Cefas ‘Knowledge about which human activities take place where, when, and how often, is essential for successful Marine Planning, the management of human activities, to understand how the different activities relate to one another and facilitate assessments required under WFD and MSFD. Whereas the location and footprint of most human activities is well known (e.g. aggregate extraction, windfarms, cables and pipelines), information on fishing activities remains patchy and in some instances is closely guarded. Increased knowledge on offshore fishing activities has become available through the introduction of satellite-based vessel monitoring systems (VMS) for vessels over 15m.
Inside the 6 nautical mile limit the fishing activities are dominated by smaller vessels, often under 15 metres in length. In England and Wales, this part of the fleet makes up over 90% of registered fishing vessels (MMO, 2010). Defra funded project MB0106 successfully demonstrated how our knowledge of inshore fisheries can be improved using data routinely collected by the Sea Fisheries Committees of England and Wales (now Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities, IFCAs). For the first time, data layers were developed illustrating the distribution and intensity of fishing activities for vessels under 15m in overall length. Whereas project MB0106 provided a snapshot of activities between 2007 and 2009, there is a continued need for such data, which will be addressed by this project.
As the number of human activities in the marine environment increase, there is an ever increasing demand for space. Displacement of fishing activities is becoming an increasingly important issue for industry. But there is a lack of understanding on the location and intensity of inshore fishing activities and therefore the potential displacement effects.
This project aims to improve the evidence based on the location and intensity of inshore fishing activities and their link to the coastal fishing communities being sustained by the activity. To read more and download the report go to:
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