Posts

Ambassador of Mauritania with UNU-FTP staff

FarFish partner meets with the Mauritanian Ambassador

/in /by

On August 29, 2018, UNU-FTP recieved a visit from the Mauritanian Ambassador, the honourable Abdallahi Bah Nagi Kebd. During the meeting, we discussed our ongoing work in Mauritania in connection with the FarFish project, funded through the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, as well as future potential for collaboration on issues related to capacity building for fisheries management and development in Mauritania, as can be read from the UNU-FTP’s web site.

China EU flags

EU and China sign landmark partnership on oceans

/in /by

Last month, the EU announced the signing of a landmark partnership with China. “Two of the world’s largest ocean economies will work together to improve the international governance of the oceans in all its aspects, including by combating illegal fishing and promoting a sustainable blue economy”, says in an announcement on the EU Commission’s web site.

This is directly related to the FarFish project as main topics of the projects relate to sustainable utilization of the blue bioeconomy in the South-Atlantic ocean and in international waters.

For additional information, please see the EU announcement.

“Status of the Stocks Tool” introduced by The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF)

/in /by

ISSF has developed a new data-visualization tool based on its long-running and widely followed Status of the Stocks report. The “Status of the Stocks Tool” is located on the ISSF website and accessible through the Status of the Stocks overview page; users can easily toggle through tuna stock health indicators and filter by location, species and other key stock health and catch factors. Tuna is the specie in three of the case studies in the FarFish project and, thus, the information provided the ISSF’s tool provides valuable information.

Researcher position vacant in fisheries management – FarFish partner

/in /by

The Norwegian College of Fishery Science (NCFS), UiT the Arctic University of Norway, has a Researcher position vacant in fisheries management. The position is attached to the research group BRIDGE.

The Norwegian College of Fishery Science (NCFS) undertakes research and research-based teaching of high national and international quality in an interdisciplinary environment. Research activity is provisionally organized into the groups of: Living Marine Resources, Sea Food Science, Fish Health, Marine Drug Discovery, Resource Management, Marine Management and Resource Economics.

BRIDGE (Research group of fisheries management, harvest technology and biology) carries out research within the following main areas: fisheries management, fisheries biology, marine ecology and harvest technology. The goal of BRIDGE is to provide education and research of high quality in order to advance the level of knowledge in areas that are important for fisheries management. BRIDGE comprises long experience with carrying out research and education tasks in a highly interdisciplinary field. The research group engages in extensive internal cooperation with other research groups at the faculty and at the UiT as well as in international cooperation (notably through participation in several EU research projects).

More information

Improving knowledge and management of EU fisheries outside Europe, while contributing to sustainability and long-term profitability

/in /by

This June marks the beginning of FarFish, a new EU Horizon 2020 project aiming to improve sustainability and profitability of the European fishing fleet operating outside European waters. FarFish brings together 21 organisations and agencies across Europe, Africa and South America in addition to a number of international organizations.

“About 20% of the catch of the European fishing fleet is obtained from non-European sea areas. This access is granted in international marine areas and within the jurisdiction of coastal states where agreements have been made on access of the fleet. These EU “Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements” grant European operators access to fisheries and include financing for infrastructure development in the fisheries sector. These agreements have been controversial, especially on the west coast of Africa. In response to this criticism, the Horizon 2020 research program has decided to support research and development efforts to promote improvements in this area; that is the story of FarFish’s mission,” says FarFish Project Coordinator Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson of Matís.

The FarFish project is designed around six case study areas in which the European operators are actively engaged in fishing activities, including Cape Verde, Mauritania, Senegal and Seychelles, as well as the international seas in the southeast and southwest Atlantic. In this context of geographic, economic and cultural diversity, the project will gain insights into the sustainability commercially important species such as tuna, hake, mackerel, sardines, octopus, shrimp, and other relevant fisheries. The project will contribute to the exploitation at or below corresponding Maximum Sustainable Yields (MSY) for these fisheries. The research will advance biological knowledge through collection of data on ecological, economic and socially important aspects of these fisheries. The project will work with stakeholders to create accessible and adaptable fisheries management tools within the case study areas. Additionally, efforts will be made to increase the responsibility of the European fleet for area use and disclosure of information. Overlaying the collection of important data and the development of improved management tools, the FarFish project has a strong focus on fisheries management knowledge creation and capacity building among stakeholders in the coastal states and the European fishing fleet.

FarFish coordinator Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson is enthusiastic as the project partners meet for the first time. “It is clear that this is an extremely important issue; that fisheries are managed in a sustainable way no matter where the fish are harvested. It is important to keep in mind that this project is addressing issues within a complex system.  Many of these fisheries have been plagued by unregulated fishing, which can have a detrimental effect on the status of important stocks and livelihoods of people in coastal countries both outside and within Europe.”

FarFish receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 727891.

For more information please contact us.