The National Federation of Fisherman’s Organisations have launched a research project into the effects of fishing gears on conservation features in MPAs to inform appropriate site management measures. The project has been funded by Seafish and the European Fisheries Fund and will explore whether site specific evidence about fishing gears can be applied to making improved decision making. See http://nffo.org.uk/news/improving-the-evidence-for-fisheries-management-decisions-in-marine-protected-areas.html.

Improving the evidence for fisheries management decisions in Marine Protected Areas

16th September 2015 in Industry Science Partnerships, MPAs, North Sea. The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) has contracted leading marine environmental consultancy, ABPmer and Ichthys Marine Ecological Consulting, to contribute to the evidence base for fisheries management decisions in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The project, supported with funding from Seafish and the European Fisheries Fund, is aiming to develop understanding of the effects of fishing gears on conservation features at selected MPA sites in order to inform the design of appropriate site management measures.

The Government’s revised approach to fisheries management in European Marine Sites (EMSs) in English inshore and offshore waters assesses the impact of fisheries on protected features and aims to introduce management measures where necessary by 2016. Interactions between fishing gear and EMS conservation features are subject to an assessment; conducted on a precautionary basis at a site-specific level. Such assessments must be evidence-based but there are uncertainties around the impacts of some gear types on some designated features, the spatial extent of some features and of fishing activity.