Better future for fisheries
Science has much to benefit from cooperative research between scientists and stakeholders such as consumers and producers. The EU-funded project 'Bridging the gap between science and stakeholders: phase I common ground' (GAP1) explored different avenues to better understand fisheries research and their management. While fisheries stakeholders would like to ensure the sector's sustainability, they are sometimes at odds with policymakers and scientists who are perceived as distant to realities on the ground. GAP1 has brought the stakeholders together with scientists to improve understanding and management of fisheries through unified, collaborative analysis. The drive saw 15 partnerships from 11 countries in Europe among parties where science exchange and stakeholder research led to joint research. GAP1 produced 12 case study research proposals to outline priorities. Themes discussed included ecology, marine spatial planning, discarding, management measures, sustainability and decision making, with a strong overall management component. GAP1 helped bring science and society closer in this respect. It enhanced public engagement in researchers, focusing on sustainable collaboration and dialogue among actors in the field of fisheries. It also outlined the challenges that hinder progress and exploit stakeholder engagement in a way that impacts European policies. The outcomes of this initiative have been used for creating a strategy for future research based on a participatory planning process for GAP2. The latter aims to integrate stakeholder and scientific knowledge in powerful ways that could positively influence policy. In the meantime, the outputs of GAP1 have been released on the project's website and are already cementing ties between science and industry. A much healthier fisheries sector is on the horizon.