One of the innovative features of this Concerted Action is the establishment of an interface between the existing biological and economic methodologies. At this moment, there are considerable differences in approach between biologists and economists when dealing with bio-economics.
Three main activities are forseen within this Concerted Action:
- The first activity will be to make an inventory of existing bio-economic models, identify problem areas and suggest directions in which solutions might be found.
- The second activity will be the definition of desired capabilities of a bio- economic model for North Sea pelagic fisheries. The model should be able to test the sensitivity of predicted effects on external factors that can not be controlled by fisheries managers. Examples are natural trends in recruitment and distribution of the fish, trends in imports and exports of fish, trends in tecnnological improvements of fishing methods, and trends in labour costs.
- The third activity in the Concerted Action is the formulation of a research proposal for the construction of a bio-economic model for North Sea pelagic fisheries. The formulation of this proposal requires decisions on:
- definition of fleets and fishing areas ,fish stocks and processing industries
- selection of time and area disaggregation ,biological interactions and external effects