Research and analysis

Evidence requirement R141 – Understanding the fisheries displacement resulting from fisheries management and other marine activities

Published 2 March 2020

1. Requirement overview

1.1 Requirement detail

To take into account the full effects of management decisions, the MMO is seeking to better understand how fishing activity is displaced by fisheries management decisions (for example spatial closures in UK waters) and by other marine activities (for example windfarm construction and operation, and aggregate extraction).

The MMO is responsible for a wide range of decisions in the marine environment, including implementing fisheries byelaws to protect MPAs and determining marine licences for most marine developments. These decisions often result in a change in fishing patterns, also referred to as displacement.

Fishing is a wide ranging and diverse marine activity and changes in fishing patterns can have significant environmental, social and economic impacts.

In order to better understand the full impacts of its and other regulators decisions, the MMO is seeking more evidence on how the displacement effects of its and others decisions could be predicted. While methodologies for predicting displacement are available, it is not clear what level of confidence can be assigned to these methodologies’ outputs.

One factor in particular of interest is the impact of closures from multiple MPAs in an area.

The MMO is therefore seeking case studies to assess the predictive power of available methodologies in order to understand how best to consider displacement in its decision making processes.

One such methodology was developed as part of a Natural England 2017 study - MMO1130 Displacement of fishing effort from Marine Protected Areas NECR24 This study developed a methodology for assessing displacement from MPAs and provided recommendations for monitoring and research to further our understanding of fisheries displacement and its potential management..

1.2 MMO use

Marine Conservation: This evidence may inform fisheries management measures for all UK waters including the network of English MPAs.

1.3 External interest

Natural England, JNCC, Cefas, Defra, IFCA

2. Aims and objectives

2.1 Aim

Provide empirical evidence of the predictive power of available displacement assessment methodologies. Provide analysis of which of the available displacement assessment methodologies are best suited to informing fisheries management decisions.

2.2 Objectives

The objectives of this requirement are to:

• Collate available methodologies for predicting displacement effects resulting from MMO & IFCA decisions

• Test the most promising methodologies against real examples to determine their predictive power

• Recommend which, if any, displacement assessment methodologies provide an effective and proportionate way of predicting displacement effects

• Identify constraints in better prediction of displacement effects

3. Existing evidence

3.1 MMO

MMO1012 This report provides an overview of available tools and methods that could be used to incorporate social and economic data into MMO decision making including through the use of impact assessments.

MMO1035 - This project presents a portion of the baseline social information on five marine policy statement sectors including MPAs to integrate knowledge of social impacts and value into marine planning and other MMO functions.

MMO1049 Primarily aimed at marine planning this report looked to minimise the displacement of activities through the creation of coexistence assessment tools.

MMO1055 - The aim of the project was to develop a consistent approach to the identification and consideration of cumulative effects that can be applied at the strategic level across all relevant Marine Management Organisation (MMO) functions. The approach is applicable across all marine plan areas and all relevant marine sectors.

MMO1086 - The aim of this project was to design a research programme that once complete would allow management decisions to be made on the physical impact of potting on designated features, conservation objectives to be met, and evidence gaps to be filled.

MMO1088 The aim of this work was to undertake an analysis of specific existing benthic survey data to establish if they can be reinterpreted to provide evidence to inform MPA management advice and decisions with consideration of natural variability.

MMO1108 - The aim of this project was to collaborate with several IFCAs and the MMO to collect initial data for the purpose of assessing the feasibility of applying a “footprint” approach to quantifying fishing pressure. The project produced an agreed set of principles and a method for evaluating the spatial footprint of fishing gears and subsequently applying this method to MPA fishery assessments.

3.2 Academic

Brown at al 2001 – Trade off analysis for managing competing uses within MPAs.

Badalamenti et al 2002 – Cultural and socio-economic impacts of Mediterranean MPAs

Not using socio-cultural impact information leads to poor consensus on management and difficulty with enforcement

3.3 Other

Natural variability in MPAs II

MF1225 Developing the evidence base to support fisheries and environmental management

Fisheries Bill 2017-19

4. Current activity

None

5. Further details

For more information or to add further research to the existing evidence list please email evidence@marinemanagement.org.uk