Management tools and infrastructure

Management Policies

Cefas scientists are lead players in many fisheries management developments, with outstanding practical experience of the sustainable management of fisheries.

We advise on the best approaches to fisheries management, tailored to the specific political, economic, or social requirements of our customers. Our expertise covers all measures aimed at maintaining, increasing or recovering stocks for long-term viable fisheries, as well as exploiting under fished or previously unfished resources.

Our experience includes:

• Setting quotas, quota management and sharing
• Conservation initiatives such as Marine Protected Areas (MPA’s)
• No-take zones
• Approaches to ecosystem based management
• The Precautionary Approach to fisheries management
• Stock management and recovery plans
• Effort-based management

Integrated Information Systems

We advise on setting up integrated fisheries management information systems for customers. We also re-engineer systems to improve access to information, to reduce running costs and to improve long-term maintainability by applying the most appropriate software.

We develop and manage the UK Government’s fisheries management information system. Vessel registration, vessel licensing, commercial catch landings, quota management, surveillance, VMS and biological sampling data are combined in a state of the art, modular system. This system is in daily use by more than 150 staff at a large number of ports and offices around the UK. The system is interfaced to the systems of other governments and to the regional databases operated by the European Commission.

Population and Systems Modelling

We provide assessments of single and multispecies dynamics through the use of powerful, state of the art computer-modelling techniques.  Results are used to predict the effect of biological processes on fisheries management strategies, and to evaluate the impacts of management options in different scenarios, over varying timescales. This enables management advice to be formulated to deal with a wide variety of conditions including high levels of uncertainty.