Projects | A study to identify, quantify and ameliorate the impacts of static gear lost at sea

A study to identify, quantify and ameliorate the impacts of static gear lost at sea - 1999-2002. FAIR-PL98-4338

Objectives

The high level objective of this proposal is:

To identify, quantify and ameliorate the impact of static gear lost at sea in European waters.

There are nine lower level objectives, which derive from that:

To investigate gear losses in representative static gear fisheries in all European waters including some Mediterranean and Norwegian métiers.
To establish the main causes of gear loss in fisheries not covered by the previous study.
To identify métier descriptors which can be used to indicate those métiers most likely to suffer significant gear loss.
To establish the extent of gear loss in representative métiers by a range of methods including terrestrial and marine surveys.
To determine the physical evolution of gears lost under a range of conditions.
To quantify as far as necessary the ecosystem impacts of lost gears particularly with respect to stocks of commercially important marine species.
To review a range of mitigating measures with potential to reduce the extent and/or impact of lost gears.
To transfer research methods between new research partners.
To maximise the involvement of national and sectoral industry groups in the programme and the transfer of information between all interested parties.

Methodology and Research tasks

The proposal deals predominantly with the gillnet sector (using that term in its generic sense to include gill, trammel and tangle nets) but it includes a limited amount of work on fish and shellfish traps. These are included because fish trapping is gaining in popularity in northern waters and because a previous study of shellfish traps covered only the waters around the British Isles.

This research will extend the work undertaken during contract no. 94/095, which covered methodology and shallow water areas only. This new study will extend the information on lost gears to a wider range of métiers prosecuted in European waters as well as including a comprehensive range of seabed and hydrographic conditions. The partnership and the specific tasks allocated to each partner have been set up with these requirements as a priority. Previous work has shown the extent to which the evolution and impacts of lost gear are métier and site-specific. To have any credibility in the context of European fisheries management, this kind of research must be undertaken on commercially fished grounds. The integrity of the work will be further enhanced by the involvement of specially convened liaison groups comprising fishermen from each participating nation.