Stage One mapped the ‘inshore fisheries’ for the first time, profiling all of them with a biological analysis of 57 different species, highlighting their commercial importance. These first significant milestones reached by the project detail key commercial fisheries, the fishing gear types they use and species fished to develop a list of fisheries that will progress to Stage Two, the ‘pre-assessment’ phase.
Expected to report in April 2013, Stage Two will be a gap analysis (based around the MSC pre-assessment process) to determine what is working well in the English inshore sector, what needs improvement, and to identify examples of best practice as well as giving an early idea of how each fishery will measure up against the MSC Standard for sustainable fishing. This will highlight crucial areas for development and provide a basis for Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authorities (IFCAs) and key industry stakeholders to work together and implement positive change.
Matt Watson, MSC's English Fisheries Outreach Officer, said: "Work is moving forward quickly with a huge amount of information collated in the Stage One reports, used as the basis to inform the Stage Two gap analysis work. The Stage One reports are now publicly available on the Project Inshore pages of the Seafish website and I urge everyone with an interest to have a look at these reports."
Richard Caslake of Seafish said: "We are delighted to see Project Inshore progressing on target and reaching significant milestones. This is an important initiative for the industry and we would urge all those with an interest to have a look at the reports and continue to give their valuable feedback."
Project Inshore is a three-year programme that will provide sustainability reports for each of the IFCAs, mapping all English inshore fisheries to showcase best practice. Set to be completed in 2015, it covers over 2,000 small fishing boats along the coast of England which make up nearly three quarters of England’s fishing fleet.
More Information
The project is funded by the European Fisheries Fund, Sustainable Fisheries Fund, Seafish and supply chain partners.
Partners in the project include the Marine Stewardship Council, Seafish and the Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB).
Project Inshore was launched on 8th June 2012 coinciding with World Ocean’s Day and the two stage one reports can be downloaded on the Seafish website.
Further details of the project here: About the project
Project stages and timelines
Stage One - Fishery Analysis (due November 2012)
Including a broad review of English inshore Fisheries including: • Species profiles important commercial species for the inshore sector. • Value and seasonality of landings for key ports for the inshore sector. • Regionalised fishery reports by IFCA district. • Inshore fleet characteristics including gear types used and fisheries targeted. • Habitat maps.
Stage Two - Gap Analysis (April 2013 •This will use the MSC Pre-Assessment as a gap analysis on English inshore fisheries, looking at each species and gear type within each IFCA area, as well as biological stock units across IFCA areas.
Stage Three (Early 2014) •The development of sustainability reports for each IFCA area. This will highlight commonalities and potential efficiencies between regions, species and gears and provide a roadmap for the future management and sustainability of all of the English inshore fisheries. •Follow up and support for interested fisheries wishing to move into full MSC assessment (to mid 2015).
Independent auditors The majority of Project Inshore assessment work will be carried out by Food Certification International (FCI), an accredited independent Certifier specialising in the commercial fisheries sector. Seafish and the MSC will provide on-the-ground support for fisheries and IFCAs. Advisory Group
The MSC will establish a multi-stakeholder Advisory Group made up of key organisations from within the sector to feed into the work of Project Inshore and help disseminate information about the project. The Advisory Group represents diverse experiences, geographies and interests in relation to the English inshore industry. The Advisory Group meets twice a year in London.
The Advisory Group is formed from the following organisations:
• Association of Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCA)
• Defra
• Direct Seafoods
• Industry representation
• Marks & Spencers
• Marine Stewardship Council
• Natural England
• National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations
• Seafish
• Shellfish Association of Great Britain
• WWF
Comment:
Blue-green involvement:
It is when projects like this come on stream that you might now begin to take not of how and from whom NGOs and charitably finded bodies like the WWF receive their monies - an excellent example of why ther eare increased calls for transparency at all levels of involvement see blue charities posts.
http://blog.through-the-gaps.co.uk/2012/11/blue-charity-business.html
http://blog.through-the-gaps.co.uk/2012/11/blue-charity-dutch-response.html
