Evaluating management strategies for better fisheries
Increasing pressures on European fisheries coupled with more complex management and regulation demands call for the development of models and tools to facilitate decision-making for long-term benefit. The 'Operational evaluation tools for fisheries management options' (Efimas) project was established with just this set of challenges in mind. The EU-funded project thus worked to develop innovative tools for integration into a robust management strategy evaluation (MSE) framework. The project's stochastic models were developed to cover the full scope of the fisheries system and take into consideration fleet interactions, as well as emphasise different types of uncertainties. The latter include ambiguities in data collection, assessment and management, management decisions, and system response to proposed solutions. The models also perform reliable analyses of sensitivity and risk regarding the outcomes of different options. Efimas successfully applied the tools on typical European systems of varying economic, biological, technical and social characteristics regulated by different management schemes. Performance of the developed software, which was open source so as to enhance technology transfer among disciplines and researchers, was continually evaluated on the basis of case studies and feedback from end users, stakeholders and scientists. In addition to the modelling tools, other project successes included a book on management for fisheries, and a specific policy and project implementation plan providing detailed information to the European Commission. Knowledge obtained over the course of the project was disseminated through publications, conference participation, working groups and training activities, as well as regular communication between members of relevant research projects and the Efimas team.
