The Myfish Project: first year results and future plans
One year on since it kicked off in Vigo in Spain, the partners in the Myfish consortium gathered in Charlottenlund, Copenhagen on 5 to 8 March 2013 to review achievements so far and define the objectives for the coming year. Myfish involves 31 partners from 12 countries who are defining how the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) concept can be implemented in EU waters. Broadly, the MSY concept involves maintaining the fish population size at the point of maximum growth rate. However, the real-life situation is more complicated as different fish stocks can interact with one another and the broader ecosystem, as well as the associated economic and social systems that depend on fishing. The Myfish partners are developing indicators for MSY that will ensure high yields while respecting all these related factors. The Charlottenlund meeting outlined the potential form and content of the Decision Support Tables, which will become important tools for stakeholders and fishery managers in making the trade-off between different objectives. This work highlights the crucial role of stakeholders in defining fisheries management plans and forms the first step by the project towards an effective stakeholder engagement strategy. According to Dr Cathy Dichmont from Australia's CSIRO and a member of the Myfish Scientific Advisory Board: 'The Myfish project is developing ground-breaking tools using several case studies to bring ecosystem concepts into mainstream fisheries management.' As well as investigating case studies in five EU regions (Baltic Sea, North Sea, Western Waters, Widely Ranging Stock and Mediterranean Sea), the consortium is now looking at fishery management in non-EU marine areas, such as Australia, Alaska and the Faroe Islands.For more information, please visit: http://www.myfishproject.eu(opens in new window)
Countries
Germany