fishing vessels, to all Member State vessels in waters adjacent to Ireland.

For more information please visit http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/mare/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=23290&newsletter_id=114&lang=en 

Myfish used the Baltic Sea, as a case study, to examine the current foundation and future options for providing scientific advice in support of regionalized ecosystem-based fisheries management, by cooperating coastal EU member states (i.e. BALTFISH Forum) exercising ‘delegated empowerment’ granted by the European Union (EU), as authorized by the 2013 CFP Basic Regulation.Upon reading the report, an interviewed stakeholder declared: "It has been a treat to run through this paper - very comprehensive, very balanced, relevant discussion, good conclusions. Read more here. 

Maintaining healthy ecosystems and a vibrant fishing sector is of paramount importance to all coastal and riparian regions in the world. One of the tasks of the fisheries manager is to make sure that the interests of the fishery sector are considered and represented versus the claims and interests of other user groups. The ecosystem approach takes the wider ecosystem, its interactions with fisheries and the interests of other users into consideration.

Practical Information:

Date                 21 September - 09 October 2015
Deadline            10 August 2015
Deadline NFP     24 March 2015
Price                 3,800 Euro

Monitoring of resource use and fisheries impact:

Understanding the wider ecosystem impacts of fishery

The ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) is aimed at integrating the interests of all uses and users and pays special attention to the impact of fishing on other ecosystem elements and functions. The course will make you familiar with EAF-theory and with the FAO toolbox developed for the preparation and implementation of an EAF management plan. It will also provide you with analytical tools to make more sense of socio- economic and fisheries data. In the first part of the course we will discuss various forms of fisheries management and guide you through the steps of the toolbox developed by FAO to support the transition from a conventional to an EAF approach. In the second part of the course we focus on the information that can be derived from catch and effort data. In the last part you will practice skills in collecting socio-economic data. If the circumstances allow, we will visit a Dutch fishery setting. In the process you will develop insight in some of the issues the Dutch fisheries sector is dealing with. During the course, participants will learn from each other’s professional issues, experiences and possible solutions. For this reason, a number of years of relevant work experience is required Read more.

Course objectives:

Upon completion of the course you will:
• have a better understanding of the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF);
• know the steps that lead to application of EAF in your own situation;
• know how to analyse fisheries catch and effort data;
• be better equipped to evaluate the information that results from these data.

Entry requirements:

Applicants should have an academic degree (BSc or equivalent) in a discipline relevant for fisheries management, and have at least three years of relevant working experience in fisheries management, research, higher education in fisheries related subjects, fisheries extension and training, development of coastal or lakeside communities or other fisheries related work fields. Proficiency in English is required.

Application:

To apply for this course, please visit our website and click on Apply here!. 

This event is relevant to decision and policy makers, fisheries managers, fisheries industry representatives, researchers, environmental NGOs, and other stakeholders concerned with the sustainable development of the sector.

Experts who would like to contribute to the programme should contact us immediately as a small number of presenting slots are still open. 

New management issues within the reformed Common Fishery Policy: implementation and socio-economic impacts

28th – 30th April 2015 - at University of Salerno, IT

NISEA Fisheries and Aquaculture Economics Research and DISES, Department of Economics and Statistics Sciences of the Salerno University are pleased to announce that the European Association of Fisheries Economists will hold its XXII Conference in Salerno from 28th to 30th April 2015.

The theme of the conference is “New management issues within the reformed Common Fishery Policy: implementation and socio-economic impacts”. The conference is intended to provide a forum for the dissemination of recent advances in capture fisheries and aquaculture economics and management and to promote discussion amongst researchers, managers, policy makers and other stakeholders in the fisheries sector.

Click here for further information.

 GAP2 International Symposium
Participatory Research and Co-management in Fisheries

Invitation
 24th to 26th February 2015, Barcelona

GAP2 would like to invite you to its International Symposium on Participatory Research and Co-management in Fisheries, to be held in Barcelona between 24th and 26th February, 2015.

This interdisciplinary, international symposium will mark the conclusion of the GAP2 project – celebrating four years at the forefront of participatory fisheries research in Europe.

During the three-day event  (free to all delegates) we will provide an open forum to discuss and critically examine the successes and challenges of participatory research methods, using experience gained ‘in the field’ with fishers, scientists, and policy makers from research case studies across 11 different European countries. We will also debate perspectives on fisheries co-management and the role that participatory research can play in facilitating co-management.

We very much hope that you will join us, to contribute your own knowledge and experience while learning from others. If you would like to attend the event at WTC Barcelona, please complete the registration form here.

The International Association of Fish Inspectors invites applications for the 2015 Peter Howgate Award. This award will fund the attendance of a young fish technologist (under 30 years of age) to the IAFI World Seafood Congress 2015 in Grimsby UK, from 5th to 10th September 2015. The Award will cover travel, accommodation and the congress fee. The deadline for submission of applications is 31st March 2015. More information and an application form is available from www.peterhowgateaward.com.

The International Association of Fish Inspectors (IAFI) was established in 1999 to serve the world fish inspection community. IAFI exists to promote the exchange of ideas and information, foster interaction, understanding and professional collaboration among individuals, organisations, and governments, disseminate knowledge about seafood and associated products inspection, and promote advancement of the state-of-the-art in fish inspection research and education. For more information visit http://www.iafi.net.

The IAFI Peter Howgate Award is a tribute to Peter Howgate's work and career, and a recognition of his immense and ongoing contribution to the field of fish technology and the people who work in it, both during his 35 years at the UK’s Torry Research Station, and thereafter. The Award was set up by fish technology professionals around the world, with the help of the Seafood HACCP Discussion List community and was adopted by the International Association of Fish Inspectors (IAFI) in 2014.

The Symposium on “Targets and limits for long term fisheries management” will be held during October 27th to 30th 2015, in Athens, Greece.

The symposium is organized as a mixture of scientific oral and poster presentations and interactive sessions focusing on implementation of targets and limits in practical fisheries management. The symposium is organized in close collaboration with the EU-FP7 project Myfish – Maximising yield of fisheries while balancing ecosystem, economic and social concerns.

The goal of the symposium is to document and synthesise the best quality scientific approaches to management advice and implementation under potentially conflicting objectives.

We seek presentations and posters which focus on the role of targets and limits for long term fisheries management in an ecosystem, economic and social context, the identification and effect of trade-offs in management and the necessity to account for the variable ecosystem, economic and social settings of fisheries in the decision making process. We encourage contributions from all geographic areas to enable discussions at a global scale.

More news on this symposium will follow. 

ICES and MYFISH organized a joint workshop to consider the basis for FMSY ranges for all stocks from 17—21 November 2014.The workshop was convened in response to a request from the European Commissionfor advice on potential intervals above and below FMSY. The meeting was attended by 14 delegates from 8 countries and 3 representatives of 3 stakeholder organisations, and was chaired by John Simmonds (ICES) and Anna Rindorf (Denmark). The work conducted was centered around six Terms of Reference concerning methods for estimating FMSY ranges, FMSY ranges for selected stocks and guidelines for estimating FMSY ranges for other stocks which are compatible with obtaining no less than 95% of the estimated maximum sustainable yield and which are considered precautionary in implementation. The upper limit to F was constrained where necessary by precautionary criteria that there should be <5% probability SSB<Blim.

MSY intervals were provided for stocks with age based assessment for the North Sea and Baltic regions. For only a few of these stocks were the upper ends of the F intervals within precautionary limits. For stocks where precautionary reference points are not available, MSY intervals were limited to a maximum rate equal to FMSY.

See the full report of the workshop here: http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Expert%20Group%20Report/acom/2014/WKMSYREF3/WKMSYREF32014.pdf

The second newsletter of the Myfish Project is now available to download here. The Myfish project aims to provide an operational framework for the implementation of the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) concept in European waters.

This issue of Myfish Project News features a summary of progress made by partners involved in Work Package 1 (WP1) as  they collaborate to define a common MSY framework. Additionally, the newsletter features updates and news stories from each of the five Myfish regional case studies (Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Western Waters and Widely Ranging Fish), as well as examples of Decision Support Tables (DSTs) developed as part of the Myfish project. This issue also contains feedback from stakeholders who have participated in recent Myfish meetings and workshops.

You can keep up to date with the progress of Myfish by registering to receive regular updates on the "Influence Myfish!" page on the project website.

If you would like to arrange an interview with the Myfish project team, please contact the Project Coordinator, Anna Rindorf (email: ar@aqua.dtu.dk).

Maximising Sustainability and Engaging Stakeholders: First Myfish Project Newsletter Now Available!

Publication Announcement: December 2013

The first issue of Myfish Project News is now available. Read about the progress the Myfish project is making in its work to support the goals of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) here.

The Myfish project aims to provide an operational framework for the implementation of the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) concept in European waters. Its first newsletter provides an overview of the project’s progress so far, including feedback from partners and stakeholders.

Anna Rindorf of DTU Aqua (Denmark) is the project scientific coordinator: “The Myfish project is now entering the second of its three phases: i) definition of MSY variants and the models needed to evaluate these; ii) evaluation of the likely ecosystem and economic consequences of aiming for a specific version of MSY and finally, iii) an evaluation of the likely social impact of this decision. Approaching the completion of the first phase, we take this opportunity to report the most significant advances made to date.”

This issue also features previews of case studies undertaken by Myfish partners, AquaMarine Advisers (Sweden) and Innovative Fisheries Management (Aalborg University, Denmark). The case studies review existing and proposed MSY variants, constraints and management measures outside the EU. Stakeholders from Australia, Alaska and the Faroe Islands were interviewed to investigate various aspects of sound governance from which the EU can potentially learn. Detailed accessible summaries of the case studies are also available on the Myfish website.

On the 1st of February 2014 the COFASP Call will open. The overall budget amounts to over €5 million. The pre-registration is mandatory and has to be concluded by the 15th of April 2014.

The Call covers 4 topics across the 3 COFASP sectors (Fisheries, Aquaculture and Seafood Processing):

Topic 1: The ecosystem approach to fisheries management

Topic 2: Spatial planning in fisheries and aquaculture

Topic 3: Improved aquaculture. This topic contains 3 distinct objectives: i) New and improved aquaculture systems; ii) Feed and nutrition in aquaculture; and iii) Application of the improved capacity in genomics in aquaculture

Topic 4: Production chain

COFASP (Cooperation in Fisheries, Aquaculture and Seafood Processing) is an ERA - NET created to directly address actions envisaged within fisheries, aquaculture and seafood. It was created as under the KBBE theme in FP7, and is part of the Europe 2020 strategy. COFASP is based on the earlier ERA - NET MariFish and the running ERA - NET SEAS - ERA, and will run for 48 months from its initiation on 1 February 2013, ending in February 2017. COFASP has 26 partners from 15 countries in Europe. COFASP intends to launch 3 calls during its runtime. This is the first call to be launched by COFASP.

Eligibility criteria and all the call documents are available on the COFASP website: http://www.cofasp.eu/ 

On the 28th of January 2014 the European Parliament and the Council have reached a political agreement on the 2014-2020 European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

During this final negotiation, it has been agreed that on a total available budget of €6.5 billion, €520 million will be spent on data collection to improve the data needed to set the Maximum Sustainable Yield required by the new CFP.

The ultimate aim of the EMFF is to support the rebuilding of fish stocks, reducing the impact of fisheries on the marine environment, and the progressive elimination of wasteful discarding practices. It will fund the improvement of fisheries data collection to allow decisions to be based on robust evidence, and fisheries control programmes to ensure that the rules on responsible and sustainable fishing are respected and complied with.

TO read the full press-release, please click here.

On the 10th of December 2013 the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has been officially adopted by the European Parliament and will be put into force on the 1st of January 2014.

The new CFP seeks to support coastal communities across Europe by creating the conditions for an economically viable and sustainable EU fishing fleet. It also seeks to ensure sustainable resource management whilst maximising catches for fishermen. In order to support this dual ambition, the wasteful practice of discarding will be stopped gradually with clear obligations and deadlines put in place to allow fishermen to adapt. The promotion of sustainable aquaculture also forms part of the new policy.

The reform package is available here.

The official press release is available here.

The Centre for Development Innovation (CDI), Wageningen UR runs short annual courses in different areas of the fisheries sector for practicing professionals. These courses are useful for staff from both government and NGO who are working in fisheries management, research, higher education, training and fisheries development. The Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP) offers scholarships for courses that are on offer in 2014:

Ecosystem approach to fisheries

Course to run Mon 22 September 2014 until Fri 10 October 2014
Deadline for applications with NFP: 04 February 2014
Deadline for applications without NFP: 11 August 2014

Introduction:

Maintaining healthy ecosystems and a vibrant fishing sector is of paramount importance to all coastal regions in the world. Making sure that the interests of the fishery sector are considered and represented versus the claims and interests of other user groups, is one of the tasks of the fisheries manager. The ecosystem approach takes the wider ecosystem and its interactions with fisheries into consideration. Read more

Application:

Interested candidates can apply to Centre for Development Innovation (CDI), Wageningen UR for admission to the training. Click here and then press the registration button on the webpage to apply.

The first pan-European platform representing small-scale fishermen has been funded by fishing organisations from 10 different EU countries.

The Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) organisation aims to represent, support, develop and defend low-impact fishing operations in coastal waters, with all members agreeing to be bound by a requirement to fish responsibly without damaging the marine environment, to use selective fishing gear and to avoid undersized fish. LIFE’s initial membership includes fishing organisations from Croatia, Greece, France, Spain, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Poland and Germany, with over 1,000 fishermen represented.

The organisation has received the backing of the EU Fisheries Commissioner, Maria Damanaki, who sent a supportive video message to the fishermen at its launch in Santiago de Compostela (Spain).

To read more, please click here.

The Myfish project, in collaboration with the Pelagic Regional Advisory Council (RAC), is organising a one-day regional workshop to consult stakeholders to identify the highest priority combinations of Maximum Sustainable Yield, constraints and management measures. The workshop will be held in Den Haag (The Netherlands) on the 6^th of February 2014.

The deadline for registration is the 2^nd of December 2013. Please note that there is a limited number of seats available for this workshop. If you are interested in attending please find details at the following link: http://www.pelagic-rac.org/0272/

th of October DG MARE will host the seminar ‘Implementation of the CFP reform’.

The moderator of the session will be DG MARE Director-General Ms. Lowri Evans.

The seminar will focus on regionalisation (morning session) and on landing obligation (afternoon session). During each session, time will be allocated for Questions & Answers.

For those interested, it will be possible to follow the seminar online.

The web-streaming will be available here.

The EFCA Multiannual Work Programme for 2014-2018 was adopted on the 15^th of October 2013. The total budget for 2014 is €9,217,150, almost the same figure as 2013’s budget.

The EFCA will support the Member States and the European Commission in the implementation of the new Common Fisheries Policy.

To this aim, the EFCA will mainly focus on: i) the Joint Deployment Plans and ii) the support to Member States and the European Commission. The latter includes the development of IT projects that will improve and support data monitoring and networks; training; and horizontal support activities to the Member States, the European Commission and to the new Common Fisheries Policy, in cooperation with third countries and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations on Commission request.

To read the full press-release, please click here.

New Zealand scientists in collaboration with fishing companies have developed a highly selective trawl that prevents juveniles from being caught by allowing them to be sorted before being brought on board.

The 'Precision Seafood Harvesting' technology contains the fish comfortably underwater inside a large flexible PVC liner. This allows them to be sorted for the correct size and species before being brought on board the fishing vessel.

To read more and see the video, please click here.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) publishes its annual 'UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2012' report on the 26th of September 2013.

The report includes detailed figures on the UK fishing fleet, the number of fishermen, the quantity and value of landings, international trade and the state of key fishing stocks.

The quantity of fish has increased, while the value has decreased, primarily due to a reduction in the average price of pelagic fish, driven by a fall in the market prices of mackerel.

The report highlights that in 2012:

• UK vessels landed 627,000 tonnes of sea fish (including shellfish) into the UK and abroad with a value of £770 million – a 5 per cent increase in quantity but a 7 per cent decrease in value compared with 2011.
• Landings of demersal fish increased by 1 per cent between 2011 and 2012, although the quantity has fallen by 24 per cent since 2002. Haddock – the highest caught demersal species landed by UK vessels – rose by nearly a fifth from 2011 to 35,000 tonnes. Pelagic and shellfish landings both increased by 7 per cent since 2011.
• Shellfish accounted for the largest share in terms of value (39 per cent). Demersal fish accounted for 34 per cent (down from 47 per cent in 2002) and pelagic fish accounted for 27 per cent.
• Shellfish also had the majority of landings by the UK fleet into England, Wales and Northern Ireland while pelagic fish had the highest share of landings into Scotland.
• The UK fishing fleet remained the sixth largest in the EU in terms of vessel numbers, with the second largest capacity and fourth largest power. 6,406 fishing vessels were registered with a total capacity of 201,000 GT and total power of 804,000 kilowatts.
• 69 % of the quantity landed by the UK fleet was caught by vessels over 24 metres in length – 4 per cent of the total number of UK vessels.
• Around 12,450 fishermen were reported as active in the UK. Of these, around 2,200 were part-time.
• Scottish vessels accounted for 58 per cent of the quantity of landings by UK vessels while English vessels accounted for 30 per cent. Peterhead remained the port with the highest landings – 106,000 tonnes.
• Imports of fish and processed fish rose to 754,000 tonnes, a 5 per cent increase from 2011. Over the same period, exports increased by 7 per cent to 466,000 tonnes.
• World figures for 2011 showed that China caught the largest amount of fish, 13.7 million tonnes. Peru had the second largest catch at 8.2 million tonnes. Indonesia, the United States and Russia each caught between 4.0 and 5.4 million tonnes.

The full report and more detailed supplementary tables, can be seen here.

Researchers from the University of Minnesota have published a study proposing an approach to predict, in advance, the threats of overfishing posed by current multispecies fishing practices.

The ‘Eventual Threat Index’ proposed has been tested on historical data series of four Pacific tuna and billfish populations. The results suggest that threatened species can be identified long before they experience severe population declines, providing time for preventative adjustments in fishing practices.

To read the full article, please click here.

This year the Researchers’ Night is on Friday 27 September.

This is a mega event taking place every year on a single September night in about 300 cities all over Europe.

Whether with family, school, friends or on your own – you will find yourself exploring science in engaging ways.

Find out this and more through behind-the-scenes guided tours of research labs that are normally closed to the public, interactive science shows, hands-on experiments or workshops.

Find an event near you here.

The European Commission's annual “State of Fish Stocks in European waters” seminar was held on the 17th September in Brussels. Scientists from ICES presented the status of the Northeast Atlantic stocks and the Mediterranean and Black Sea stocks. While an improved situation has been detected for the North Atlantic stocks, the Mediterranean stocks are under worsening threat. As data shows, around 94% of the analysed Mediterranean and Black Sea stocks are estimated to be unsustainably exploited in 2010 – 2012.

European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, has declared: "Hard choices have been made in the northern seas, stocks have improved and the industry has grown more profitable as a result. This is a vindication of the hard work put in by scientists and the fishing industry to protect and recover stocks. But the Mediterranean stocks are as overfished as those in the northern areas were a decade ago. The Mediterranean countries now need to get moving quickly to sort out this overfishing before it leads to serious collapses and environmental damage.”

To read the DG MARE press release, please click here.

Presentations from the seminar are available here.

The study, published the 12th of September on Current Biology, found that two key components of schooling — the tendency to school and how well fish do it — map to different genomic regions in the threespine stickleback, a small fish native to the Northern Hemisphere. That’s important, said lead author Anna Greenwood, Ph.D., because it suggests that if researchers can identify the genes that influence the fishes’ interest in being social, they may be closer to understanding how genes drive human social behaviour.

“The motivation to be social is common among fish and humans,” said Greenwood, a staff scientist in the Human Biology Division at Fred Hutch. “Some of the same brain regions and neurological chemicals that control human social behaviour are probably involved in fish social behaviour as well.”

To read the full article, please click here.

The study is available here.

The Dr Edouard Delcroix Prize is an international triennial scientific prize which will be awarded to a researcher or a research team for an original scientific study on the links between oceans and human health.

The aim of the Dr Edouard Delcroix Prize is to foster fundamental and applied scientific research which makes a significant contribution to:

• an improved understanding of the actual and potential health benefits from marine and coastal ecosystems, e.g. the “Blue Gym” effect, marine biodiscovery, thalassotherapy and functional revalidation in seawater;
• a reduction in the burden of human diseases linked with marine environmental causes, e.g. harmful algal blooms and other biogenic toxins, eutrophication, transmission of pathogens and chemical pollutants and the impacts of human activities such as  aquaculture;
• the anticipation of new threats to public health before they become serious, e.g. climate change, adverse natural events and radionuclides.

Please read more here.

The Dr Edouard Delcroix Prize regulations are available here.

The SmartFish Programme aims at contributing to an increased level of social, economic and environmental development and deeper regional integration in the ESA-IO through improved capacities for the sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources. The programme is financed by the European Union under the 10th European Development Fund and is implemented by the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) in collaboration with the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East Africa Community (EAC) and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Other regional institutions involved include the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and regional fisheries management organizations, such as the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), the Southwest Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC), the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO), and the Lake Tanganyika Fisheries Organization (LTFO). The ultimate beneficiaries of the Programme will be the fishermen, coastal communities and wider populations of the ACP States of the ESA-IO region covered by the 10^th EDF Regional Indicative Program. It is furthermore expected that diverse stakeholder groups will draw specific direct and indirect benefits from the SmartFish programme.

Please visit the project website: http://www.fao.org/fishery/smartfish/en

Sustainability in fisheries management is a formidable goal for policy makers. One challenge for scientists is to define and design candidates for management plans and harvest control rules (HCRs) in accordance with the precautionary approach (environmental protection through decision-taking in the case of risk) that conform with long-term sustainable exploitation. These HCRs must also extend beyond the realm of fish stock sustainability into that of the environmental, the social, and the economic.

But while sustainable development of renewable natural resources is a goal shared by scientists, policy-makers, and stakeholders, inherent conflicts (e.g. yield maximization vs. conservation interests) prove regular stumbling blocks on the road to reaching it.

Stakeholder consensus is promoted when it is recognized that some seemingly conflicting objectives may be compatible (e.g. economic profit and ecosystem preservation). Work by Dorothy J. Dankel (IMR, Norway), Mikko Heino (IMR), Ulf Dieckmann (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria), to be presented in Reykjavík, will outline a quantitative route to reconciling such conflicts through integrated assessments.

By linking a biological model with a socio-economic one, both calibrated for the Norwegian capelin and cod single-species fisheries in the Barents Sea, Dankel et al. lay out multiple objectives by working out utility functions for five stakeholder groups, using the results to assess different management options.

The outcome shows that, for both cod and capelin, suitably low harvest rates and minimum-size regulations selected for larger fish bring about surprisingly high joint stakeholders satisfaction, with the least satisfied among five modeled stakeholder groups reaching a respective 93% and 90% of their maximum achievable utility.

The Conference

The ICES Annual Science Conference will be held in Reykjavík, Iceland, 23–27 September 2013. The conference venue will be the Harpa Conference Centre situated close to the city centre.

The conference will bring together 600–700 participants from all over the world. It provides an opportunity for marine scientists, stakeholders and students to exchange and share their experiences, new ideas, and research results, and discuss the practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted.

Theme Session Timetables and Registration details are available here.

The second Fishery Dependent Information symposia will be held at FAO in Rome from 3-6 March 2014. The Symposia will explore the role of fishers in collecting data, the incorporation of fisher-collected data and knowledge in science, management and policy-making, and the broader role of stakeholders in this process.

The organisers are looking for presentations and posters which focus on fishery dependent information requirements to support science, management and policy development, and on the collection and use of fishery dependent data, including conventional and novel data collection methods, analysis and interpretation. In particular, the organisers would like to stimulate discussions at regional and global levels concerning challenges in the collection, compilation and interpretation of catch, bycatch and ancillary data.

Key dates:

May 2013: Conference website open for abstract submission
August 31 2013: Deadline for submission of abstracts and financial support
December 2013: Notification of abstract acceptance
January 31 2014: Early registration deadline
3-6 March 2014: Conference

Follow the updates by joining the Fishery Dependent Information symposia LinkedIn group: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=5151995

To read more, please click here.

ICES has published a popular version of a major amount of its fish stock advice for 2014. The popular version is an easy-to-read, accessible digest of the official ICES advice.

Read the popularized digest version of ICES official advice on fish stocks here.

The iMarine project has launched five web-based eTraining modules that will guide managers, policy makers and scientists through iMarine's products and its gateway.

iMarine (Data e-Infrastructure Initiative for Fisheries Management and Conservation of Marine Living Resources) is an FP7 open and collaborative initiative which is developing a data infrastructure to enable stakeholders to share multidisciplinary data sources, support cross-cutting scientific analysis, and assist communication.

A specific eTraining module is dedicated to the iMarine gateway, which is an access point to many Virtual Research Environments deployed and operated to support the Ecosystem Approach to fisheries management and conservation of marine living resources.

The gateway benefits from previously developed information systems, such as: the Catalogue of Life (CoL); the FAO Geospatial Data Catalogue (FAO GeoNetwork); the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF); the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS); the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG); the Marine Species Distribution Infrastructure (AquaMaps); the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS); and the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS).

You can read more here.

The Myfish factsheet is now available in Greek!

Please download it from the Media Centre.

A joint workshop involving the participation of the EU projects Myfish, Euro-Basin and DEVOTES, with the participation of ICES, was held in Charlottenlund from the 3 - 5 of April. The aim of the workshop was to investigate how the concept of Good Environmental Status (GES) can be applied to the pelagic ecosystem and fisheries that exploit pelagic fish.

More information is available here.

The Myfish factsheet is now available in Spanish and Catalan!

Please download the factsheets from the Media Centre.

The second Myfish project meeting was hosted by DTU-Aqua in Charlottenlund Castle, Copenhagen, Denmark from 5-7 March 2013. The meeting was well attended and saw the very proactive participation of over 40 partners. The main challenge the project is facing is the development of multi-species fisheries management plans that also take into account the environmental, economic and social constraints that are embedded within the different European and national policies.

The main topics discussed during the meeting were:

• The variants identified during the 1st meeting (Vigo, Spain 2012). These will also constitute the objectives to be included in the Decision Support Table
• How the Decision Support Tables will work and what information is required to complete the
• The role of stakeholder engagement in the project

A project newsletter with the first findings and the future challenges of Myfish will be soon be available.

In the meantime, for more information please see the press release.

New publications acknowledging Myfish have been released. Please visit the Media Centre session for further details

Media Centre -> Publications

09/10/2012

At the recent one day workshop on North Sea and Baltic Sea Multispecies Trade-offs [WKM-Trade] organised by ICES in Copenhagen on 9 October 2012, the preliminary results from the Myfish project were presented by the project Coordinator, Dr. Anna Rindorf, to project stakeholders.

"The workshop was devised as a scoping exercise for potential management options that explore MSY catches under various multispecies scenarios. Fisheries managers, scientists, NGO and industry representatives (many associated with the Baltic, North Sea or Pelagic RAC) all participated in the event".

26/09/2012

Representatives of Myfish recently attended the Executive Committee Meeting of the North Western Waters Regional Advisory Council (NW RAC), which took place on 26 September 2012 in Dublin, where they gave presentations about the project.

Raúl Prellezo from AZTI (Myfish Partner 7) introduced the Myfish aims and expected results. Steve Mackinson from CEFAS (Myfish Partner 3) gave a presentation on the potential synergies between Myfish and the ongoing GAP2 project.

The presentation and the meeting agenda can be found through the following link: http://www.nwwrac.org/Meetings/Meetings_ENG/Navigation.php?id=550&language=English

Myfish partnership is pleased to announce the 2013 Myfish meeting in Charlottenlund, Denmark, which will start on March the 5th at 10.00 and continue until Thursday at 15.30. The meeting will present the progress in the project and discuss further progress.