MEFEPO

Making the European Fisheries Ecosystem Operational

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Since the reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy in 2002, effort has been devoted to addressing the governance, scientific, social and economic issues required to introduce an ecosystem approach to European marine fisheries. Fisheries management needs to support the ‘three pillars of sustainability’ (ecological, social and economic. Fisheries Ecosystem Plans (FEPs) were developed to further the ecosystem approach in fisheries management and as a tool to assist managers consider the ecological, social and economic implications of their decisions. The FP5-funded European Fisheries Ecosystem Plan (EFEP) project developed a FEP for European waters, using the North Sea as a case study. The core concept of the Making the European Fisheries Ecosystem Plan Operational (MEFEPO) project is the delivery of an operational framework for three regional seas. This is the necessary next step in the process. Furthermore, MEFEPO will, based on the lessons learned consider how FEPs can be made operational and developed for other regional areas. MEFEPO will focus on how best to make current institutional frameworks responsive to an ecosystem approach to fisheries management at regional and pan-European levels in accordance with the principles of good governance. This will involve developing new linkages and means of allowing dialogue between the disparate groups of stakeholders, the integration of the considerable body of ecological, fisheries, social and economic research which has been developed in recent years and investigate how existing institutional frameworks need to evolve to incorporate this information and develop both dialogue between the disparate groups of marine stakeholders and develop a decision-making process which integrates a wide breadth of interests. The three areas used by MEFEPO will be the North Sea RAC, North-western Waters RAC and South-western Waters RAC areas.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An EU research project worked to develop the evidence base and operational framework needed to make Europe's new ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management work.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Reform of the European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in 2002 highlighted the need to move towards ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) for sustainability. To achieve this, Fisheries Ecosystem Plans (FEPs) were developed, but they need more work before they can be implemented.

Building on earlier initiatives, the EU-funded 'Making the European fisheries ecosystem operational' (http://www.liv.ac.uk/mefepo (MEFEPO)) project developed an operational framework for EBFM. Specifically, the consortium integrated Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) objectives within the reformed CFP in three regional bodies of water.

MEFEPO sought to demonstrate how EBFM can be made operational in practice by developing a framework with two aspects. The first was an institutional structure that best suits this new style of management, and the second was a decision-support tool for EBFM.

The institutional structure supports greater stakeholder involvement in fisheries management, while decentralised management promotes collaboration among Member States, Regional Advisory Councils and scientists. The decision support management tool simultaneously takes into account the three pillars of sustainability: the ecological, social and economic implications of management options.

The tool was used in selected fisheries in each region to evaluate the performance of different management strategies and the trade-off associated with each strategy.

Finally, MEFEPO produced regional atlases that incorporate ecological and socioeconomic data from several technical reports. These will help by providing definitive and accessible information on the state of the marine environment and the fisheries in question.

MEFEPO has furthered the transition to EBFM in Europe and enhanced collaboration among researchers, managers and policymakers. FEPs developed for the three regions should continue to provide important feedback on successes and challenges in the quest for sustainable fisheries management.