Sea Fish Industry Authority

The objective of the proposed project is to develop a new mussel farming design to allow its emplacement offshore. Mussel farming has traditionally been limited to inshore waters. However, as a consequence of industrialisation and modernisation there has been a strong proliferation of mussel farms during last years and many of the best and most obvious inshore sites have been already filled, generating important issues, such as lack of space for new farms or extension of existing ones, important visual impact and water quality problems. Some development of this concept has been achieved by SUBSEA, but requires additional know how and support mainly in farm design, as well as manufacturing materials and processes. Description of the work It is intended to reach this objective by means of a new raft design: submersible, avoiding in this way the action of waves and wind, and modular, favouring in this way the land transport before its installation and the manipulation of the farm during refloating and shipping to harvest the mussels. Moreover, alternative manufacturing materials and processes to traditionally used (wooden rack floating on metallic buoys) will be evaluated: plastics and organic matrix composites, since those materials are lighter, marine environment-resistant and with high design versatility. The proposed project will proceed in 2 main phases, divided in 10 WP: PHASE 1. Scientific research and development. Initially it will be necessary to achieve an in-depth understanding regarding the working mechanism of proposed structure; it will be necessary to define in detail how the proposed farm system will run; stability in offshore conditions, submersion and depth control, anchoring, buoyancy, modularity system, shipment to harvest the mussel, maintenance operations, etc. Moreover, materials selection and manufacturing processes will be defined. WP1-4 PHASE 2. Manufacturing and evaluation. Firstly two modular raft prototype will be developed for installation in offshore site in order to validate the conceptual design and the mussel cultivation; secondly a small farm prototype, composed by several modular rafts (3 or 4, depending on the raft geometry), will be developed for installation in offshore site in order to validate its working. WP5-9 WP10 is related with the general management of the project, the exploitation of the results, the protection of the generated knowledge and the diffusion of the results through all involved partners. Milestones The result of this project is a new mussel farming system suitable for its emplacements offshore, based on an innovative submersible and modular design. The project is scheduled in four milestones: l)Evaluate if the preliminary conceptual design fulfil the specifications established; 2)Evaluate if detailed design and structural calculus fulfil the specifications established; 3)Evaluate the performance of the raft prototype; 4) Technical, economical and ecological validation of the new system.

This proposal addresses the current critical level of the cod stock in the North Sea and the Irish Sea in support of the EU Cod Recovery Plan. The objective is to develop novel species-selective gear prototypes for the three mixed-species demersal trawl in the North Sea and Irish Sea fisheries with the highest level of cod discard, e.g. otter trawling, beam trawling and Nephrops trawling.A total of seven institutes work together involving gear technology, fisheries biology and fish behaviour input. The project duration is 38 months. It consists of four work packages, organised in the Task Groups: Co-ordination, and Gear Development. Collaboration with the fishing industry (associations and netmakers) is foreseen.ObjectivesThe Cod stocks in some European waters are at critical survival levels. Consequently the European Commission has issued a emergency plan for North Sea cod in 2001 and has also developed a rebuilding plan for cod and hake (COM 2001 (326)).

General: to integrate and analyze the economic information available on European fisheries and to develop analytical tools in order to contribute to effective fisheries management. Specific: l. An Annual Economic Report (AER) on economic performance of selected fleet segments will be elaborated and submitted to STECF for review: 1.1 Continuation of existing format; 1.2 New fleet segments; 1.3 EU-wide fisheries; 1.4 Include Baltic area. 2. Annual Economic Interpretation of the ACFM Advice (EIAA) will be prepared and submitted to STECP for review: 2.1 Continue existing format; 2.2 New fleet segments; 2.3 Improve forecasting methods. 3. Establish a data base for the compiled data. 4. Develop analytical tools to exploit the data and allow improved estimations. The project PAIR CT97-3541 has established procedures for compilation of existing economic data regarding the performance of specific fishing fleets. The most recent report 1999 has been published by the EC in September 2000 (ISBN 92-828- 9600-5).

This proposal addresses the current critical level of the cod stock in the North Sea and the Irish Sea in support of the EU Cod Recovery Plan. The objective is to develop novel species-selective gear prototypes for the three mixed-species demersal trawl in the North Sea and Irish Sea fisheries with the highest level of cod discard, e.g. otter trawling, beam trawling and Nephrops trawling.A total of seven institutes work together involving gear technology, fisheries biology and fish behaviour input. The project duration is 38 months. It consists of four work packages, organised in the Task Groups: Co-ordination, and Gear Development. Collaboration with the fishing industry (associations and netmakers) is foreseen.ObjectivesThe Cod stocks in some European waters are at critical survival levels. Consequently the European Commission has issued a emergency plan for North Sea cod in 2001 and has also developed a rebuilding plan for cod and hake (COM 2001 (326)).

1. To organise and facilitate a workshop involving fishermen from six nations with an interest in gill netting.2. To draft a consensus code of good practice to minimize gear conflict and gear loss.3. To agree measures which should mitigate the impacts of lost gear on commercially important species.This proposal is for an add-on to an existing FAIR contract concerned with the impacts of lost nets on fish stocks. The FAIR contract "Fantared 2" aims to quantify the extent and impacts of lost gill nets and to investigate the cost-effectiveness of potential mitigating measures. It involves extensive sea trials to simulate net loss under a wide range of conditions and to monitor the various outcomes. The work plan required each of the six partner nations to convene a National Advisory Group (NAG) of fishermen and others. The main task of these groups was to help to ensure that the experimental conditions were commercially realistic and to help to interpret the results.