FarFish project summary report aimed at a wider audience

Deliverable No. 7.12 Project acronym: FarFish Project title: Responsive Results-Based Management and capacity building for EU Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement- and international waters Grant agreement No: 727891 Project co-funded by the European Commission within the Horizon2020 Research and innovation programme Due date of deliverable: Submission date: File Name: Revision number: Document status: Dissemination Level: Role Lead authors / Task Leaders Authors WP leader Coordinator Admin. manager 31/10/2021 09/11/2021 FarFish_D7.12 Project summary report aimed at a wider audience 01 Final Public Revision control Name Jónas R. Viðarsson Ragnhildur Friðriksdóttir Alexandre Rodríguez Benvindo Fonseca Duarte F. Vidal Gregoire Touron-Gardic Ingrid Kvalvik Jamie Lentin Joshua Nyarko Boampong Juliana Antunes Galvao Juliana Arias Hansen Karim Erzini Khalid Elkalay Khalil Karima Khallahi Brahim Mamadou Dia Mamadou Diallo Margarita María Rincón Mary Frances Davidson Michaela Aschan Mourstapha Bouzouma Ndiaga Thiam Sonia Doblado Vincent Lucas Yannick Roucou Øystein Hermansen Mary Frances Davidson Jónas R. Viðarsson Oddur M. Gunnarsson Organisation Date MATIS 09/11/2021 LDAC IMAR CETMAR UoP NOFIMA SLT UiT USP SJOKOVIN CCMAR UCA UCA IMROP IMROP COREWAM CSIC-IEO GRO-FTP UiT IMROP CRODT LDAC SFA SFA NOFIMA UNU-FTP MATIS MATIS This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 727891. www.farfish.eu 09/11/2021 09/11/2021 09/11/2021 09/11/2021 File suffix JRV FR AR BF DFV GTG IK JL JNB JAG JAH KE KE KK KB MD MD MAR MFD MA MB ND SD VL YR ØH MFD JRV OMG 1 Deliverable D7.12 Project summary report aimed at a wider audience 09/11/2021 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 727891. www.farfish.eu 2 Foreword The FarFish project published a so called “Legacy booklet” towards the end of the project, which is intended to summarise progress and key results to a wider audience e.g. to stakeholders that do not have scientific background or expert knowledge on the main project topics. The publication of this “project summary report aimed at a wider audience” was described in the original project description as follows: Task 7.8 Project summary report aimed at a wider audience: In order to make the project results widely known and understood by everyone with an interest in the subject, the project coordinator will produce a project summary report at the end of the project. The report will describe in layman-terms the project as a whole, the main challenges and the most important results. This will facilitate dissemination to a wider audience, which will be important when considering the wide range of stakeholders connected to the subject. The ”Legacy booklet” is presented in this report and is also available on https://www.farfish.eu/publications/ This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 727891. www.farfish.eu 3 FarFish Legacy Booklet JUNE 2017 – NOVEMBER 2021 WWW.FARFISH.EU PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 2021 FarFish legacy booklet Published by Matís ohf. www.matis.is for FarFish Editors: Ragnhildur Friðriksdóttir & Jónas R. Viðarsson Contact: [email protected] Cover image copyright: OPAGAC/LDAC Layout and design: Blek - blekhonnun.is This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 727891 2 FarFish legacy booklet Table of Contents Welcome to the FarFish legacy booklet! ......................................................................................................4 FarFish approach and background ...............................................................................................................6 Introduction to the FarFish consortium ......................................................................................................9 FarFish case studies ....................................................................................................................................11 Cape Verde Tuna Fishery .......................................................................................................................... 12 Senegal Tuna Fishery ................................................................................................................................ 14 Mauritania mixed fishery .......................................................................................................................... 16 Seychelles tuna fishery ............................................................................................................................. 18 Mixed Fishery in the international waters of South West Atlantic ...........................................................20 Mixed Fishery in the international waters of South East Atlantic (FAO Area 47) ...................................... 22 FarFish outcomes – a quick look................................................................................................................. 23 FarFish Capacity Building ......................................................................................................................... 24 FarFish training needs assessment ....................................................................................................... 25 GRÓ-Fisheries Training Programme, 6 month training course .............................................................. 26 FarFish Data Limited Methods course................................................................................................... 29 FarFish and Tutor-web – a novel approach to education and training ...................................................30 Marine Management and Innovation Course ........................................................................................ 31 Data ......................................................................................................................................................... 32 The FarFish database (FFDB) ................................................................................................................ 32 The FarFish data limited tool ................................................................................................................ 33 The FarFish black hake self-sampling pilot study.................................................................................. 34 The FarFish Shiny App........................................................................................................................... 35 The FarFish Management Recommendations .......................................................................................... 36 Case study summaries of FarFish MR outcomes ................................................................................... 37 FarFish’s European voluntary CEN standard ......................................................................................... 43 FarFish governance and value chain analysis ........................................................................................... 43 FarFish governance analysis ..................................................................................................................44 FarFish tuna value chain analysis ..........................................................................................................45 Small Pelagics in Mauritania, a quick look .............................................................................................46 Results based management in practice ................................................................................................47 Communicating Globally: FarFish conferences and workshops .................................................................48 Sustainable Fisheries in SW Atlantic: A scientific approach ......................................................................49 The External Dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy ........................................................................50 Small Pelagics Workshop .......................................................................................................................... 52 Conference on Strengthening fisheries sustainability outside EU ............................................................54 FarFish legacy and challenges ahead ......................................................................................................... 55 3 FarFish legacy booklet Welcome to the FarFish legacy booklet! The FarFish project has now come to an end, after four and a half years of intensive research and innovation involving close to 200 scientists and stakeholders from across the world. Multidisciplinary team of experts from research, academia, governance & policy, fishing industry and NGO sectors have collaborated to contribute to more sustainable and profitable fisheries in long-distance waters. The aim of this “legacy booklet” is to give an overview of the work done within the project and present the main results, which we are convinced will have a lasting impact. FarFish is funded by the EU H2020 research and innovation programme and has the objective to improve knowledge on and management of EU fisheries outside Europe, while contributing to sustainability and long-term profitability. The EU fleet operates in long-distance waters around the world, either in international waters or within the waters of coastal states that have allowed access to surplus stocks via bilateral agreements. A total of 21% of the EU fleets catches are, as a result, caught in non-EU waters. However, the fisheries within these waters are often poorly regulated and management decisions are sometimes based on limited knowledge and enforcement capabilities, compliance, and a lack of trust between stakeholders. The EU does at the same time expect the EU fleets to set an example for other fleets regarding sustainability and best practices. 4 The FarFish consortium is proud the EU has invested in the project FarFish legacy booklet FarFish addresses the challenges faced by the EU fleet in other stakeholders with very different backgrounds and long-distance waters in a multidisciplinary and innovative priorities to collaborate towards a common goal. Language way by focusing on six diverse case studies, four within the and cultural barriers have been an intrinsic part of the project, waters of African countries that have signed Sustainable which has made it challenging but also extremely rewarding. Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPA) with the EU The Covid 19 pandemic affected FarFish particularly hard, as and two in international waters. The project has enabled stakeholder participation remained at the core of the project. stakeholders from five continents, reaching from China to We do though feel that we have managed to make the best Brazil, to cooperate towards a common goal of improving out of a difficult situation, proving results that will keep the sustainability and contribute to a more profitable seafood legacy of FarFish alive for years to come. industry in all corners of the world’s oceans. On behalf of the FarFish team, FarFish is unique to most H2020 research and innovation projects with respect to geographical coverage. It has enabled Jónas R. Viðarsson researchers, policymakers, government representatives and Project coordinator 5 FarFish legacy booklet FarFish approach & background A total of 21% of the EU fishing fleet’s catches come from stakeholders. Over the past four years, this work has been non-EU waters, either from international waters or from undertaken by the FarFish consortium and stakeholders, within waters of countries that have signed bilateral involving agreements with the EU, granting EU vessels access and makers, resource users and other stakeholders through a restricted fishing rights. There are two types of agreements: multidisciplinary approach. a close collaboration of scientists, policy i.e. northern agreements with countries in the Northern Atlantic that have shared stocks with the EU and Sustainable FarFish concentrated its efforts on six strategically selected Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) with non-EU case studies that provide a cross section of long-distance countries that are not fully utilizing their fisheries resources. fisheries important for the EU fleet. These are the high seas The SFPAs are intended to enhance fisheries governance for fisheries in the SW and SE-Atlantic (FAO areas 41 & 47); and sustainable exploitation within the relevant non-EU waters the SFPA fisheries in Cape Verde, Senegal, Mauritania and and contribute to stable fish supply and development in the Seychelles. fisheries sector. The agreements offer financial support to the partner countries in exchange for access to surplus stocks within their EEZ, which aims to promote sustainable fisheries development in the partner countries by strengthening their administrative and scientific capacity. Many of the countries that have signed SFPAs with the EU lack the necessary infrastructure and resources to sufficiently manage and utilize their fisheries. Additionally, there is often limited biological and ecological knowledge and weak control and monitoring of the fisheries. The same goes for fisheries in international waters, or high seas fisheries. The management of these fisheries is often based on limited data, and management decisions are made in the context of limited enforcement capabilities. Understanding of the biology and ecology of target and by-catch species in these areas tends to be incomplete, with appropriate stock assessment and management tools requiring further development and implementation to provide a solid knowledge base and advice on fisheries management. Increased accountability and transparency are also needed to improve compliance. The role and responsibilities of the EU fleet are significant in ensuring sustainable utilization of the resources to which they have access to, whether that is under SFPAs or within international waters. The goal of the FarFish project was to provide knowledge, tools and methods to support responsible, sustainable and profitable EU fisheries outside European waters. To achieve this, FarFish has collected and 6 collated biological, ecological, social and economic data on FarFish has enabled researchers, policymakers, government repre- the respective fisheries, developed practical, achievable sentatives and other stakeholders from five continents to cooperate and cost-effective fisheries management tools and advice, towards a common goal of improving sustainability and contribute to and built capacities and competences among the different a more profitable seafood industry in all corners of the world’s oceans. FarFish legacy booklet The FarFish project concentrates on six diverse case study fisheries that provide a cross-section of long-distance fisheries important for the EU fishing fleet FarFish has managed to provide a better knowledge base for FarFish was centred on wide scale stakeholder involvement these fisheries and has encouraged resource users to acquire and participatory processes throughout all its work. The an active role in management. objective of this was to involve stakeholders in creating solutions for the policy context in the six case studies. This A key to FarFish’s success has been the active participation work was instrumental for achieving specific objectives of the of project partners within research and governmental project e.g. for development of the so-called Management institutions in the coastal states, as well as from EU fleet Recommendations (MRs) and Decision Support Tools (DSTs). representatives. We have also benefitted from good The stakeholder participation was extremely important participation from a broad scope of other stakeholders, and successful, providing key inputs to the project and will such as the members of the FarFish Reference Group, which undoubtedly increase the likelihood of uptake of project includes Regional Fisheries Management Organisations outcomes, thereby ensuring that FarFish has permanent (RFMOs), EU- and other fleet representatives that are impact. engaged in FarFish case study fisheries, representatives from other coastal states that have signed SFPAs with the FarFish’s objectives of advancing biological knowledge, which EU, NGOs and more. includes collecting and collating data related to biological characteristics of the main fish stocks in the case studies, The fact that the main objective of the project was to improve was a key component of the project. Data was collected from knowledge on and management of EU fisheries outside multiple sources, much of which served as input to other work Europe, while contributing to sustainability and long-term of the project. Collecting, collating and harmonising existing profitability, does not imply that all of the focus has been on data proved to be a challenging task, as data availability the EU fleet. The fisheries conducted within the FarFish case was often scarce and complicated, and access to existing studies include multiple national and international fleets, databases was often subject to major restrictions. The making it meaningless to only look at one subsection of the challenges involved in getting access to and collecting data fisheries in isolation. Having a sustainable and profitable within these fisheries are of various nature. Often the data fishing industry is dependent on responsible practices by simply does not exist, but all too often the data that exists all fleets involved, but the EU fleet can certainly set a good cannot be accessed due to data protection/sharing protocols example. or lack of technical expertise on how to extract the data. 7 FarFish legacy booklet Models & tools 9 8 3 Management plans developed 4 2 7 1 12 5 10 Cost-benefit analysis & audit 6 Management plan guidelines 11 Biological & socioeconomic data 1 Baseline data & current management plan (MPO) 2 First generation guidelines 3 First generation toolbox 4 Management plan 1 (MP1) 5 Audit of management plan 1 6 New biological & socioeconomic data 7 Second generation guidelines 8 Second generation toolbox 9 Second management plan (MP2) 10 Audit of management plan 2 11 New biological & socioeconomic data 12 General guidelines (CWA) As part of advancing biological knowledge, FarFish has FarFish has developed general fisheries management tools performed an evaluation of current stock assessment and other decision support tools (DSTs) to support the models used in each of the case studies, providing FarFish case studies in developing MRs and to contribute to important perspective on the appropriateness, relevance capacity building. Main outputs include: the development of and applicability of stock assessment models currently in the FarFish DataBase (FFDB) and DSTs, as well as production use within the case study fisheries. Additionally, FarFish of visualization materials to support development of has initiated a pilot self-sampling program to demonstrate MRs in the case studies. New tools for using Data Limited how such an approach can be applied to advance biological Methods (DLM) for stock assessment have been developed, knowledge in the case studies. interactive maps for analysing satellite and AIS signals have been developed, as well as an interactive platform to FarFish expended significant efforts to mapping and integrate codes visualization and data interaction tools for analysing the case study value chains, and the current legal the selected case studies. and contractual practices and constraints in the fisheries. The results of this work are governance analysis and value A specific objective of the FarFish project was to build chain analysis, resulting in identification of potential capacities, improvements, stakeholders within the case studies and beyond, within investment opportunities and policy recommendations. professional skills and competences of the field of fisheries management. Main results of that work include development of a special university-level Major component of the FarFish project was to develop certificate program that was run in Tromso in early 2020 and the so-called MRs for each of the case studies. MR is a is now available as e-learning material, a six-month post- formal agreement between resource users (operators) and graduate program tailor-made for FarFish that five students the relevant authorities on how to reach overall objectives from the case study countries have attended, workshops for the respective fishery, by shifting responsibility for the with stakeholders on how to use the FarFish DLM-tool management from authorities (top-down) to the operators and development of e-learning materials on fisheries (bottom-up). The project produced good practice guidelines management and stock assessment (with focus on data on how to develop MRs under SFPAs, which will be published limited scenarios) that are now available on the Tutor-web as a European standard (CEN Workshop Agreement - CWA). e-learning platform. Each case study went through two iterations of developing the MRs. The results from the first iteration of creating MRs Now at the end of the FarFish project there are many for the case studies were audited by an independent auditor. interesting results to report, some of which are presented The second iteration was built on lessons learned in the first elsewhere in this legacy booklet. However, the fact is iteration and aimed to address the shortcomings identified however that research and innovation projects often create by the auditors and incorporate improvements. more questions than answers, but asking the right questions is also important. 8 FarFish legacy booklet Introduction to the consortium The FarFish consortium consists of 21 partners from research, Close to 200 scientists and stakeholders from across the academia, governance & policy, fishing industry and NGO world have contributed to the project, reaching from sectors. The consortium has also been supported by a vast northern Norway to Argentina in the south, and from Brazil group of stakeholder representatives and external experts in the west to China in the east. The mainstay of the work has that have proven extremely important for the project. been carried out by the project partners, a group comprised Among the stakeholder representatives are the members of a multidisciplinary team of experts from 12 research of the FarFish Reference Group, a group of 21 stakeholders institutions (MATIS, IMAR, Blue Resource, IMROP, IMR, that have actively been consulted through out the project’s NOFIMA, CCMAR, ISRA/CROD, COREWAM, SFA, CSIC and lifetime. CETMAR), 4 universities (USP, UCA, UiT and UoP), 4 private companies (ANFACO, OPROMAR and STL) 1 international academic institute (UNESCO-GRO-FTP), 1 EU Advisory Council (LDAC). 9 FarFish legacy booklet 10 FarFish legacy booklet FarFish Case Studies FarFish addressed six strategically selected case studies with knock-on ecosystem, economic and social effects, that together provide a cross-section of SFPA- and high- both for the EU fleet and the coastal states. Third, seas fisheries that are important for the fishing fleets of management decisions, control measures and allocation multiple EU countries and respond to the priorities of of fishing opportunities in these areas are usually not Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) negotiated with all relevant stakeholders, often resulting and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The FarFish case in a lack of compliance and enforcement. The case studies studies were selected based on a set of criteria. First of span from relatively simple single species fisheries (Cape all, these case study areas all support fisheries that are Verde and Seychelles tuna fisheries), to a slightly more relevant for the EU fleet and for supplying the European complicated multi species fisheries (Senegalese tuna and domestic market. This is a key criterion, as it means that hake), to very complicated mixed fisheries (Mauritanian any improvements made within fisheries management and the high seas mixed fisheries). By focusing on case and advanced knowledge within the project would not studies of such a diverse nature, FarFish was able to only benefit the surrounding coastal states, but also the get a holistic view of the main problems and limitations EU fleet, and thus encourage participation from European facing both the EU long-distance fleets and local fishing scientists, managers and relevant stakeholders. Second, authorities in non-EU waters targeted by EU fleets. our understanding of the biology and ecology of many of Together with scientists, operators, stakeholders and the fish stocks of interest to the EU in these areas, and policy makers, FarFish was able to shine a light on key the overall ecosystem effects of these fisheries, is far from challenges and advance knowledge of these fisheries, complete, resulting in management decisions often being thereby providing long-term realistic and achievable based on limited science. This can lead to overexploitation, solutions that can be applied to these fisheries. CASE STUDIES 11 FarFish legacy booklet Cape Verde Tuna Fishery EU nations targeting Cape Verde under the current not harmonised. The availability and ability to analyse VMS Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements are Spain, and electronic catch reporting was also highlighted. France and Portugal, and EU companies are also heavily involved in processing in the islands. Cape Verde is a FarFish addressed the management issues identified in contracting party to ICCAT, and the management and Cape Verde by developing solutions in line with measures conservation of tuna and tuna-like species is therefore of improvements described in the PGRP (Cape Verde subject to ICCAT. Most fish for the domestic market in Cape Fisheries Management Plan). FarFish advanced knowledge Verde is landed fresh and sold in the municipal markets while of the foreign fleet fisheries, both from a biological and exports consist of frozen whole and processed seafood, with socio-economic perspective, by collating existing biological around 80% of the exports going to the EU. Approximately data, analysing stock assessment methods and evaluate 5% of the working population (9,500 persons) are employed and map existing value chains and infrastructure. This in the fisheries sector in Cape Verde. helped to provide the basis and understanding needed to make suggestions for improvements, developing new, The main challenges identified by FarFish in the Cape Verde effective fisheries management tools and management case study relate to non-compliance by foreign vessels, recommendations. By increasing stakeholder involvement insufficient control and monitoring, and competition with and bringing all parties to the table through the application the national commercial fleet(s). Measures that have been of results-based management, FarFish has not only recommended in order to improve MCS include training of developed management recommendations that aim to inspectors and fisheries observers, research on the impact effectively address problems of overfishing, overcapacity of the foreign fleet (e.g. by-catches, seabird mortality), and any potential hostility between the EU and local fleet, scientific research on the main species and training but has also contributed to improved data collection, programmes for improved management. Main problems monitoring and compliance. FarFish did also provide identified by the national fisheries management plans in recommendations on how to harmonise catch reporting to relation to the national pole and line tuna fishery in Cape the different institutions. Verde are overexploitation, insufficient monitoring and control of the fishery, insufficient management measures, FarFish has contributed to capacity building in Cape Verde, competition with foreign fleet, high dependence on live as two employees of IMAR have graduated from the six- bait, lack of support facilities on land, poor state of vessels, month Fisheries Training program (GRO-FTP) in Iceland, reduced financial capacity and marketing and economic specialising in stock assessment. IMAR stock assessment difficulties (low sales prices, transport to markets). experts have also attended other virtual training courses within FarFish. Challenges associated with different reporting requirements 12 of national and international (EU/ICCAT) institutions were INSITUTIDO DO MAR (IMAR) is the leader of the Cape also highlighted, as each require separate reporting that is Verde case study. CASE STUDIES FarFish legacy booklet Benvindo Fonseca Technician at Instituto Do Mar – IMAR (Cape Verde) Why did you decide to participate in FarFish? How has FarFish addressed these priorities? The project was seen as an opportunity to solve some issues FarFish produced a report on the challenges associated with related to fisheries, such as the system of reporting data different reporting requirements of national and international from the EU vessels, improve training capacity related to (EU/ICCAT) institutions. The DGRM (General Directorate of stock assessment as well as an opportunity to improve Marine Resources) has since then established a compatible the cooperation between institutions and strengthen the software to the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) that is in partnership with the EU. place. Two researchers of IMAR (former INDP) attended the six-month Fisheries Training program (GRO-FTP) in Iceland, Explain the importance of projects like FarFish for Cape specialising in stock assessment. IMARr stock assessment Verde tuna fisheries experts have also attended other virtual training courses For our case study the FarFish project helped to improve the within FarFish, including a course on the DLM tool and the biological, economic and environmental data availability, and Tutor-Web, which are useful tools applied in stock assessment. enhanced understanding amongst the different stakeholder within the value chains. The governance and value chain What were the main obstacles, if any? analysis of the tuna fisheries in west of Africa provided us Due to the pandemic situation, it was not possible to organise with important results and understanding of the impact of the training course in stock assessment applying the DLM the SFPA. The Management Recommendations developed tool in Cabo Verde, as initially planned. The same goes for in FarFish did also provide us with valuable input to the other capacity building initiates, but it has been replaced with management of our marine resources. virtual events that have been successful. What were the key priorities for Cape Verde, as a FarFish case Outlook: What steps do you think need to be taken in the study, when entering the FarFish project? near future? The key priorities for us were several. One was to better understand and contribute to improving harmonisation of • It would be very useful to continue assisting the case study countries to apply the DLM Tool. data reporting systems. We would like to see a system that • It would be beneficial to add to, and improve understanding can transmit, in near real-time, the same data to different of, the value chain analysis of the fisheries, not only for partners (Cabo Verde authorities, EU, ICCAT). Another priority tuna species but also for other species. was to improve our capacity at the institute with regard to • Increase cooperation and partnership between EU most of the FarFish objectives, in particular our competences and Cabo Verde is needed, especially in technological in stock assessment and fisheries management.. development and applied scientific research (R & D). CASE STUDIES 13 FarFish legacy booklet Senegal tuna and hake fishery Fisheries are extremely important for the national economy collation and harmonization, evaluation of current stock of Senegal, with more than 400 thousand tonnes landed assessment methods and suggestions for improvements, annually. The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement analysis on value chains and fisheries governance structure. (SFPA) contributes also significantly to the state budget By creating new management recommendations in line of Senegal, to sectoral and fleet development, alongside with results-based management approaches, FarFish has sustainable stock management, and supply of catches attempted to contribute to improved MCS in the area, in for export. The SFPA is further seen as being especially addition to improving regional governance by bringing important for strengthening the fisheries governance in relevant stakeholders to the table. the West African region. Senegal is a contracting party to ICCAT, and the management and conservation of tuna and FarFish has primarily focused its efforts in the Senegalese tuna-like species is therefore subject to ICCAT. Majority of case study on tuna and black hake. The tuna emphasis the Senegalese seafood exports are destined for the EU. was devoted to analysing governance and socio-economic These exports are a vital source of hard currency for the aspects, whilst the black hake work concentrated mostly on country, the fisheries sectors, and associated activities. The MCS, understanding distribution of the two hake species and Senegalese fisheries sector is estimated to provide more discriminating between the two species. The two species are than 600 thousand jobs, which represents almost 15% of the currently mostly reported as one species, even though they workforce. have different biological characteristics, and should therefore be managed separately. FarFish did therefore initiate a pilot A number of challenges have been identified in the self-sampling programme to see if fishermen could be used Senegalese fishery and the EU has as results committed to to report the two species separately. invest €750 thousand a year towards the development of the local fisheries sector, with particular reference to improving FarFish has contributed to capacity building in Senegal, as surveillance, combatting illegal fishing, promoting scientific an employee of CRODT has graduated from the six-month cooperation, and aiding conservation and rehabilitation Fisheries Training Program (GRO-FTP) in Iceland, specialising of spawning areas – all of which have been identified in stock assessment. CRODT stock assessment experts have as problems specific to the fishery. The FarFish work in also attended other virtual training courses within FarFish. Senegal focused on the main challenges related to the EU The leadership of the Senegalese case study has been a fisheries in the area, including activities which will seek to collaborative effort by the Senegalese Marine Research advance biological knowledge of main target species and Institute (CRODT) and the Conservation and Research of the biological, ecological and socio-economic impacts of West African Aquatic Mammals (COREWAM). these fisheries. This was achieved through data collection, 14 CASE STUDIES FarFish legacy booklet Mamadou Diallo Ndiaga Thiam Why did you decide to participate in FarFish? How has FarFish addressed these priorities? The project was seen as an opportunity to solve some issues The DGRM (General Directorate of Marine Resources) has related to fisheries, such as the system of reporting data established a compatible software to the VMS system. Two from the EU vessels, improve training capacity related to researchers of IMac (former INDP) attended the six-months stock assessment as well as an opportunity to improve course of the FTP in Iceland, specialising in stock assessment. the cooperation between institutions and strengthen the Soon these two researchers will attend a virtual training partnership with EU. course on the DLM tool, which is a useful tool applied in stock Conservation and Research of West African Aquatic Mammals (COREWAM) Senegalese Marine Research Institute (CRODT) assessment. Please explain the importance of projects like FarFish for Cape Verde tuna fisheries What were the main obstacles, if any? For our case study the FarFish project could help to ameliorate Due to the pandemic situation, it was not possible to organise the biological, economical and environmental data and the training course in stock assessment applying the DLM understand the stakeholder hub and their problems. The tool, previously to be held in Cabo Verde with the participation value chain analysis of the tuna can be seen as an important of other case study countries of the project. economic issue and an important task to better understand the social impact of the SFPA. The MR (management Outlook: What steps do you think need to be taken in the recommendation) helps to improve the management of the near future? fisheries resources as well as the Common Fisheries Policy. • It would be very useful to continue assisting the case What were the key priorities for Cape Verde, as a FarFish case • Help to understand the value chain analysis of the fisheries, study countries to apply the DLM Tool. study, when entering the FarFish project? not only for tuna species. The key priority was to understand and implant a harmonised • Increase cooperation and partnership between EU and system for data reporting, a system that can transmit, in Cabo Verde, especially in technological development and record time, the same data to different partners (Cabo Verde applied scientific research (R & D). authorities, EU, ICAAT). But also, to help establish a team of stock basement? at the institute by utilising training courses. CASE STUDIES 15 FarFish legacy booklet Mauritania mixed fishery The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement between FarFish has primarily focused its efforts in the Mauritanian the EU and Mauritania covers several types of fisheries, case study on small-pelagics and black hake. The project including tuna, shrimp, demersal and small pelagic species. employed and supervised a PhD student that is modelling During the last twenty years, fleets from 25 different nations small-pelagics in west-coast of Africa and how utilisation were operating in the pelagic fishery in the Mauritanian EEZ. and environmental forcing (such as climate change) is The main target species in this fishery is horse mackerel, affecting the stocks. This work, and other outputs of FarFish, followed by mackerel, sardine and sardinellas, with the most have been presented at a CECAF meeting, and at a dedicated dominating countries being Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands FarFish workshop on Small-Pelagics in W-Africa that and more recently, Belize. Octopus is the most important experts from CECAF, DG MARE, coastal state researchers demersal species in Mauritanian waters and its high and many more attended. This work will, without a doubt, commercial value and relative ease of exploitation by the provide an important understanding on small-pelagics and artisanal segment is causing a rapid industrial development environmental forcing in the area. The work on black hake of foreign and domestic fleets. In 2012, a peak production has mostly concentrated on MCS, understanding distribution of 17,420 tonnes of octopus was reached, 25% of which was of the two hake species and discriminating between taken by the EU fleet. Due to the large number of fleets the two species. The two species are currently mostly targeting octopus, the stock is considered overexploited, reported as one species, even though they have different with fishing mortality currently exceeding FMSY. Another biological characteristics, and should therefore be managed targeted demersal species is black hake, which is mainly separately. FarFish did therefore initiate a pilot self-sampling exploited by European trawlers and long-liners. Deep- programme to see if fishermen could be used to report the sea tuna fishery in Mauritanian waters is conducted by a two species separately. number of foreign fleets, such as the EU fleet, Japanese and Senegalese. None of those fleets land their catches in Mauritania has poorly developed value chains for seafood Mauritania. As Mauritania is a contracting party to ICCAT, products, minimal amount is landed in local ports and the tuna fishery is subject to ICCAT catch and effort limits. processing facilities are limited, all due to insufficient infrastructure and lack of investments therein. FarFish put Some of the main species targeted by the EU fleet in focus on this issue and has mapped and analysed the value these waters are considered overfished. Due to this chains connected to the EU fisheries and their infrastructure, overexploitation, the number of fleets participating in and suggested improvements. A cost-benefit analysis for Mauritanian fisheries (foreign and local) and the irregularity EU-fleet investments in Mauritania has also been conducted. in the activities of these vessels, improved monitoring of catches, effort and catch sizes is needed. FarFish has been FarFish has contributed to capacity building in Mauritania, as able to contribute to solving this overfishing and overcapacity an employee of IMROP has entered the six-month Fisheries problem in Mauritania by engaging stakeholders in the Training Program (GRO-FTP) in Iceland, specialising in stock process of evaluating existing management tools and stock assessment. IMROP stock assessment experts have also assessment methods and formulating new management attended other virtual training courses within FarFish. tools and results-based management recommendations. The management recommendations address these The Mauritanian Marine Research Institute (IMROP) is the problems, in addition to any other problems highlighted by leader of this case study and the Cadi Ayaad University the Mauritanian fisheries management authorities and the in Morocco has led the work on small-pelagics and EU fleet operating in the area, with the aim of increasing the environmental forcing in the West Coast of Africa. long-term profitability of both parties. The management recommendations have been developed based on biological and socio-economic data collected/collated within FarFish. 16 CASE STUDIES FarFish legacy booklet Dr. Mamadou Dia and Dr. Khallahi Brahim Mauritanian Institute of Oceanographic and Fisheries Research – IMROP (Mauritania) Why did you decide to participate in FarFish? Mauritania and the EU have enjoyed a long-lasting cooperation when it comes to utilisation and management of fisheries resources in Mauritanian and other West African coastal states waters. The agreement with Mauritania is considered the most important in West Africa, in terms of the variety of resources exploited and financial compensation. The agreement gives the EU fleet access to tuna, small-pelagics, demersal fish and crustaceans, many of which are also exploited by national and other international fleets. IMROP could therefore not fail to be a player in the FarFish project, which deals with the challenges associated with the exploitation of resources by vessels flying the EU flag outside European waters. Explain the importance of projects like FarFish for Mauritania Taking part in international research projects is very important for Mauritania and for IMROP, as it expands our knowledge base, competences and networks. The work carried out by the FarFish teams relating to environmental and socio-economic aspects is part of the basic documents examined during the various meetings in the Mauritanian case study, and the work presented during the project meetings and workshop have been very important. What were the key priorities for Mauritania, as a FarFish case study, when entering the FarFish project? When starting the project, it was our main priority to acquire more knowledge on the resources exploited by the EU in Mauritanian waters and how to manage them more efficiently. We also saw an opportunity in developing the skills of IMROP scientists in different scientific fields and capacity building, especially regarding stock assessment and socio-economics. How has FarFish addressed these priorities? The FarFish project has addressed our priorities through collection and collation of data, governance and socio-economic assessment, development of management recommendations focusing on important challenges identified by stakeholders, analysis of environmental forcing on small pelagics in W-Africa, and capacity building. The ecosystem modelling work that has been done on small-pelagics and environmental forcing is extremely important for us to better understand how the small-pelagics in Mauritanian waters are affected by the utilisation and environmental factors, and trends (such as climate change). Far fish took part in a CECAF meeting last year that was beneficial for us, and the workshop on smallpelagics facilitated by FarFish earlier this year provided us with new knowledge and tools that will be important for us in the future. The capacity building provided by FarFish is also important for IMROP. Having the opportunity to send one of our scientists to the six-month Fisheries Training Programme in Iceland, where he is focusing on the use of acoustics in stock assessment, will expand our ability when it comes to stock assessment and fisheries management. What were the main obstacles, if any? The main obstacles we experienced were caused by the Covid pandemic, as it had a major effect on the interaction with project partners and stakeholders. The attempts made to move events online were challenging for us because of unstable internet connections. Language barriers did also cause obstacles for us. Prof. Khalid Elkalay and prof. Khalil Karima Cadi Ayaad University (Morocco) compare it to the African Why did you decide to participate in FarFish? ecosystems. Morocco is currently investing in its fisheries and building up to gain knowledge from improved competences in fisheries management, aiming at the increasing sustainability and profits of the sector. This is best done In addition, we wanted with improved knowledge and the main objective of our participation to increase collaboration in the FarFish project was to facilitate cooperation and to learn from with our European and African colleagues. Europe and Africa. Explain the importance of projects like FarFish for your country? How has FarFish Morocco is the biggest fish producer nation in Africa and the 25th addressed these priorities? biggest worldwide. Since 2020 the total annual production has been FarFish was a very good opportunity to increase our 1.6 million tons of which the artisanal and coastal fishing industry network, especially with European colleagues, where accounts for 1.3 million tons. The fishing industry represents between we have initiated some new collaborations. One of our 2% and 3% of Morocco’s GDP, and generates over 700 thousand students is now in a training in Spain (as part of FarFish) jobs. Moroccan fish exports contribute to 58% of the country’s total and we think that this training will add great value to food exports. The FarFish project gave us the opportunity to work our laboratory and will bring a new research area to our intensely on our case study in cooperation with international experts, institute and to our country. Secondly, European experts. colleagues from therefore building our competences and creating networks for the future. It also gave us the opportunity to increase our knowledge on What were the main obstacles, if any? the Moroccan environment, the main fishing species, and the species The main obstacle was the Covid situation. With more time, we are sure that most important for interaction in the Atlantic coast. our institute could have gained even more knowledge from the FarFish project. What were the key priorities for your case study when entering the Outlook: What steps do you think need to be taken in near future? FarFish project More collaboration is needed between African countries, with the help of Our number one priority was to increase knowledge. Firstly, to increase European colleagues. And for our case study, we need more knowledge on the our knowledge on stocks and their utilization (main species, build fishing evolution, more data on fish biomass and more details on the fishing fishing data base for the country) in the Moroccan ecosystem and to methods. CASE STUDIES 17 FarFish legacy booklet Seychelles tuna fishery Seychelles is amongst the most fisheries-dependent countries of utmost importance. This includes maintaining sustainable in the world and the countries’ tuna industry is its main pillar. management system for the tuna fishery, a responsible SFPA, Gross income from the sector is mainly derived from foreign as well as an efficient value chain and infrastructure, where fishing vessel expenditure on goods and services, as well as responsibilities of all parties are clearly defined. By working through payments and financial compensation. The EU has together with the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA), IOTC considerable interest in this fishery, both through its existing and relevant EU operators in Seychelles, such as OPAGAC Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPA) and (Organisation of Associated Producers of Large Tuna Freezer tuna processing in the Islands. Spanish vessels are the Vessels), FarFish has developed effective management tools major EU player in the Seychelles tuna fishery, with more and management recommendations for the EU Seychelles vessels operating in the fishery than Seychelles themselves. tuna fishery in collaboration with stakeholders. These Seychelles is a contracting party to the Regional Fisheries management recommendations are based on existing and Management Organisation (RFMO) Indian Ocean Tuna new biological, ecological, stock-assessment and socio- Commission (IOTC), and the tuna fishery in Seychelles is economic data which has been collected/collated within therefore subjected to IOTC catch and effort limits, of which FarFish with input from IOTC and SFA, and together with the EU is also a contracting party. value chain and infrastructure analysis and suggestions for improvements, FarFish has made its contribution to EU vessels land the majority of their catches in Seychelles strengthening the stable and long-lasting cooperation on (92% of the Spanish catch and 82% of the French catch). tuna fisheries and processing between Seychelles and the Approximately 20% is canned in the Seychelles and the EU. rest is transhipped to other countries, of which 12.5% goes directly to the EU for processing or retail trade. Canned tuna FarFish has contributed to capacity building in the Seychelles, is the main exported good of the Seychelles and is primarily as an employee of SFA has joined the six-month Fisheries supplied to European markets. Training Program (GRO-FTP) in Iceland, specialising in stock assessment. FarFish experts have held meetings and 18 Given the importance of tuna exports for Seychelles, workshops in Seychelles, and SFA stock assessment experts and the EU’s dependence on tuna fisheries and seafood have attended virtual training courses within FarFish. products deriving from the Seychelles, sustaining a good The Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) is the leader of the and effective relationship between the EU and Seychelles is Seychelles case study in FarFish. CASE STUDIES FarFish legacy booklet Yannick Roucou Legal advisor at the Seychelles Fishing Autority (SFA) Why did you decide to participate in FarFish? How has FarFish addressed these priorities? The Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) is one of the key FarFish has addressed these priorities in a number of ways, players in the Indian Ocean tuna fishery, and it was seen as an such as by: opportunity to address a number of pertinent issues relating • providing capacity building opportunities, to the fishery covered under the SFPA as part of the FarFish • collecting and collating biological, ecological, social and project. The most important issues we identified early on were economic data, data collection, networking, training and capacity building, • developing fisheries management tools that for example and Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) management. It was also include the FarFish Data Limited Method tool, which will be important for us to give visibility to Seychelles and its effort at improving the sustainability of the tuna fishery. Seychelles acknowledges the many challenges faced at the level of the IOTC in regard to sustainability of tuna resources in the Indian ocean, which is why we welcomed the opportunity to beneficial for SFA, • training SFA staff via the 6-month fisheries training Programme at the UNESCO-GRO-FTP, • providing value chain & governance analysis for the Seychelles case study join FarFish with expectations of advancing our knowledge and competences. The project did however decide not to put major efforts on analysing FADs and FAD management, as this is currently Explain the importance of projects like FarFish for your being addressed by IOTC. country? Projects like FarFish are important for remote island nations What were the main obstacles, if any? like Seychelles, as they enable national researchers and The main obstacles were data availability, particularly with stakeholders to be a part of an international team of experts. regard to socio-economic data. Much of the data we wanted The networking, new knowledge and competences gained to use for scientific analysis is available, but the data was not reach far beyond the project itself. FarFish also provided us shared because the data owners considered it commercially with a better understanding of how SFPAs work around the sensitive information or potentially privileged information. world. It offered capacity building opportunities, particularly Covid 19 did also present an obstacle for us, as data collection, in fisheries management and value chain analysis. It also networking and participation in meetings and workshops are provided us with an opportunity to better understand the less effective online than in person. fishery, including the value chains. Future outlook: What steps do you think need to be taken in What were the key priorities for your case study when near future? entering the FarFish project? In the near future we would welcome more capacity building Key priorities for SFA when starting the project were access to opportunities in-line with those provided by FarFish. We will more data, particularly on the value chains, capacity building seek greater collaboration with all relevant stakeholders and opportunities, better understanding of the FAD fishery look for greater transparency within the fishing industry. and its impact on fishing effort and ecosystem including bycatch, and development of a framework for enhanced FAD management. CASE STUDIES 19 FarFish legacy booklet Mixed Fishery in the international waters of the South West Atlantic The South West Atlantic (FAO statistical area 41) is mostly Atlantic is no longer a level playing field. The main objectives international waters that are not subjected to any Regional of these area closures are also unlikely to be achieved if they Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO), and a wholistic do not apply to everyone. The Long Distance Advisory Council fisheries management approach or agreements for all fleets (LDAC) expressed their concerns on this issue in May 2016 to fishing in the area is therefore lacking. The area is extremely DG MARE, requesting the EU to “demand at the relevant large, more than 17 million km2, knowledge on the stocks, international fora (UN, FAO), as well as in commercial catches and efforts is limited, and Monitoring, Control and negotiations and bilateral fishing agreements that it might Surveillance (MCS) is poor. reach to all third countries, that the implementation of UNGA Resolution 61/105 be extended to all fleets fishing in the There are fleets from all across the world fishing in the area, South West Atlantic in order to promote good international including several EU fleets. The main target species are hake, governance of oceans and seas and ensure a level playing field squid, rock-cod and southern-cod, with Spain being the for EU fleets and foreign fleets alike”. dominant EU fleet with around 20 vessels. Spain’s catches in the SW-Atlantic increased from 26 thousand tonnes in 2006 One of the main objectives of FarFish in this case study has to 200 thousand tonnes in 2014 but have been around 140 been to initiate a dialogue between key representatives thousand tons in recent years. Other EU nations fishing in this operating in the area. FarFish has connected representatives area are have been Portugal, Estonia and France. In 2019, the of the EU fleet (Spain and Portugal), the two coastal states catches deriving from the SW Atlantic amounted to 3.3% of with fishing interest in the area (Argentina and Brazil), China total EU catches. This area is also targeted by the coastal (including a member of Distant Water Fishing Consultants states of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, as well as other in China), FAO and may more fleets, institutes and country distant water fleets, mainly China, Taiwan and South Korea. representatives. These participants, which are either FarFish The SW-Atlantic has no RFMO in place with legal competence Partners or members of the FarFish “Reference Group”, to regulate demersal or deep-water fisheries but falls under range from being industrial representatives to academics the convention area of ICCAT and CCBT (Commission for the and research institutes, but all share the aim of making Conservation of Bluefin Tuna). However, there are no reports fisheries in international waters sustainable and profitable. of tuna catches from the area. This fact allowed the Project Consortium to gather relevant stakeholders for series of workshops and conferences on In the absence of an RFMO and following UN General fisheries management in international waters. The first Assembly (UNGA) Resolutions on sustainable fisheries and workshop was held in Vigo, Spain, in 2018 and was titled the FAO Deepwater Guidelines, the Spanish Institute of “Strengthening fisheries sustainability outside EU”, the Oceanography (IEO) initiated a series of research surveys in second workshop was held in Madrid, Spain, in 2019 and was 2007 to identify Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) in titled “Bringing fisheries sustainability into the high seas: the the international waters of the SW Atlantic. Following upon case of the Atlantic south west” and the final conference on that research, which resulted in seafloor and VME mapping the subject was held online in early 2021, titled “Sustainable of an area of approximately 60 thousand km2, Spain closed fisheries in SW Atlantic: A scientific approach”. The FarFish nine areas to bottom fishing in 2011 for the protection of project did also facilitate a conference on “The external existing VMEs. These closures where further accepted by the dimensions of the CFP” which was very relevant for the SW- European industry, thus applying to all EU fisheries in the Atlantic case study. The main conclusion of these events area. Bottom trawling by the EU fleet is further restricted was the need of scientific cooperation between the involved to the existing bottom trawling footprint, which leaves two countries. areas open for fishing that have been subject to bottom fishing for 25 over years. FarFish has addressed management challenges facing the EU fleet in the area by developing management tools and 20 While the European industry operating in the area accepted management recommendations for the EU fleet, building on the conditions of protecting VMEs, other international fishing the extensive research conducted by Spain in the area and fleets, mainly Asian (China, Taiwan and South Korea), have not other available data sources. adopted any equivalent conservation measures for the area. University of Sao Paulo (USP) is the leader of the SW-Atlantic This means that fishing in the international waters of SW- case study in FarFish. CASE STUDIES FarFish legacy booklet Dr. Juliana Antunes Galvão Research Specialist in Freshwater fish and Seafood – “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture. University of São Paulo (Brazil) Why did you decide to participate in FarFish? What were the main obstacles, if any? The SW-Atlantic is of huge importance for Brazil as a coastal There were many obstacles and challenges within this case state and although Brazil does not have major operations study of the FarFish project. The conflict between Argentina in the area, it is still extremely important for us that the and UK proved to be challenging to navigate, the fact that resources and the ecosystem is managed sustainably. The there is no RFMO operating in the region was an issue, SW-Atlantic faces severe challenges when it comes to available data was fragmented and not easily accessible, the sustainable utilisation, which is why we were happy to take absence of an international legislation in this area presented part in the FarFish project. challenges. From the Brazilian side the challenge was to motivate the national industry, as it is primarily interested Explain the importance of projects like FarFish for your case in the tuna species, not in hake and squid. USP did also study? experience obstacles in its participation in the project, due FarFish is an international research and innovation project to funding difficulties (Brazil was expected to fund USP’s involving different institutions and expertise from around the participation in the project, which they failed to do). Finally, world. The consortium includes experts and networks that are Covid 19 proved to be a big challenge in the project, as travel important for us to link with, for us to develop further and was restricted for a really long time. expand our competences and networks. Outlook: What steps do you think need to be taken in near What were the key priorities for your case study when future? entering the FarFish project? It is necessary to continue with the work that FarFish has The key priorities were to improve biological, ecological started in facilitating increased cooperation among the and socio-economic knowledge on the fisheries in the area, different stakeholders. The importance of allowing for implementation of an international legislation to guarantee cooperation among the scientific community is extremely the conservation and management within the area, and to important. The following are steps that I think would be improve the interaction between the stakeholders in the SW- necessary in the future: Atlantic fisheries. • Introducing an RFMO for the area • Improve stakeholder involvement among all stakeholders How has FarFish addressed these priorities? The most important output of the FarFish project in the SWAtlantic case study has been the stakeholder interactions. The project has managed to link very important stakeholders • Development of an international legislation to protect VMEs in the area • Improving data collection on biological and ecological variables and facilitate dialogue on how to best proceed to facilitate • Improving catch registration, particularly on bycatch sustainable management for the area. The workshops and • Improved monitoring, control and surveillance conferences have been extremely fruitful and do provide a positive indication that there is truly a willingness to cooperate towards improved sustainability. CASE STUDIES 21 FarFish legacy booklet Mixed Fishery in the international waters of the South East Atlantic The management of international waters in South East The extremely limited activity in the SEAFO area, the lack of Atlantic is subject to a non-tuna Regional Fisheries available biological-, fisheries dependant- and independent Management Organisation (RFMO), the South East Atlantic data, as well as the complete lack of interest of the EU fleet Fisheries Organisation (SEAFO), of which the EU is a in the area resulted in little advances being made in this case Contracting Party. Target species in the SEAFO Convention study of FarFish. In addition to using biological data collected Area include alfonsino, horse mackerel, mackerel, orange by SEAFO, attempts were made to build on the scientific roughy, skates, sharks, deep-sea crab, hake, and toothfish. work already conducted through the Nansen programme, SEAFO is a relatively young RFMO, with the Convention a programme initiated and managed by Norway and FAO, entering into force in 2003. SEAFO has an active Scientific which aims to “provide the fisheries research institutions and Committee, but due to scarcity of scientific data, Total management administrations in the participating countries Allowable Catch advice are usually not based on sufficient with knowledge on their ecosystems for their use in planning data. Although the EU fleet activity has been limited in this and monitoring”. Despite repeated attempts and extensive area over the past few years, the EU has been a Contracting effort by the FarFish consortium, these data could not be made Party from the beginning and has, now most recently in 2015, available to the project. Therefore, the expected output from expressed its willingness to work on strengthening SEAFO’s this CS could not be reached. The stock assessment methods performance in terms of scientific knowledge, monitoring, and tools used within the area were however analysed with compliance and enforcement. The work in this case study respect to their applicability, and the application of VMS/ did therefore have an interesting angle as FarFish was able AIS signal analysis for monitoring, control and surveillance in to explore different roles of the EU in RFMOs. In particular, the area were evaluated. Due to data limitations, the overall and in relation to the relatively low fishing effort in the SEAFO outputs and impact of this case study were limited. area, FarFish explored how to best deal with such a data-poor situation when there is a need to maintain an international framework, both for future use and protection. 22 CASE STUDIES FarFish legacy booklet FarFish outcomes – a quick look After over four years of hard work it is time to reflect on some of the key outcomes of the FarFish project. FarFish has produced a diversity of practical tangible outputs, such as new management tools and methodologies, new data and databases, results from detailed socio-economic analyses, policy recommendations, educational material and numerous scientific journal publications. The project has also produced other valuable outcomes, reflected in new networks of people working within EU long distance fisheries, as well as new knowledge and improved capacity of both professionals and students, gained through FarFish’s broad scale capacity building and education within and outside of the EU. FARFISH OUTCOMES 23 FarFish legacy booklet FarFish Capacity Building FarFish puts emphasis on broad scale capacity building, knowledge transfer and dissemination across multiple stakeholder levels, reaching people with different cultural, economic, political and social backgrounds. The EU SFPAs include financial support which aims to promote sustainable fisheries development in the partner countries by strengthening their administrative and scientific capacity. Building strong relationships and working to create capacity both within the EU and in partner countries abroad is a key component to the success of the FarFish project. The capacity building activities within the FarFish project are based on training needs assessments conducted at the beginning of the project. With these needs established, FarFish developed training activities which were tailor-made to meet the needs in each CS, thus optimising the effort and funds available to put into capacity building. 24 FARFISH OUTCOMES FarFish legacy booklet FarFish training needs assessment Mary Frances Davidson, GRÓ Fisheries Training Programme To set a basis for capacity building activities undertaken in team identified the specific need the FarFish project, the UNESCO GRÓ- Fisheries Training to develop capacity in the field Programme completed Training Needs Assessments in of acoustic surveys for stock relation to the FarFish project in the four Case Study assessment. Also, considering countries; Mauritania, Senegal, Cape Verde, and Seychelles. the importance of the upwelling The primary aim of these assessments was to determine system in total production, a mutually agreed upon capacity building priorities to form closer cooperation within the the basis for training administered through WP 7 in the IMROP department researching FarFish project. These Training Needs Assessments targeted Oceanography and the Stock institutions partnering in the FarFish project within the Assessment department could yield higher resolution case study countries and were conducted through site analysis required for predictive modelling of stocks. In visits during which key staff were interviewed by the GRÓ- Senegal, the CRODT scientists are each tasked with a specific FTP team. The initial results of these assessments were area of study but lack research support staff to successfully presented to FarFish partners on site at the end of the field complete their mandate to provide scientific advice to visits, and input from FarFish partners were incorporated in fisheries policy makers. In this case, institutional constraints the final Training Needs Assessment report. have led to an overworked and overcommitted core team of researchers who heavily rely on doctoral students to Training Needs Assessments were conducted through complete basic research. In the Senegalese context, there is interviews with key staff at the FarFish case study one species allocated TAC, shrimp, and while other stocks are organisations. The aim of the assessments was to establish monitored through significant data collection efforts, there where key capacity gaps existed between the institutional is no predictive modelling taking place. It was determined mandate and human capacity to deliver on those mandates. that stock assessment and modelling are the key priorities In all cases, capacity gaps were identified and agreed upon for building institutional capacity at CRODT. In Cape Verde, by the FarFish partners. These identified training needs IMAR has one stock assessment researcher on staff, but then formed the basis for capacity building interventions there is a strong determination to invest in building research undertaken later in the project. capacity to conduct stock assessment. At the time the team visited Seychelles, the SFA was undergoing a transition Institutional arrangement, management structure, towards financial autonomy, which may to impact the data collection strategies, priorities, and wider fisheries primary mandates of the organisation. A newly established development context in each case study country is unique. quota on yellowfin tuna in the Indian Ocean demands more In Mauritania, given the importance of pelagic fisheries, the predictive stock modelling methodologies of SFA scientists. Touring the Senegalese Research Vessel with CRODT scientists in Touring the Ocean Science Center of Mindelo (OSCM) in Cabo Verde Dakar, Senegal FARFISH OUTCOMES 25 FarFish legacy booklet GRÓ-Fisheries Training Programme, 6 month training course Mary Frances Davidson, GRÓ Fisheries Training Programme GRÓ-Fisheries Training Programme, 6 month training course The mission of the GRÓ Fisheries Training Programme is to strengthen institutional capacity to support the sustainable use of living aquatic resources in developing countries through international educational and research cooperation. The FTP’s aim is to assists partner countries in achieving their own development goals related to fisheries. Based on the capacity gaps identified in close consultation with our partners, the FTP creates content and training programmes to address the needs in each country and organisation. The GRÓ-FTP applies an approach based on the principles of Education for Sustainable Development and builds on the knowledge and expertise of different experts by liaising with a wide range of Icelandic and international institutions and organisations. The core activity of the FTP is an annual postgraduate level six-month training programme in Iceland which aims to strengthen the professional capacity and competency of FTP Fellows to actively contribute to work done in their organisations and to recognise development potential in their home countries. Each year, the course runs from September to March and comprises three modules; an introductory part, a specialisation part, and an individual research project. Successful graduates receive a UNESCO GRÓ certificate of completion. Introductory course The introductory Fellows a FARFISH OUTCOMES gives view of fisheries, providing them with insights into various disciplines within fisheries and their connectedness. In this course, Fellows receive a comprehensive overview of fisheries in an international context, sharpening their understanding of fisheries in their home countries and what is needed for a fisheries sector to evolve. The introduction consists of a series of lectures, site visits and assignments, touching upon the subject of personal and professional growth, and group dynamics. The FTP places emphasis on environmental conservation and gender equality which are integral to sustainable fisheries and the development of the fisheries sector. Specialist course Upon completion of the introductory part, each Fellow joins a specialist line according to their area of expertise and responsibilities at home. The lines focus on one specific area of fisheries and aims to hone each Fellow’s knowledge and experience throughout a six-week programme of lectures, assignments, and site visits. During this time, Fellows develop ideas for a final project in collaboration with their supervisors communicated through a project proposal submitted orally and in writing. 26 part holistic FarFish legacy booklet Alciany Nascimento da Luz, from The FTP offers training in four areas of specialisation: Cabo Verde undertook a research • Fisheries Policy and Management project, Testing methods to estimate • Stock Assessment and Gear Technology the age of blackspot picarel (Spicara • Quality Management of Fish Handling and Processing Melanurus) using otoliths, from the • Sustainable Aquaculture waters of Cape Verde Islands. Project work The programme culminates in a twelve-week individual project in which fellows work closely with a supervisor to Nuno Vieira, also from Cabo Verde, conduct research on a pressing issue related to their work conducted his research on Stock at home. The project work combines the Fellow’s experience assessment and the influence of and practical skills gained in the introductory and specialist environmental parameters on training, along with their personal goals on an individual the distribution of mackerel scad research topic. Project design skills are applied to develop (Decapterus Macarellus) in Cabo and present a research proposal, and then research is Verde waters. conducted individually through close collaboration with an expert supervisor. Final projects most often involve data directly from Fellows’ home countries. On completion, a Kamarel research paper is submitted and published on the GRÓ- conducted his research work on FTP website. In addition, Fellows are required to design an Assessing the north-west african Ba, from Senegal, information poster summarising their research and present stock of black hakes (Merluccius their results in an open dissemination meeting. Polli and Merluccius Senegalensis) Five Fellows participated in the six-month GRÓ-Fisheries spawning potential ratio models. using catch-msy and length-based Training Programme through the FarFish project. Due to a delay in the regular operations of the 6-month training brought on by the pandemic, not all were able to complete Sid’ahmed their studies by the end of the project. Three were able to Mauritania is a GRÓ-FTP fellow, and complete their research, and two are currently participating will conduct his research in an area in the post-graduate training programme. related to acoustic data to support Hemmed, from the stock assessment efforts on Mauritania’s small pelagic fisheries. Margret Ally, from Seychelles is a GRÓ-FTP fellow, and will conduct her research in an area related to value addition and economic development related to the bycatch species from the tuna fisheries in Seychelles. FARFISH OUTCOMES 27 FarFish legacy booklet The impact of this training is already being felt in the FarFish Case Study organizations. In May of 2019, a seminar was The held at the INDP in Cabo Verde where the final research projects where presented in the ambit of the Fisheries fisheries, seminar, the work of the FarFish project, and the research has been trends in exploring world fisheries to fisheries, fishing gears and the project was presented. The seminar was opened by the environmental impacts of fishing President of INDP (now IMar), a representative from the gear. I have improved especially Cabe Verdian Ministry of Maritime Economy, and the Work gave a presentation of the project to the seminar attendees, far databases, ecosystem approach produced via the post-graduate training offered through the FarFish project. The Case study leader for Cabo Verde so overviewing Training Program (FTP) and the FarFish project. At the Package 7 (Capacity Building and Dissemination) leader from FTP filled with important lectures from the GRO-FTP team feedback of the assignments. - Sid’ahmed Hemmed, Mautirania and the research results from the fellows participating in the training was presented to the organisation. Through the FarFish project and The journey has been challenging, the GRÓ-FTP, I am learning a lot but in a positive way. The program of interesting things about the moves you away from your comfort Icelandic fishing and aquaculture zone and your know-how. It shows system through lectures and you that there is a lot more to be field visits. It’s a real experience done. One becomes both analytical I am living now as old Icelandic and critical of the current model at fishing days were very similar home and sees ways to improve it. to what my country (Senegal) Each country is unique and different. is facing now in terms of challenges in fisheries, such as That is why it is important to keep building capacity in people overfishing of most stocks, fish processing, regulations, etc. in such a way that they are able to develop models that can be What I’m learning here will be a great opportunity for me to applied effectively in their own economy, to grow socially and share with colleagues, fisheries directorate agents, artisanal economically in a sustainable manner. and industrial fishers, as well as fish processing managers, Knowledge is indeed power, and everyone can contribute in a to make changes in our fishing and aquaculture system to way or another. achieve sustainable development goals. -Margaret Ally, Seychelles -Kamarel Ba, Senegal 28 FARFISH OUTCOMES FarFish legacy booklet FarFish Data Limited Methods course Margarita María Rincón, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography The Data Limited Methods short course was developed The course was led by two based upon the needs identified in the Training Needs experts: Assessment, while building upon the work developed by Margarita partners in the FarFish project. developed the DLM tool, and a Spanish Rincon, IEO/CSIC who GRÓ-FTP fellow from CRODT In this way, the course is both a tool for capacity building in Senegal, Kamarel Ba, who in the GRÓ-FTP’s partner countries, as a reinforcement of presented his work on Length- our ongoing capacity building initiatives, and as a tool for Based Spawning Potential Ratio systematic dissemination of results of the FarFish project for (LBSPR) models he developed stakeholders in case study countries. through his final project for FTP in the DLM course. It was determined early on that to maximise impacts, this This course aims to explore some methods used for stock course should allow all case study partners to participate assessment when data available is very limited. The theory rather than focusing on one case study or country. Upon behind and their implementation will be explained, as well completion of the training needs assessment, stock as their advantages and caveats. An emphasis on data input assessment competencies were identified as one common and results expected regarding establishing some reference capacity need for each of the partner institutions evaluated. points for sustainable exploitation will also be provided. The Based on the training needs assessments and subsequent skills learned from this course will be directly applicable for meetings with Case Study leaders and other FarFish partners, exploratory stock assessments for fisheries of the countries it was determined that the most useful topic for all involved of the participants. would be to focus on training scientists working the case study institutions on the use of a Data Limited Methods Tool The course took place in Iceland from Sept 29th – Oct 1st, (DLM)developed by the FarFish project. 2021. It was divided into two parts. The first part was an open seminar which was held both in person and virtually, The DLM Tool is built from existing methodologies for stock attended by 50 people. The second part of the DLM course assessment where data availability is limited. Underlying this was a closed workshop, where data limited methods were is the theory that even with limited data, some crude stock explained in more detail with practical examples and assessment methodologies can still be applied, and can still exercises. Participants were encouraged to work on datasets be useful. These methodologies all have trade-offs. The DLM from home, and used the FarFish DLM tool and R-statistical Tool created by FarFish is a system which allows the user to software to explore the world of data limited fisheries input any data that exists and see which data limited methods modeling for stock assessments. The workshop was attended may be used to analyse that data, what the limitations of the by 9 people. methods are, and what data might be useful to collect in the future for more robust analysis. The DLM course was originally planned to take place in Mindelo, Cabo Verde, hosted by the INDP/IMar. It was to have a regional in focus, with participants from CRODT in Senegal and IMROP in Mauritania. With travel ultimately impossible due to the COVID pandemic, the course was modified, and a hybrid in-person and virtual model was used for instruction. FARFISH OUTCOMES 29 FarFish legacy booklet FarFish and Tutor-web – a novel approach to education and training Tutor-web is an e-learning tool that enables tailor-made tutorials) at https://tutor-web.net/fish/fish850. The study education and training to meet individual needs. The design units are split into drillsets or “lectures”, many of which of the tutor-web educational system is based on research at contain reading material in the form of course notes, but the University of Iceland and funded by several projects, FP7, research and use of the tutor-web has shown that the most H2020 and others. The tutor-web is fully open and accessible important aspect of the tutor-web is the large number of at https://tutor-web.net to instructors and students with an drills. These are normally multiple-choice questions. Internet connection, even slow and intermittent. A student can register into the system, click their way into any Whether through a regular school or self-study, students of study unit and click the “Take a drill” button to request drills fishery science need a basic understanding of fish population and start practicing. The student can keep on requesting dynamics and of how to handle data. This can be as a part new questions until they feel that they have mastered the of either assessing stock size, evaluating long-term yield material. potential or statistical analysis of ecological measurements. In combination, these tasks require background knowledge Alternative methods have also been developed and used including mathematics up through multivariate calculus, experimentally as a part of the FarFish project. These include statistics up through multiple linear and nonlinear regression, using real data in questions. For example, a regression followed by elements of population dynamics. Only after course can access randomly chosen data sets from statistical mastering these basic concepts can the students expect to agencies and pull those together into a question on understand the tools used to assess fish stocks and their regression. yield potential. The FarFish lectures and drills will remain as a part of Tutor- 30 As a part of the FarFish project, new material and drills have web e-learning platform providing students, researchers been added in these fields in Tutor-web and aggregated and stakeholders with a valuable tool for capacity building in together as a single course with many study units (called stock assessment and fisheries management. FARFISH OUTCOMES FarFish legacy booklet Marine Management and Innovation Course From March 9th-13th 2020, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway hosted the university-level programme called “Marine Management and Innovation” (SVF-6013), that was funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020, through the FarFish project. The programme consisted of short courses in international ocean governance, traceability, value and supply chains, and economics, taught by different FarFish partners. The main learning objectives of the programme were: (1) to provide an overview of central concepts and actors within laws and regulations in fisheries management The programme, was unfortunately affected by the (2) to provide the opportunity for students to learn about the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdown restrictions were imposed challenges of managing resources sustainably in a common mid-way through the week, and thus, the last 1.5 days of pool resource setting, with realistic resource dynamics the programme had to be taught only remotely. Despite the (3) to achieve an understanding of the main concepts of food sudden turn of events, participants were satisfied with the value chains, supply chains and traceability. programme’s overall quality, with 61% reporting they were very satisfied, 31% satisfied. Moreover, the taught topics also touched upon numerous UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as nr.14 life Among the 29 participants, eight took the exam. All below water, nr.2 zero hunger, nr.12 responsible consumption passed and received a certificate, meaning the project and production and nr.3 good health and well-being. We want reached its goal of graduating at least five participants. The to highlight this, as one of the strengths of the programme is exams, essays with self-chosen topics, contribute to the that it is relevant and timely. programme’s academic outcome, and with the permission from the respective essay authors, FarFish has published a The goal was to educate decision makers, in particular fish summary of six essays on the FarFish web page (Table 1). The business operators and EU fleet representatives, and allow hope is that the online lectures, and the essays will act as for the participation of students at the Master or PhD effective tools to make sure the programme has a learning level. Twenty-nine participants from 14 countries took part. impact beyond the course. Among the participants were students and researchers from UiT, nine invited stakeholders, and seven online participants Table 1: List of essay summaries available online who followed the programmes’ live streaming. 1. Pan-Arctic Marine Protected Area Network – A Solution Lectures were recorded and uploaded to UiT’s online storage 2. Patching The Gaps Of ABNJ Governance Mediasite, where they will be freely available for five years. 3. Tasks And Limits Of Marine Protected Area Management: For Anthropogenic Threat In The Arctic The lectures have since been viewed several times (the lecture on business development 45 times). The Case Of The Islet Of Nosy Ve, Madagascar 4. Considerations on art.25 of the proposal for amendment of European Parliament Regulation N.1224/2009 CCTV Figure 1: Participants and teachers on the university-level programme “Marine Management and Innovation” at the Norwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT the Arctic University of Norway. control system in fishing 5. Analysis Of The Conflict Over The Use Of Marine Space In Madagascar 6. FarFish – Inspiration For Changes FARFISH OUTCOMES 31 FarFish legacy booklet Data Data collection and harmonisation was a key component of FarFish, where biological, ecological, social and economic data was collected and collated throughout the project’s lifetime. The data limitations within FarFish case studies were well known from the start of the project, as well as the fact that access to the existing, but fragmented, data would be challenging. However, as the FarFish consortium included many institutions with access to the data that does exist, it enabled us to successfully collect important data. There are, however, important datasets that could not be accessed due to data protection policies, technical challenges in extracting data and willingness to share commercially delicate information. Much of the data gathered was uploaded to the FarFish database (FFDB) and then used as input into FarFish visualisations and the development of decision support tools. FarFish further initiated a self-sampling pilot programme, that enables fishermen to take part in the data collection. Following are brief introductions to some of the data collected and management tools developed within the project. The FarFish database (FFDB) Jamie Lentin, Shuttle Thread Limited. FFDB is a banner applied to a suite of tools developed as part In addition, applications for anyone of FarFish, focusing on data collection, model output and to use were developed; FarFish visualisation. All of the tools mentioned here are available DLMGui and FarFish SPiCTGui. on the FarFish website at https://ffdb.farfish.eu. These tools These allow anyone to produce are also open-source, and source code is also available on the models and visualisations using FarFish GitHub page at https://github.com/farfish/. DLMtool or SPiCT without having to learn R or install anything on their Firstly, FFDB Upload is a web application that can allow system. There are publicly available instances of the tools at anyone to add structured datasets into a central database. https://ffdb.farfish.eu, and being R Shiny applications, they The datasets are templated to make sure the data is well are easy to install onto your own server or hosted on https:// formed, and whilst it could be used for any data collection shinyapps.io. Full instructions on both how to use the tools exercise, the main purpose is to collect fisheries data to and how to install on your own server are available on the then feed into the FarFish-DLMtool (data limited tool). This website. will produce visualisations of the data and run DLMtool and SPiCT models based on that data. Full instructions are As part of this work, many open-source contributions were available to install both on any server and could be used for made, improving the state-of-the-art for many: any kind of data collection exercise in the future. • Additions to the Rpostgres library, improving the R language’s Postgres database support • Handsondataframe. To include flexible data tables into • Tape-server, providing easy testing of Javascript code in both Javascript and R Shiny web applications a web browser 32 FARFISH OUTCOMES FarFish legacy booklet The FarFish data limited tool Margarita María Rincón from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography One of the key objectives of FarFish was to develop tools user data-input guide* guar- that provide added value, relevance and usefulness in sup- antee accessibility and ensures port of management and decision-making for the actors that the tool will remain useful involved in each of the case studies. The relevance and once the project has ended. This added value were ensured through a consultation process. effort has also benefited from The FarFish data-limited tool (FarFish-DLMtool) has been work in FarFish Work Package 1 receiving feedback mainly from the partners involved in the (Stakeholder interactions) that implementation of the case studies but also from external allows us to directly explain the actors: the WKDLSSLS ICES group, some participants in the tool functionalities to operators ICES Annual Scientific Conference, the members of the IM- and scientists, as well as get their feedback. Data gathered PRESS (Improving scientific advice to fishery management by FarFish in Work Package 2 (Advancing biological knowl- for resources of interest for Spain in Atlantic waters) project edge and evaluation of current stock assessment models) and university students. This constant feedback ensures rel- had also been used to provide examples of performance of evance and added value while having technical characteris- important bycatch species identified by Management Rec- tics that make it useful within the context of the Responsive ommendations (WP4). In this sense we highlight the master Fisheries Management System implemented in FarFish. As thesis of Mercedes Aramburu for University of Cadiz, using an active component of this system, according to the DoA, the FarFish-DLMtool to provide an exploratory assessment the tool was set out to accomplish a set of operative charac- of Common dolphinfish, wahoo and frigate tuna in the Indian teristics such as: and Atlantic oceans. 1. Facilitating an equal footing for the technical dialogue of all actors involved. 2. Guaranteeing all-actors accessibility by working under open-access schemes. 3. Interaction with data, simulation and visualization based The tool has also been presented in the FarFish Data-limited methods hybrid workshop (online and in person) to the GROFTP fellows in Iceland and to representative students from different case studies. on free platforms. 4. Tools remaining once the project has ended. The FarFish data-limited tool (https://ffdb.farfish.eu/) has been designed by Margarita María Rincón from the Span- To achieve this, we developed a suite of R-based tools that ish Institute of Oceanography, Cadiz Oceanographic center let users upload and analyse their own data purely through a (IEO-CSIC) and Jamie Lentin from Shuttlethread. This work web browser, so they can be used on any computer without does not necessarily reflect European Commission views and installation or knowledge of the R programming language. in no way anticipates the Commission’s future policy in the The source code for the tools is also public and hosted on area. GitHub, allowing institutions to manage their own installation if required in the future. * the user data-input guides are available at the FarFish website: https://www.farfish.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ The FarFish-DLMtool is an interactive tool where the users FarFish-DLMGui-user-guide.pdf and https://www.farfish. can incorporate their data and obtain pertinent information eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FarFish-SPiCTGui-user- in return. The open-access scheme based on Github and the guide.pdf FARFISH OUTCOMES 33 FarFish legacy booklet The FarFish black hake self-sampling pilot study Dr. Karim Erzini, Professor at University of Algarve and Senior researcher at CCMAR “Black hakes” is the common name that includes both that labelling errors were mainly Merluccius senegalensis and M. polli, that overlap in their due to the assumption of M. geographic distribution over approximately 2,000 km off polli being bigger and inhabiting the west coast of Africa. Morphologically similar, they are deeper waters, and the opposite difficult to identify, resulting in mislabelling of catches and in M. senegalensis. Thus, location the lack of separate stock assessment, scientific advice and of fishing grounds and depth management measures for each species. The objective of the were FarFish project (www.farfish.eu) pilot study was to evaluate factors to mislabelling. the main contributing the ability of fishermen to sample and identify the hake species, thereby providing a means of collecting data that In total, 405 samples were obtained from three OPROMAR could contribute to improving assessment and management fishing vessels. Differences in mislabelling were found of the hake resources. between the 3 trawlers: 2.5%, 13.5% and 27.9%. Overall, 26% of hakes labelled as M. polli were shown to be M. senegalensis Sampling kits, protocols, and data sheets were provided by by DNA analysis. Statistical analysis showed that on-deck FarFish. Self-samplers were asked to collect data on fishing labelling errors were mainly due to the assumption of M. polli locations, dates, depth, and to visually identify samples of being bigger and inhabiting deeper waters, and the opposite hake, store a fin clip in 100% ethanol, and record sex and in M. senegalensis. Thus, location of fishing grounds and length of each individual. Three OPROMAR trawlers fishing depth were the main contributing factors to mislabelling. in Mauritanian waters participated in the pilot study, while in Senegal, sampling was done from a trawler from the Spanish- In general, the sampling protocols were found to be clear, Senegalese company SOPERKA S.A. and from small artisanal understandable and easy to follow. The amount of time (pirogue) longline vessels operating in the Kayar canyon by needed to sample ranged from a few minutes to less than fishers on board but the data recording and the sampling for 30 minutes per sampling episode (i.e., trawl haul in the case the DNA analysis was done by CRODT technicians. of industrial fleet trawlers), meaning that self-sampling does not occupy a significant amount of time, which DNA analysis of the samples was carried out at the accounts for most of the self-samplers responding that Department of Functional Biology of the University of they would be willing to continue self-sampling or other Oviedo, Spain. Follow-up questionnaires evaluated the views collaborations with scientists. Self-samplers were interested of the fishers on the difficulties encountered, willingness to in the study, believing that the results would be important participate in self-sampling programmes and usefulness for for the management of the fishery. Given the levels of management of the fishery. mislabelling, specific training in catch species identification is recommended to improve the accuracy of labelling and In total, 460 samples were obtained from a SOPERKA trawler traceability. DNA barcoding could be applied as a method and the artisanal longline vessels. Of the samples from the for routine control of species identification, to confirm SOPERKA trawler 46% of the hake were mis-classified, with in periodical surveys, that species are correctly labelled 43% and 48% of M. polli and M. senegalensis respectively and also contribute valuable data on species composition not identified correctly. For the artisanal fleet, 116 M. polli (relative abundance of each species) for a scientific basis for were classified as M. senegalensis, with no misclassification management of the fisheries. of individuals of the latter species, giving an overall misclassification of 41% (n = 286). Statistical analysis showed 34 FARFISH OUTCOMES FarFish legacy booklet The FarFish Shiny App Sonia Doblado, LDAC FarFish Coordinator The FarFish consortium acknowledges the difficulty to follow capacity our work for someone that comes from outside the project. sections will include a link to building”. As we organise ourselves by work packages (WPs), it can be the deliverables that contain difficult to navigate through all the deliverables to find the the wanted information for information of interest. Following the recommendations and the selected CS. It is worth comments about this issue from the external advisory group noting that for the CSs of and the consulted stakeholders, we have created a tool with Senegal and Mauritania there the hope of overcoming this barrier. Using the R package are two special sections that “Shiny”, we have created an app that divides our deliverables contain and outcomes not by WPs but by case studies and themes. about the fleet present in This way, any person interested in the results of a specific their EEZs. The user can either case study (CS) will be able to access the information related choose the nationality of the fleet or the year of interest, to it without being familiarised with the internal organisation and the graphic will return the number of vessels identified of the project. To do so, the user will select the CS of interest, via AIS or AIS+VMS in the case of Senegal. In this section, and a menu will appear with several thematic options, that a report is also available so the user will know the meaning is: “Background”, with general information about the CS, of these fleets being present compared to what nationalities “Stakeholder interaction”, “Governance and value chain”, are allowed to be operating in the area according to the “Scientific advances”, “Management Recommendations”, available agreements between Mauritania/Senegal and third “Audit”, “Visualisation materials” and “Dissemination and countries. dynamic These graphics The app further includes a special section dedicated to one of the main outcomes of the project, the DLMTool. It includes all the deliverables related to the tool, plus a user-friendly guideline on how to use it. The DLMTool can be found embedded in this app, so there is no need to go to the FarFish site to look for it. The app will remain available for the public after the project ends, so we hope it would be useful for anyone interested to know about the FarFish efforts in any specific case study. QR code for the app, but it can also be accessed through a browser here https://farfish-summary.shinyapps.io/Outcomes/ FARFISH OUTCOMES 35 FarFish legacy booklet The FarFish Management Recommendations A key component of FarFish was the development of The approach is based on the concept that the authorities a Results-Based Management (RBM) approach for EU in charge of management in the respective fishery establish fisheries in non-EU waters. This approach aimed to facilitate specific increased stakeholder involvement in management decisions environmental, social and economic policies and current and delegate management responsibilities to the resource management challenges. Based on these, the authorities users. The approach would therefore reduce top-down further establish specific and measurable Outcome Targets micromanagement that has proven to be of limited efficiency, (OTs), that the operators (resource users) address by with ill-fitting regulations, high cost and low buy-in from proposing management measures for reaching the OTs. The resource users and other stakeholders. FarFish achieved this OTs, the management measures and associated indicators, by producing and testing a framework for implementing the as well as specifications on how to document success are then RBM approach in EU long distance fisheries, summarised incorporated into a contract/agreement called Management in FarFish’s voluntary European standard: “Good practice Recommendations (MR). The MR is then implemented, and guidelines for developing management recommendations its success monitored by an auditing team. The auditing team for the EU fleets operating outside European waters”. reports back to the authority and the operators, providing These guidelines were produced after an open CEN process, feedback on success and failures that are incorporated into including phases of public commenting, while also integrating a new MR if needed, or result in the termination of the MR. management objectives, based on existing the experience gained and lessons learned from testing the approach in FarFish case studies. The guidelines detail a step wise process, where the roles and responsibilities of all actors are explained in detail. A simplified outline of the process is shown in the figure below. The RBM process was iterated within FarFish to allow for testing, improvement and validation of the approach. The first draft of the guidelines was produced early on in the project, MR invitations were provided to the operators in each of the FarFish case studies, who proposed MRs that were approved after negotiations with the authorities (represented by the FarFish team). The “implementation” of the MRs was then documented with simulations, data collection, analysis, and various actions instigated by FarFish. The success of the MRs was then audited by the FarFish auditing team, and the results used to improve the guidelines, MR invitations and the second MRs. These were then audited again, and the feedback used to develop the final version of the “Good practice guidelines for developing management recommendations for the EU fleets operating outside European waters” which are to be published as a low-level, voluntary European standard (CEN workshop agreement). Through this process, MRs were developed for each of the FarFish case studies. Following are brief summaries detailing the challenges, OTs and outcomes. 36 FARFISH OUTCOMES FarFish legacy booklet FARFISH MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS CASE STUDY 1 Mixed fisheries in the Southwest Atlantic high seas – Issues with regional governance The case study of the Southwest Atlantic high seas consists in one of few areas of international waters where no Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) is overseeing the activity. The international mixed fisheries in FAO Area 41, in the subareas 41.3.1 and 41.3.2, at the part of the Patagonian shelf and slope (< 300 m) that extends beyond the Argentina EEZ and the Falkland/Malvinas Islands Outer Conservation Zone. The lack of a Regional Fisheries Organization acting as a key body responsible for managing fisheries makes the coexistence of international fleets within the area difficult. Especially due to the little to no dialogue or exchange of information between the different fishing nations/authorities operating in this area, due to the unresolved controversy with Falkland/Malvinas FPZ between Argentina and United Kingdom. This longstanding issue constitutes a main challenge in terms of fisheries governance in an area with different levels of regulation and monitoring, control, and surveillance (MCS) of the various flag states, and a lack of a shared scientific knowledge base for the regulation of targeted species. Results of the MR process Key challenges 1. Lack of level playing field Management objectives Outcome Target 2. Data availability Contribute to a level playing OT 1.1 A soft-law mechanism 3. Insufficient monitoring, control, and surveillance field for international fleets (International Conference) involved in the fisheries in focused on sustainable the ASW high seas management in ABNJ (FAO Objectives 1. Initiate dialogue between stakeholders involved in area 41) available. mixed fisheries within FAO area 41. 2. Improve the quality and quantity of data collection. Contribute to improved OT 1.2 All vessel 3. Compile knowledge of the straddling stocks from fishing and conservation transmitting AIS signals the different scientific institutions. through monitoring, Contribute to better monitoring in the area by control, and surveillance supporting enforcement through the utilization of mechanisms 4. the latest available satellite systems and tools. Contribute to improved OT 1.3: Theoretical frame fishing and conservation for a specific control and through monitoring, control, inspection programme in and surveillance mechanisms FAO area 41 as a basis for a future pilot project on a joint deployment plan for this region Outcomes A workshop arranged for this CS under the title “Bringing fisheries sustainability into the High Seas: the case of the Southwest Atlantic (FAO area 41)” was held in Madrid, in September 2019. The workshop brought together international experts and representatives from the fishing industry, policymakers, international institutions, and FarFish partners. A result of this workshop the international conference “Sustainable fisheries management in the Southwest: a scientific approach” was held on March 4th, 2021. This conference aims to be embedded in the current International Ocean Governance Agenda of the European Commission. The big-data analysis done in this region proved the value of remote sensing when comparing independent sources to add transparency and support compliance of the different fleets in vast and distant areas of the sea (Ruiz et al., 2019). Also, the development of a pilot project on a joint deployment plan for this region was considered a step in the right direction. Although some of the objectives set for this case study could not be achieved in the lifetime of the project, some important advancements towards key objectives were made. FARFISH OUTCOMES 37 FarFish legacy booklet FARFISH MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS CASE STUDY 2 Mixed fisheries in the Southeast Atlantic high seas – Theoretical implementation of RBM The SEAFO Convention area is covered by the high seas area beyond the EEZ of Angola, Namibia, South Africa and the United Kingdom on behalf of St. Helena and its dependencies of Tristan de Cunha and Ascension Island. The contracting parties to SEAFO are Angola, the EU, Japan, Namibia, Norway, South Africa and South Korea. As stated in the second MR invitation presented by the authority representative in Deliverable 3.6 (Viðarsson et al., 2020), very limited fishing activity is conducted in waters beyond areas of national jurisdiction within the FAO Area 47 (under the jurisdiction of SEAFO). Most of the area is deep sea (>2000 m) with some seamounts, where limited fisheries are taking place. This limited fishing activity is mostly conducted within two subareas B1 and D1. Only two Spanish vessels have showed some activity in 2017, but no catches were reported. Other fleets operating in the SEAFO CA in that same year were Japan and Namibia Results of the MR process Key challenges 1. Data availability Management objectives Outcome Target 2. Insufficient monitoring of the fishery Improve the knowledge OT 2.1: Reporting of all base for sustainable fisheries catches via e-logbooks Objectives management. 1. Improve data quality and quantity. 2. Advance biological knowledge in the SEAFO area. Support the fishing against OT 2.2: All vessels transmit AIS or VMS signals 3. Contribute to better monitoring in the area by sup- IUU fisheries by utilizing porting enforcement through the utilization of the the latest available satellite latest available satellite systems and tools system and tool Outcomes Ensure compliance by OT 2.3: All vessels have observer program onboard observers The Outcome Targets (OTs) identified in this case study are developed at a “theoretical” level, where the MR2 serves as a good practice guideline for well-functioning RFMO to implement in the event of the fisheries activity would resume. Focus was given to reporting, data availability and increased coverage of the observer program. 38 FARFISH OUTCOMES FarFish legacy booklet FARFISH MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS CASE STUDY 3 Tuna fisheries through SFPA in Cape Verde – Issues with coordination with other national institutes for data sharing The SFPA between EU and Cape Verde concerns the highly migratory species of tuna (yellowfin, skipjack, and bigeye), blue shark and swordfish. Up to 69 EU vessels (28 purse seiners, 27 surface long liners, 14 pole-and- line vessels) apply for licence to fish for tuna and tuna like (highly migratory) species under the agreement, at a reference tonnage of 8,000 tonnes per year in the period 2019– 2024 (COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2019/ 952, 2019). Two specific management goals were set within the RBM. First, to strive for sustainable fisheries based on best scientific advice and second, by supporting the fight against IUU fisheries. The most relevant challenges to be addressed through the RBM were the high uncertainty in data collection, insufficient control and monitoring in the Cape Verde EEZ. Within the RBM, the administration representatives define the management objectives and then, the operators are given the responsibility to develop a strategy to achieve them in the management recommendation. Results of the MR process Key challenges 1. High level of uncertainty in data collection Management objectives Outcome Target 2. Insufficient control and monitoring in the Cape Improve data collection in OT 3.1 A harmonized catch Verde EEZ conformity with ICCAT on data protocol in place Data flow in terms of discrepancies in the data directed catch and bycatch that facilitates improved reported to ICCAT by Cape Verde and the EU (DG of swordfish and blue shark reporting of swordfish and 3. MARE) on the catch, bycatch, and discards taken by blue shark commercial and EU vessels in Cape Verde biological data Objectives Support the fight against OT 3.2 All vessels transmit 1. In conformity with ICCAT, collect and analyse data IUU fishing by utilizing the AIS and/or VMS signals on catches of swordfish and bycatches of blue shark latest available satellite by the EU fleet in the Cape Verde EEZ, if the data systems and tools. is available. If sufficient data is accessible, model 2. scenarios, which may add value to development of Improve the use of observer OT 3.3 Strengthened HCR for these bycatch species. data and feed it into stock observer program in place Contribute to better monitoring in the area by assessment in the context of supporting enforcement by utilizing latest available ICCAT satellite systems and tools. Improve knowledge in the OT 3.4 Trade flow data from value chain, processing, and operators provided market conditions Outcomes The harmonised protocol for catch and bycatch reporting advanced well within the project, yet implementation by relevant authorities was not possible within the lifetime of the project. Yet, it was reported that ICCAT is working on harmonising data collection from tuna fisheries (logbook templates) and working towards implementing existing proposals. In this case, the lack of data to conduct the compliance analysis for OT 3.2 hindering the development of the action. The data was not available due to protocol restrictions by the compliance authorities. Other actions such as those for OT3.3 for strengthening the observer’s program were also completed to a large extent, yet implementation was not possible due to the lack of a provision for the observer program in the national legislation. FARFISH OUTCOMES 39 FarFish legacy booklet FARFISH MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS CASE STUDY 4 Mixed fisheries through SFPA in Senegal: Regional scope Developing a case study covering all the species targeted by the EU fleet within Senegalese EEZ was considered unattainable within the FarFish project. Therefore, the case study leader was asked to prioritize which fishery to address, based on the main challenges and the ability of FarFish to contribute. Consequently, the black hake fishery was selected. A deciding factor for this selection was that ICCAT is believed to be assessing and managing the tuna fishery well, whilst the black hake fishery is presented with more challenges. Therefore, the case of Senegal focuses on the EU Fishery for deep-sea demersal fishery targeting mainly black hake in the Senegalese EEZ. The black hake fishery targets two different species, Tropical African hake (Merluccius polli) and Senegalese hake (Merluccius senegalensis). The MR developed through the RBM aims to tackle the lack of knowledge about the proportion of the two species caught in Senegalese waters and the bycatch species in this fishery. Also, within the RBM, another goal set was to improve MCS in the area by utilizing the latest available satellite systems and tools and utilize onboard observers more efficiently. Knowledge in trade flows and value chain was also expected. Results of the MR process Key challenges 1. 2. 3. Insufficient availability/reporting of bycatch data in Management objectives Outcome Target the black hake fisheries Enhance data collection OT 4.1 Information on the Data limitation for sustainable conservation and for species identification of proportion of the two spe- separate stock assessment of black hake black hake in catches cies of black hake in catches Insufficient monitoring of the fishery provided Objectives Enhance data collection OT 4.2 Bycatch data in black 1. Develop a process that will enable species discrimi- for species identification of hake fishery available nation and identification for stock assessment black hake in catches 2. Improve MCS through the use latest satellite tools 3. Better utilize onboard observers Support the fight against OT 4.3 VMS and/or AIS sig- IUU fishing by utilizing the nals are transmitted latest available satellite systems and different kinds of electronic devices, like AIS and VMS Improve knowledge in the OT 4.4 Trade flow data on value chain, processing, and black hake provided market conditions Outcomes The OT 4.1 about information on the proportion of the two species of black hake in catches reports extensive and effective work towards achieving the target. The OT has been successfully implemented, achieving broader participation than just the EU fleet. Few actions are pending, one of which is the feedback on the results of the self-sampling program. The OT 4.2 in terms of by-catch data reporting, presents important advancements that are likely to be implemented by the relevant authorities even after the project’s end. Some critical actions are still to be taken, the MR2 proposes a roadmap for achieving the target. For the OT 4.3, critical issues with data availability were found, although they were tackled through the provision of documentation by the research institute ISRA-CRODT, which allowed for the analysis to move forward. Some actions are still pending to achieve the OT. Finally, work towards achieving the OT4.4. on trade flow data is well advanced and the final report is expected within the lifetime of the FarFish project. 40 FARFISH OUTCOMES FarFish legacy booklet FARFISH MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS CASE STUDY 5 Mixed fisheries through SFPA in Mauritania – Issues with balance of power and participation The SFPA between the EU and Mauritanian handles mixed fisheries including shrimp, demersal fish, tuna, and small pelagic fish up to 287.050 tonnes per year. Octopus is exclusively reserved for national artisanal fishers. The SFPA with Mauritania is the most expensive agreement the EU has with a coastal state. Europeans pay Mauritania a financial contribution of EUR 61,625,000 per year in the form of royalties. EUR 4,125,000 is earmarked to support local fishing communities in Mauritania and improve fisheries governance. Within the RB process, the developed MR aims to improve the quality of the current stock assessment for the species included in the SFPA and strive to provide information on the proportion of the two species of black hake in catches and bycatch. The aims for the different species are: • Black hake: Improved discrimination between the two hake species and value chain analysis to explore alternatives for increasing the importance of the black hake for national economy and employment. • Small pelagic: The small pelagic within the Mauritanian EEZ are vulnerable to environmental forces, which need to be further studied. There are also uncertainties around stock assessment and catch reporting/estimates that make this fishery highly relevant for FarFish. In addition, there have been recent significant changes in the value chain of small pelagics caught in Mauritanian waters that need to be studied, as, e.g., fishmeal plants have been established in considerable numbers. Results of the MR process Key challenges 1. 2. 3. Lack of a level playing field where all operators oblige Management objectives Outcome Target to the same rules Improve the quality of the OT 5.1: Information on the Divergent conversion factors used in logbooks to current stock assessment for proportion of the two spe- obtain live weight the species included in the cies of black hake in catches Data limitation for sustainable conservation and agreement provided Improve the quality of the OT 5.2: Information on black current stock assessment for hake caught as bycatch the species included in the provided separate stock assessment of black hake 4. High bycatch of black hake in non-hake fisheries 5. Bycatch in black hake fisheries 6. Insufficient monitoring of catch in relation to the TAC agreement Increase and improve the OT 5.3: Increased onboard Objectives data collection on bycatch observer coverage on all 1. Improve the quality of the stock assessment for the and discard from high- high-capacity pelagic vessels species included in the SFPA capacity pelagic vessels in place Gathering available fisheries OT 5.4: Data on all catch- data for catches, discards, es, discards and bycatches and bycatches provided Improve knowledge in the OT 5.5: Trade flow data value chain, processing, and on small pelagic species market conditions provided 2. Provide information on the proportion of the two species of black hake in catches and bycatch Outcomes The developments from MR1 to MR2 reflect the interests of the involved operators. Some limitations were found in terms of participation, which hindered better implementation of some of the actions. The OT 5.1 about information on the proportion of the two species of black hake in catches has great potential for the implementation of a more regional approach in the management of the black hake stocks. Although the action is well advanced, the good performance in the Senegalese CS could be replicated in the Mauritanian CS, where broader participation could render important advancements. The OT 5.2 is also dependent on participation. Most of the resources to conduct the action have been developed in FarFish could be implemented, yet the non-EU fleet is outside of the scope of the project. For the OT 5.3, important advancements have been reported. However, lack of data is a critical challenge, and additional efforts to collaborate with the local authorities are needed to attain this goal. The OT 5.4 rendered important advancements in terms of data collection and evidenced the importance of collaborating at regional level, considering the data was analysed in Morocco. Challenges towards obtaining by-catch data remain. Additional efforts are needed towards increasing monitoring and data collection, which relates to OT 5.3. Finally, work towards achieving the OT 5.5 on trade flow data is well advanced and the final report is expected within the lifetime of the FarFish project. FARFISH OUTCOMES 41 FarFish legacy booklet FARFISH MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS CASE STUDY 6 Tuna fisheries through SFPA in Seychelles – Issues with participation With the development of industrial tuna fisheries in the Western Indian Ocean, Seychelles has progressed considerably over the last three decades. It is a regional hub and hosts the IOTC. Although industrial fisheries are a major pillar of the economy, artisanal fisheries remain of great importance for food security, employment, and cultural identity. Revenue and capacity building generated by the industrial fisheries sub-sector has supported significant national investment in developing and managing artisanal fisheries. The two sub-sectors have complemented each other well. Within the RBM the main goal was established to strengthen data collection to promote sustainable fisheries and reinforce monitoring, control, and surveillance (MCS). The subsequent OTs are related to support data standardisation of fisheries information systems, enhancing data collection on non-target species and, improving MCS tools to strengthen compliance. Results of the MR process Key challenges 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Marine protected area Management objectives Outcome Target Lack of data to undertake a stock assessment of Improving the scientific OT 6.1 Harmonised fisheries bycatch species knowledge base for the information system in place Status of MCS in the Seychelles EEZ fisheries management a. Vessel monitoring system (VMA) b. Automatic identification system (AIS) Improving the scientific OT 6.2 Catches of non- c. Observers knowledge base for the target species registered in d. Catch data reporting fisheries management e-logbooks Limited knowledge of ecological and economic Enhance a level playing field OT 6.3 MPAs and no-take effects of DFADs where all fleets comply by zones identified in the SMSP the commitment to honour are respected Lack of transparency Objectives Marine Protected Areas 1. (MPAs) Harmonising the fisheries information system by producing a report on all relevant data protocols 2. for the EU fleet fishing under the SFPA agreement Support the fight against OT 6.4 Updated observer and creating a standardised fisheries information IUU fishing by utilizing the program in place system. latest available satellite Developing a template for a catch reporting system and tools protocol for non-target species to be implemented 3. in e-logbooks. Improve knowledge in the OT 6.5 Trade flow data Contributing to better monitoring, control, and value chain, processing, and provided surveillance (MCS) in the area by supporting market conditions the enforcement by utilising the latest available satellite systems and tools. Support the fight against OT 6.6 VMS or AIS signals IUU fishing by utilizing the are transmitted latest satellite systems and tools Outcomes The outcome targets are not finalised, and some further action will take place within the lifetime of FarFish for some OTs and others must be brought further by relevant FarFish partners beyond the lifetime of the project. At a practical level the OTs and related indicators only reached low level of achievement. Part of the result was a result of the high ambition of the OTs and indicators, which could not be achieved by the FarFish partners. Some also should be ascribed the audit framework itself. All in all, a lot of good initiatives have been taken place and some might at a later stage be taken up by relevant actors at a national and potentially also, at the regional level. 42 FARFISH OUTCOMES FarFish legacy booklet FarFish’s European voluntary CEN standard One of many FarFish project outputs is the development of a European voluntary CEN standard that will be published as a CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) after the end of the project, after going through an open CEN process. The focus The CEN process for developing the CWA standard is a 1 of this standard is to provide guidelines for the development ½ year process. During this time, FarFish researchers have, of so-called Management Recommendations for the EU in cooperation with the stakeholders that are voluntarily fleet operating outside EU waters, which have been in participating in the process, developed a final version of the development in the FarFish project over the past four years. guidelines through numerous physical and online meetings. The standard contains good practice guidelines on how to Draft versions of the standard were made publicly available develop Management Recommendations (MRs) for EU fleets on two occasions during the process, calling for feedback operating outside European waters. This document is built on from stakeholders. the experience of developing MRs within the FarFish project and lessons learned. therefore, building on the development The first draft guidelines were made public in September 2020 and implementation of the MR framework in FarFish. and were then subjected to a public review and commenting phase that lasted for two months. The guidelines were Creating Management Recommendations means following then further developed, taking the received comments into a framework where the operators themselves are given new account. The second draft version was made available for management responsibilities. They become directly involved public review in August 2021, with a commenting phase in the management and decision-making process of the lasting for one month. After the final public commenting fishery in question, as they are given the responsibility to phase, feedback was used to create the third draft version, develop strategies to reach specific fisheries management which will be transferred into final CWA at a consensus objectives set by the relevant authorities. meeting that is planned in November 2021. FARFISH OUTCOMES 43 FarFish legacy booklet FarFish governance and value chain analysis FarFish analysed the governance structures in the case studies and provided recommendations for improvement. The project also delivered value chain analysis for each of the case studies, identified investment opportunities and published policy briefs on value chain improvements. Several of these results will be published as peer-reviewed journal papers. FarFish governance analysis Ingrid Kvalvik, Nofima FarFish has analysed the development of the monitoring, is control and surveillance (MCS) of the EU fisheries access implemented, it might not be first introduced until it is agreements, from the 1980´s until today. The EUs own implemented. Sometimes there is a evaluations show a need for improved monitoring and natural delay in implementation of control of its external fishing fleet. Still, since the adoption of new policies where the agreements the first bilateral access agreements, the provisions on MCS and protocols remain under the have been substantially strengthened. There are however framework of earlier CFPs until implementation challenges. they are re-negotiated. Other times there are other factors affecting The trend is that for each renegotiation of a fisheries access the level of implementation. There is a lack of resources in agreement, what is now SFPAs, new and improved MCS the partner countries in all the four SFPAs countries studied requirements are introduced. They generally follow the in FarFish, both with regards to manpower and technical development in the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the resources and infrastructure. The capacity with regards regulations on the external dimension of the EU fishing fleet. to technical resources are limited either by lack of proper In some cases, they even precede the EU regulations. A major equipment or lack of funding to maintain it properly, like change occurred with the introduction of FPAs (Fisheries limited capacity to operate and keep patrol vessels and Partnership Agreements) in the 2002 reform of the CFP. aircrafts in operational condition. Electronic monitoring and The agreements and protocols negotiated after this clearly reporting stand out as a particular challenging area. Both reflect new governing ideas and a commitment to better VMS and ERS are required in all the protocols but are not monitor this fleet. The EU is also becoming more and more easily implemented. Catch reporting to a high degree still engaged in the partner countries, illustrated by the increased relies on manual logbooks. For instance, the VMS of the EU importance of the Joint Committees, the introduction of the vessels is not always compatible with the technical solutions sectoral support and multiannual sectoral programs. in the coastal state. There is also a general lack of resources to analyse and verify catch data received from the EU fleet. Even though there is a positive development in the MSC It is difficult to assess whether the physical controls of the requirements in the agreements, the implementation of EU-vessels are adequate or not as it is difficult to collect new requirements is often slow and sometimes difficult to data on frequency of inspections and the control coverage. achieve. Requirements in line with modern MCS standards In general, the coastal state focus is centred around the are not always implemented. Even though it sometimes national fishing fleets. The coastal states control of EU takes several protocols from when a new MCS requirement catches is considerably better when the catches are landed or transhipped in a port of the said coastal state. When MCS requirements are not implemented they may end up as paper-regulations, which over time will undermine the credibility, and sustainability, of the access agreements. However, our study shows that gradual and slow implementation of the EU policy might be a viable approach and a way for the EU to implement its external fisheries policy, in particular when accompanied with capacity building initiatives and increased cooperation. 44 FARFISH OUTCOMES FarFish legacy booklet FarFish tuna value chain analysis Øystein Hermansen, Nofima and Gregoire Touron-Gardic, University of Portsmouth Favourable environmental conditions and large migrations of tropical tunas yield highly attractive fisheries within the coastal zones of several developing nations. Hence the EU negotiates SFPA agreements for its fleets and, together with vessel owners, pay compensation and contributes to fisheries management improvement projects. Such agreements are especially important in west-African countries and around the Indian Ocean. These agreements are important for EU vessels, as about 40% of the tuna caught in the central east Atlantic area stem from these payments from the EU to host nations do contribute to the fisheries, supporting primarily about 20 purse seiners and 10 national economy and initiates many development projects. pole-and-line vessels. Perhaps most importantly, the tuna processing industry has become a large employer in many countries, for instance the Some important agreements have been discontinued recently Frescomar cannery, which is the largest employer in Cabo and there have been changes in fish stocks, both of which have Verde. Women also constitute the majority of the workforce. EU had economic implications for the EU fleet. Catch composition vessels are usually obliged to hire local crew. The tuna fisheries has also changed, with less of the most valuable yellowfin also support a large processing industry with high levels of and decreased fish size, further reducing the value from these employment within the EU. fisheries. Shipowners are vulnerable to restrictions and policy changes, although they do generally believe that it also brings The FarFish studies have highlighted how the tuna SFPA stability, compared to the sometimes volatile regulatory regimes activities are part of a very large and integrated market for tuna, of the countries in which they fish. European pole-and-line spanning large parts of the globe. In such a mature industry, it vessels based in Dakar cannot fish their own live bait near Dakar is difficult to identify clear value adding opportunities. SFPAs any longer, and need to obtain this further away, which implies are important for the EU tuna fleets as they increase efficiency, additional time and costs. Several pole-and-line vessels have although some important factors have had negative impact on already left the area. profits. In some of the countries with SFPAs with the EU, the tuna activity contributes strongly to employment, although a The tuna fisheries are the first step in a complex and globe- large share of catches is transported from the area and processed spanning value chain. Tuna is generally landed close to the in the EU. This provides both employment and value adding for fishing area. Some is processed at nearby large canneries, the EU. but a large share is also traded and transported to processors elsewhere, using reefers and container ships. Processing plants 7,0 are placed in various countries, including SFPA partners such as 6,0 optimise economics, including saving on labour costs and taking 5,0 advantage of preferential tariff agreements. Some processing plants are also placed within the EU. The organisation of value chains is diverse. Some have a very high Price (EUR/kg) Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, and Cabo Verde, in an attempt to 4,0 3,0 2,0 degree of vertical integration – owning fishing vessels, through 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 products such as pre-cooked loins has developed. This saves on 0,0 2012 chain. To further rationalise economics, a trade in intermediary 2011 Others are independent operators at only one stage of the value 1,0 2010 logistics all the way to own brands distributed in supermarkets. labour intensive loining and transport costs. Shipjack, imports to EU, frozen The direct and indirect impact of the SFPAs is difficult to Ex-factory price prepared and preserved tuna, Prodcom assess, as the counterfactual is hard to establish. However, the FARFISH OUTCOMES 45 FarFish legacy booklet Small Pelagics in Mauritania, a quick look Gregoire Touron-Gardic, University of Portsmouth Small pelagics are the most imported fish by Gulf of Guinea (fishing areas located further countries. Some countries like Nigeria, Ghana and the Ivory from the coast), as well as Coast consume far more fish than their national production increasingly expensive licenses can support. As a result, imports into the ECOWAS region have discouraged some vessels. amount to two million tonnes annually. At the same time, Currently, around forty large the coastal waters of West Africa benefit from particularly trawlers (sometimes over 100 m productive conditions (more than 2 million exploitable long) are fishing in Mauritania, tonnes of small pelagics), owing to the great current of the including around ten vessels Canaries, with a dominance in Mauritania and Morocco. under European flags. The latter Historically, artisanal fleets captured only a small part of the belong to two large groups: the total catches, the remaining part being fished by Soviet and “PFA” association (or Pelagic Feezer-Trawler Association), then Dutch industrial fleets and subsidiaries (see next figure made up of several large Dutch companies (Cornelis Vrolijk, about catches in Mauritania). Parlevliet & Van der Plas, Van der Zwan & Zonen) and their subsidiaries (with German and Lithuanian flags), and the 1,400,000 “Baltreids” group, named after the Latvian company, 1,200,000 that supplies the Baltic and Russian markets. However, vessels under European flags are only a small part of these 1,000,000 companies’ fleets; they own other vessels with various nonEU flags. Catches (t) 800,000 600,000 The fishing restrictions were generated by Mauritanian 400,000 authorities because the government wanted the local sector 200,000 to develop. Consequently, many authorisations for setting up fishmeal plants were given. These factories prepare fishmeal 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 0 UE vessels Other industrial vessels Coastal vessels Artisanal vessels for Asian aquaculture consumption, and oil for cosmetic products (especially in Europe). These factories only do little to favour local sectors as they often rely on foreign investments, while the number of jobs generated is very low compared to processing sectors for human consumption. Above all, the rapid development of the fishmeal industry resulted in huge fishing pressure on small pelagic resources (600,000 tonnes caught in 2018 for the fishmeal plants). Small pelagics catches in Mauritania These fishes are therefore being removed from the previous While Soviet (then ex-Soviet) vessels primarily supplied supply for human consumption in Africa. Baltic countries and Russia, with Africa as a less important destination, Dutch ships quickly supplied African countries of As a result, Dutch and German “PFA” vessels now target the Gulf of Guinea. Small pelagics are processed and frozen sardines, which are situated more offshore, while their on board, then stored in 10 kg frozen blocks, with three Lithuanian subsidiaries target horse mackerel. While horse blocks per box. These boxes are then landed or transshipped mackerel continues to supply Gulf of Guinea countries, in the ports of the region (Nouadhibou mainly, as catches in sardines are sent to canneries in South Africa, Brazil or Mauritania are mandatorily landed in the country), before elsewhere. Baltreids’ vessels target mackerel and horse being distributed. In the countries of the Gulf of Guinea, mackerel, mainly bound for Russia and Baltic countries. wholesalers - including the famous “Big mammas” - buy These flows, relatively low in comparison with previous small numbers of boxes in the ports and sell them in the fishing agreements, no longer supply the Gulf of Guinea local markets. Some Dutch companies have infrastructures markets directly. (factory, cold stores) in some countries (Mauritania, Ghana, etc.), where they supply saleswomen more directly. The innovation brought by FarFish is to have comprehensively analysed the fishing industry by cross-checking various 46 The number of industrial vessels active in Mauritanian waters data sources (including exclusive institutional data) and by has decreased since the early 1990s. Access restrictions directly identifying and interviewing the operators involved. FARFISH OUTCOMES FarFish legacy booklet Results based management in practice: Lessons learnt and policy recommendations from the implementation of RBM principles Juliana Arias Hansen, Sjókovin The was goal setting and timing of the introduced in the reform to the Common Fisheries results-based management (RBM) concept actions, as well as managing Management (CFP) in 2009 in the so-called Green Paper. realistic expectations of the The RBM was envisioned to reduce complexities in fisheries goals set within the RBM. Data management and reverse the burden of proof, allowing availability and accountability the industry to demonstrate that it operates responsibly was also a major highlight, in return for access to fishing rights (Commission of the considering European Communities, 2009). The RBM was conceptualized were cooperation succeeded, as a contract situation between the authorities, the data was made available, and operators and a third, independent evaluator party (Nielsen knowledge therefore was expanded and enriched. that in cases et al., 2015, 2017). The RBM was then operationalized within six different case studies (CS) within the FarFish Following these results, a set of three policy recommend- project, involving two EU fisheries in the high seas in the ations areas were identified for the improvement of the Southwest and Southeast Atlantic respectively, and four fisheries management through the adoption of RBM for under Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPA) EU vessels fishing in international- and SFPA waters. in Cape Verde, Senegal, Mauritania, and Seychelles. Relevant First “Participation and stakeholder involvement are institutions and operators’ representatives were involved top priorities” within this section the identification of in the implementation of the RBM approach. This trial the right parts was described, followed by additional allowed to experience in a structured manner, what sharing recommendation on ensuring effective participation, as power and responsibility for managing the resource would well as manage participation within the RBM process and look like. Authorities’ and operators’ representatives were building trust and incentive to responsible fisheries through able to engage in a process where they were both engaged collaboration. The second area was identified as “Adequate into achieving targets that were perceived as common. scoping of legal framework and the role of the authorities” The process underwent a continuous evaluation process including the scoping of the legal framework, identification that allowed for responsiveness and adaptation of the of common goals through dialogue, management of management measures. This experience rendered important expectations, involvement of all relevant authorities and lessons that allowed for the drawing of a set of policy ensuring responsiveness and adaptation through multiple recommendations for improving fisheries management iterations. The third and final policy recommendation area through the implementation of the RBM approach. was categorized as “Give priority to transparency – A data management policy that enables data sharing for building As a pivotal factor for the success of the approach, knowledge”, which included reporting and data availability, participation was highlighted as the vertebral axis of the ensuring continuity through collaboration and broaden the process. Ensuring meaningful and effective participation scope to other actors in fisheries, such as the processing and enabled the RBM process to render most advancements commercialization sectors. towards improved fisheries management. Effective and meaningful engagement and collaboration were only possible when participation was managed as a top priority. Absence of relevant bodies, sectors and fleet segments proved detriment throughout all cases. Also, the structured dialogue process as well as planned evaluations and iterations of the RBM contract enabled responsiveness, adaptation, and continuous improvement of the management process. Additional lessons were drawn on the importance of scoping, FARFISH OUTCOMES 47 FarFish legacy booklet Communicating Globally: FarFish conferences and workshops Communication, outreach and dissemination was a key focus throughout the project. FarFish set out to ensure a high level of stakeholder interactions throughout the project’s lifetime and, where needed, to connect key players and initiate dialogues where needed, to pave the way for improved fisheries management in international waters and other non-EU waters targeted by the EU long distance fleet. While putting emphasis on stakeholder interactions through various platforms, and project dissemination through social media, the FarFish website and regular newsletters, FarFish also hosted various exciting events, conferences and workshops. Let’s have a closer look at some of the highlights. 48 COMMUNICATING GLOBALLY FarFish legacy booklet Sustainable Fisheries in SW Atlantic: A scientific approach Alexandre Rodríguez, LDAC The SW Atlantic (FAO41) is one of the six case studies examined in the FarFish project. An international conference on sustainable fisheries in the Southwest Atlantic took place online on 4 March 2021 hosted by CETMAR and the LDAC within the auspices of FarFish project. This initiative was the outcome of a workshop organised in 2019 titled ‘Bringing fisheries sustainability into the High Seas: the case of the Southwest Atlantic (FAO41)’. This event was attended by near 150 key stakeholders from 25 countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Falkland Islands, Spain and Portugal. Its aim was to bring together fisheries In terms of next steps, this event worked as a stakeholders’ scientists, policymakers including national administrations hub to set the basis for the creation of an international and international organisations (including FAO, EFCA, DG forum that facilitates technical, institutional, and scientific MARE), fleet operators, and other stakeholders interested to cooperation amongst key stakeholders on a periodic basis. In present and discuss scientific knowledge of key commercial particular, there was a strong emphasis in moving towards stocks and to highlight the status and management a regional approach to underpin sustainable fisheries challenges in these waters. management in the area. The conference was organised in three thematic sessions Building upon the recommendations and outcomes, FarFish on science, management and control. It was discussed continued working in 2021 on developing three areas of work: how recent scientific initiatives, findings, and international 1. Exploring and improving scientific collaboration between collaborations help to enhance our understanding of the countries and institutions; 2. Promoting use of big-data biological and environmental status of these waters. It also systems and low range satellite systems as a support tool for provided examples of governmental, industry and NGO monitoring, control and surveillance; 3. Carrying out a value initiatives on how to promote compliance of conservation chain analysis for the EU fleets fisheries to get an overview of and management practices through data reporting and the main socio-economic challenges within the region. electronic monitoring. A record of the videos with the presentations from invited speakers as well as a summary report and action plan with key priorities and needs for the region can be downloaded here: https://www.farfish.eu/ international-conference/ This forum was particularly useful to gain a better understanding of the evolution of the activities of the longdistance fleets operating in the area (in terms of nationality, gear, target species, capacity and fishing effort) and identify key challenges, knowledge gaps, and needs within SW Atlantic fisheries management. It also reported on progress and methodology for the identification of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) by FAO and the EU in line with implementation of UN 61/105. A presentation was given on the pioneering work carried out by Spain-IEO on seabed mapping through the ATLANTIS projects. COMMUNICATING GLOBALLY 49 FarFish legacy booklet The External Dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy: present challenges and future opportunities Alexandre Rodríguez, LDAC and Duarte F. Vidal CETMAR The EU has an enhanced responsibility to promote sustainable and responsible fisheries management in international waters, in its double role as a major player in the fishing value chain (catching, processing and trading) and as the largest single market for imported fisheries products in the world. The EU distant water fleet (representing near 15% of the Day 1 – Perspectives of External Dimension and EU landings of the EU in volume and value) operates within the participation in RFMOs legal framework of the External Dimension of the CFP, which • Discuss the achievements and shortcomings of each of includes conservation, management and control provisions the constituent elements of the external dimension of the on Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs), CFP. Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and • Propose measures for enhancing Europe’s role in the management of the high seas. The international or “external” International Ocean and Fisheries Governance (in line with dimension of the CFP also has close links with the fight the EU Communication on IOG, Green Deal and UN Lisbon against IUU fishing and other EU sectoral policies other than Agenda for 2030). trade such as cooperation for development, labour, human rights and health. • Recommend ways to strengthen contributions and influence of the European Union in the preparatory work (i.e. technical, control and scientific committees) as well as In order to deepen the knowledge on the External Dimension of the CFP and analyse its present challenges and future opportunities”, an International Conference was organised of those RFMOs where the EU is a contracting party. • Reflect on mechanisms to achieve sustainable within the auspices of FarFish H2020 project. It was jointly management and conservation measures in international organised by the EU Long Distance Fleet Advisory Council waters without the existence of RFMOs. This can only be (LDAC) and CETMAR and took place on June 1st 2021. The achieved through effective adoption and implementation aim of this event was twofold: (a) analyse the implementation of international legal instruments related to maritime of the External Dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy safety at sea to ensure level playing field among EU in force (CFP); and (b) explore how the external dimension and non-EU operators; and carry out comprehensive can be a driver for positive change in the field of sustainable environmental assessments covering cumulative impacts fisheries and governance in international waters for the next from all human induced economic activities and pressures CFP. in areas beyond national jurisdiction. During the two days, this online event gathered a number Day 2 – The value of SFPAs as an instrument for cooperation of high-level experts and key stakeholders from the fishing, with third countries industry and NGO sectors, together with policy makers, • Promote the level playing field and the principle of non- scientists and academics. The mix of panel discussions, visual presentations and interactive plenary sessions helped to reflect on the role of the EU in the fields of international fisheries management and ocean governance. 50 plenary annual meetings of the Commission and Council discrimination • Explore the adoption of a regional approach to strengthen collaboration • Improve data collection, particularly on assessing impacts A number of specific objectives and recommendations were of fishing activity on marine ecosystems, fisheries and agreed for each day of the meeting, namely: coastal communities COMMUNICATING GLOBALLY FarFish legacy booklet • Encourage stakeholder • The promotion of initiatives for partnership between participation, including civil society, in all discussions and an increased relevant science and fishing industry are essential to generate implementation processes entrust, bringing science to fishers • Improve alignment of SFPAs with the coastal State’s • Encourage networking between EU programmes and national strategies within a global and international partnerships from the fisheries sector, also reinforcing framework to fit with the Sustainable Development cooperation with other DGs to ensure coherence and Goals (SDGs) and European environmental requirements, consistency complying with the Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) The main outcome of the conference was the formulation • Strengthen the SFPAs evaluation processes incorporating the experience-based knowledge (EBK) and of a series of recommendations which served as basis for local a policy briefing on this subject. This document (FarFish institutions as the best approach to identify new indicators deliverable 1.4) was issued in July 2021 in the form of a to efficiently address local challenges written contribution from FarFish to the EU consultations on • Improve EU policy coherence through the promotion of the CFP evaluation report which is expected to be launched in capacity building through the identification of training early 2022. It is a critical overview of the historical evolution needs by coastal States and reinforcement into the SFPAs of the CFP ED and an analysis of its building blocks (SFPAs, agreements and protocols RFMOs and fight against IUU fishing) and how they can • SFPA sectoral support is key to institutional capacity contribute to improve international fisheries governance. building if it is able to connect to real needs and interest In order to disseminate these recommendations, a Policy from the partner coastal States Briefing digital booklet was developed and published on • Rethinking the financial structure at sectoral support FarFish website, summarizing the content of D1.4. The execution, avoiding rigidity through the inclusion of booklet is expected to reach a wider audience than the flexibility mechanisms original document (D1.4), therefore improving its impact. COMMUNICATING GLOBALLY 51 FarFish legacy booklet Small Pelagics Workshop Goal: To advance the knowledge on what impact is climate Acknowledging the number of research needs, the proposed change having on small pelagic in the CECAF Area research agenda emphasized the most urgent and feasible actions to improve and intensify fishery, ecological, Output: A Research Agenda with concrete actions biological and environmental data collection. If successfully implemented, the suggested actions will improve specific On June 29th 2021 experts from 13 organizations participated biological and wider ecological knowledge to better in FarFish’s Workshop on Small pelagics and climate change understand the behaviour, distribution and dynamics of in the CECAF area. Improving knowledge of the impacts that small pelagic fish species and their availability to the fishing environmental factors have on key commercially important industry. stocks in the region has become crucial. Researchers, managing authorities and the Joint Scientific Committees This action calls for enhanced regional cooperation on: (JSCs) of the European Union’s Sustainable Fisheries 1. In-situ observations of trophic relationships (e.g. stomach Partnerships Agreements (SPFAs), agree on the need to advance the current state of the art. sampling), habitat and other environmental monitoring, 2. Data exchange and sharing between the relevant scientific research institutes and bodies (including e.g. CECAF At the workshop, experts presented scientific knowledge 3. Participatory approaches for interdisciplinary scientific approaches in the CECAF area, recent results of regional observations and data exchange and sharing. Significant climate change and ecosystem studies, as well as first advances can be obtained through increased cooperation conclusions from regional case studies that applied fisheries, across stakeholders and their engagement in research climate and/or ecosystem models. Building on these findings activities (including citizen science and community-driven and workshop discussions, workshop participants suggested research). key research priorities, formulated into a research agenda. 52 working groups, the EU SFPA’s JSCs, Rafismer, etc.). concerning the need for ecosystem based management COMMUNICATING GLOBALLY FarFish legacy booklet While existing data in the area is limited, science could the parties involved at the management level, the diverging already progress significantly if the existing data would be views for how the data should be used, the reluctance to shared. An initial step could therefore be to initiate a platform transparently share data, the regional disparities in terms of or make use of an existing one where data can be shared. capacity, expertise and knowledge, the translation of science The hosting by a regional organization, geographically into policy advice to support decision making (institutional situated in a CECAF coastal state and the involvement of and human resources), etc. The solutions suggested are to all partnering countries with the same and direct access are enhanced regional cooperation, investing in strengthening critical to ensure that the platform is accepted and used with existing mechanisms and building additional capacities a feeling of legitimacy and ownership, operational, and thus where needed: sharing infrastructure (e.g. research vessels, sustainable in the long term. computing facilities, etc.) and increasing trust and reliability (training personnel and providing means of employment This first step needs to be complemented by the following: in national and regional institutes). Regional ownership is • Jointly crucial. designing data-collection programs where data gaps exist (fishery, ecological, biological and environmental information) and participatory approaches From a pragmatic approach, setting a solid baseline entails (scientist and end-users, etc.). mapping the actors involved and design protocols for data • Designing a data-base framework to store the data collection, harmonization across data sets, how data flows collected in a standardized and transparent way, agreeing to the system, how to access the data and who are the end- on mechanisms on how to exploit them for the benefit of users of these data. Some initiatives such as Visualizing data science and to support fisheries management. flows and survey protocols (ICES) could be inspirational to • Ensuring sustained communication between parties, promoting networking and scientific cooperation address those questions, advancing towards a systematic approach suitable for the CECAF area. • Investing in long-term interactions to build trust and commitment and to formalize the processes. The Workshop participants are committed to contribute to the implementation of these actions in their respective The challenges associated with these actions are positions, facilitating cooperation and networking. considerable: the lack of resources and infrastructure, the Formalized and well-defined cooperation frameworks are size of the area to cover, the lack of communication between essential to achieve this objective. COMMUNICATING GLOBALLY 53 FarFish legacy booklet Conference on strenghtening fisheries sustainability outside the EU The FarFish project hosted a conference titled “Strengthening fisheries sustainability outside EU” in Vigo, 26th-27th of June 2018. The conference marked the official kick-off of the FarFish case studies, as scientists, authority representatives, fisheries operators and other stakeholders presented and discussed challenges related to the six FarFish case studies. The conference was well attended and provided excellent input to upcoming work in the FarFish project. Representatives from each of the FarFish case studies participated in the conference, and there was an important input from authorities, operators and other stakeholders such as from DG MARE, EFCA, LDAC, the Chinese longdistance fleet, FAO, ARVI, ANFACO, ORPAGU, OPROMAR, DARE, DPSP and more. The discussions initiated at the conference proved extremely important for the progress of Jilong Li, representing the Chinese distant water fishing fleet, and the project onward. Alexandre Rodriguez from the EU Long-distance advisory council (LDAC) provided important input to the discussions at the conference. Jilong Li, representing the Chinese distant water fishing fleet, and Alexandre Rodriguez from the EU Long-distance advisory council (LDAC) provided important input to the discussions at the conference Emmanuel Berck, deputy head of the DG MARE unit responsible for the Sustainable Partnership Agreements (SFPAs), gave an overview of the EU perspectives on SFPAs and high Seas fisheries, and provided important input to the conference. Emmanuel Berck, deputy head of the DG MARE unit responsible for the Sustainable Partnership Agreements (SFPAs), gave an overview of the EU perspectives on SFPAs and high Seas fisheries, and provided important input to the conference. 54 COMMUNICATING GLOBALLY FarFish legacy booklet FarFish legacy and challenges ahead The FarFish project has been an interesting and rewarding these results and to continue with the work that FarFish has journey, with many challenges, successes and failures. started. This requires a common effort from all stakeholders FarFish is unique in comparison with most European research within high-seas and SFPA fisheries across the world. and innovation projects with respect to geographical coverage, multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural, multi-lingual, Beyond the FarFish project, the governance and management multi-time zone, multi-fleet, multi-stakeholder and multi- of high-seas fisheries and SFPA fisheries is still faced with prioritisation considerations. Despite a global pandemic many challenges, as the need for improved cooperation, data breaking out halfway through the project, FarFish has collection and data access, transparency, monitoring, control succeeded in bringing together researchers, policymakers, and surveillance, governance and value chain improvements government representatives, fishing fleet representatives continue. The responsibility of the EU fleet to contribute to and other stakeholders to collaborate towards the common solving these challenges is significant, but to facilitate any goal of improving sustainability and profitability within the tangible improvements, cooperation among all fleets and FarFish case studies. stakeholders is needed. FarFish has provided new knowledge and networks, We believe that the legacy of FarFish will continue to have an developed tools, approaches and methodologies, built impact for years to come and hope it will set an example for professional competences and offered education, as well as other long-distance fleets to follow, thereby contributing to policy and management recommendations. The challenge sustainable fishing practices all over the world. ahead is to facilitate the uptake and implementation of COMMUNICATING GLOBALLY 55 FarFish legacy booklet This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 727891 56 COMMUNICATING GLOBALLY