The Scottish Government

CODE

PROGRAMME

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

MF01

Marine finfish post-recruitment population biology and assessment methodologies

· Study the population biology (including reproductive potential, growth, migration, and mortality) of commercial marine finfish stocks;

· Improve fishery independent stock assessment methodologies;

· Conduct market sampling at major fish markets and landing sites;

· Sample discards and monitor cetacean bycatch observations.

· Through a better understanding of the fish resources increase confidence in stock size estimates, improve TAC/quota decisions and provide support for the development of technical measures (such as closed areas).

MF02

Shellfish population biology and assessment methodology

· Study biological processes of shellfish populations (including growth, mortality, reproductions and dispersion as well as behaviours that influence catchability);

· Develop assessment methods.

· Enable present and future management measures for shellfish stocks to be set with a greater degree of confidence.

MF04

Pre-recruitment population processes of marine finfish

· Study and describe significant physical and biological factors which control the abundance of juvenile fish, and their recruitment into the commercial fishery.

· Permits long term forcasts of likely changes in commercial stock sizes through enhanced knowledge of the factors affecting resource status. This will reduce the risk of recruitment overfishing.

MF06

Fish capture

· To conduct investigations into fishing gear selectivity and, where appropriate, recommend practical design and construction features which lead to a reduction in discards;

· Assess the relationship between fishing and effort.

· To use technical regulations to aid fish stock conservation, and to ensure that gear regulations are based on sufficiently defensible measures, command the support of the catching industry, and are enforceable in practice.

MF07

Impact of fishing

· Assess the impact of fishing activities on the marine ecosystem including damage caused by trawl gear to the seabed and the by-catch of top predators in nets;

· Investigate methods of reducing impacts.

· Enable fisheries departments to respond to concerns over the impact of fishing on the marine ecosystem, and to develop appropriate fisheries management measures to protect the environment from excessive damage cause by the fishing industry.

CODE

MF0168

Closed Area Scenario Assessment (CASA)

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 07

Mar-09

Develop models that utilise spatially referenced data sets within a GIS framework to produce a GIS based tool with which to assess the ecological and economic costs and benefits associated with specific Marine Protected Areas (MPA) proposals. The components of the work will be data assimilation, GIS layer construction, development of GIS tool and actual assessments of a variety of MPA scenarios.

The Scottish Government requires access to assessment tools that can be used to assess the economic and ecological impacts of MPAs and in particular:

(i) the potentially conflicting objectives of individual MPAs of different scales; and

(ii) designing networks of MPAs to provide greatest benefits at minimal ecological and economic cost.

CODE

MF0169

Enhancing otolith research and quality assurance

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 07

Mar- 10

To improve biological knowledge of the population structure of cod, haddock and herring stocks fished in Scottish waters through the use of population markers and to enhance and monitor the quality of FRS' age-determination programme by:-

(i) Applying otolith research methods to improve knowledge of cod, haddock and herring population structure;

(ii) Establishing a quality assurance protocol for FRS' age-determination programme.

Fisheries managers need access to the best possible assessments of key stock levels and their age structures. This project will enhance the programme at FRS and ensure that the quality of the work meets international standards.

CODE

MF0170

Alternative Survey Index Estimation

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 07

Mar- 10

(i) Describe and produce computer programmes to replicate current index calculation procedures;

(ii) Investigate alternative methods of abundance index formation (combined age-length analysis, delta-transforms, GAM's and Geostatisitcs);

(iii) Examine the effect of alternative index series on assessment outcomes.

To increase the confidence of fisheries scientists and managers in analytical assessments of fish stocks of commercial importance to Scotland. The project will focus on improving the estimation of research vessel survey derived abundance indices on which assessments of these stocks are based.

CODE

MF0171

Improving fisheries market sampling scheme

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 07

Mar- 10

(i) Evaluate the current demersal, pelagic and shellfish market sampling schemes in terms of the precision of the estimates of total landed numbers-at-age by Scottish fleets for each species;

(ii) Identify areas where the sampling schemes could be improved;

(iii) Investigate the effect of variability in the landed numbers-at-age on the stock assessment for that species.

Fisheries managers need access to the best possible assessment of key stock levels and their age structures. This project will enhance FRS' current programme and ensure that its precision meets the requirements set by international standards.

CODE

MF0353

New developments in fishery independent methods

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 05

Jun- 08

(i) To develop protocols for the co-operation of fishing vessels and scientific research vessels in surveys of fish stocks;

(ii) To estimate the total abundance of anglerfish;

(iii) To investigate the feasibility of abundance estimates of anglerfish;

(iv) To determine migration patterns of anglerfish.

There is a need to reduce the uncertainties associated with stock abundance estimates of northern shelf anglerfish. The application of novel fisheries independent techniques coupled with greater collaboration between scientists and fishermen aims to improve the management of a stock important to the Scottish industries.

CODE

MF0355

Statistical analysis and modelling of effort from Vessel Monitoring System data and of catchability of angler fish in the dedicated collaborative angler surveys

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Aug-07

Jul- 10

(i) To model Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data in terms of activity e.g. steaming, scouting and fishing;

(ii) To partition catch and effort from log books, determine the location of fishing at the level of ICES rectangle, and map effort and catch distributions;

(iii) Develop a modelling approach to determine the swept area abundance of angler fish in the recently launched industry collaborative surveys.

Maps will allow the effectiveness of real time closures and other measures (e.g. MPAs) to be determined, and to understand where effort and catch are displaced to from such closed areas.

The modelling will provide an absolute estimate of angler fish numbers rather than a relative Catch per Unit Effort value.

CODE

MF0757

Developing benthic habitat mapping methodology (HABMAP)

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 05

Mar- 08

(i) Assess the different methods available to carry out seabed habitat mapping within Scottish waters;

(ii) Re-establish FRS' expertise in this field of activity;

(iii) Assess the role of habitat mapping in developing an ecosystem approach to management, including its relevance and value to groundfish survey design

An improved knowledge of the location, extent and distribution of key habitats will be essential for the development of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management

CODE

MF0758

Regime shifts in shelf sea ecosystems

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 06

Mar- 10

(i) To explain how regime shifts may be detected, and the consequences they have on the major fish stocks;

(ii) To advise on how reference points for major commercial species should be changed to reflect regime shifts in the food web caused by either climate or fishing.

(iii) Consider how management targets should change to move the ecosystem towards the target of "healthy, productive and biologically diverse seas".

Fisheries managers require new information if current management approaches are to move away from the annual cycle of single species assessments and take into account wider environmental variability and change.

CODE

MF0759

Quantification of the physical, environmental and ecological impact of towed demersal fishing gears

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 06

Mar- 10

(i) Quantify the ecological disturbance to benthic communities, and the dinoflagellate and nutrient re-suspension resulting from towing demersal fishing gear;

(ii) Estimate at a fishery level the ecological disturbance to benthic communities, and wider environmental impacts caused by fishing.

This project will produce a management tool to assess the ecological and environmental impact of towed gears on the major fishing ground around Scotland. The tool will be used to inform the decision making process with regard to directing fishing effort, the establishment of closed areas and the development of environmentally friendly fishing techniques.

CODE

MF0760

Management of spatially sub-structured cod stocks around the British Isles

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 06

Mar-11

(i) Improved understanding of population processes;

(ii) Development of population and management models.

This project will provide assessments of the spatial structure of cod around the UK, and the possible measures which might be implemented to conserve this structure and the stocks as a whole as part of recovery plans.

CODE

MF0761

Spatially explicit model for haddock populations in northern UK waters

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 06

Mar- 09

(i) To re-design a spatially resolved model of cod population dynamics produced to represent haddock in European waters.

(ii) Raising the quality of advice for a species of key importance to the Scottish fishing industry.

Fisheries managers require advice on the appropriate geographical scale for the management of haddock and how different fleet based management options affect the overall well being of the stocks.

CODE

MF0762

Size-structured partial ecosystem model for the assessment of cod recovery strategies

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 06

Mar- 09

(i) To develop, for cod, a spatially resolved simulation which represents the changes in the major resources, competitors and predators for the species in UK waters. This development will transform our ability to deliver advice

(ii) To understand the key biological processes and key predator-prey interactions that affects the abundance and distribution of cod in the North Sea and around the west of the UK.

Fisheries managers require advice on the prospects for cod recovery. More specifically advice is required on the variability in key factors (reproduction, recruitment and natural mortality) that affect predictive models of the state of stocks under different harvesting strategies and issues such as the likely consequences of increasing seal numbers for the prospects of cod abundance.

CODE

MF0763

Ecosystem approach to the conservation of Scottish Deepwater fish (EcosDEEP)

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 07

Mar- 10

(i) Report on the current deepwater fish diversity, abundance and distribution, and assess the extent to which seamounts and banks form centres of biodiversity and closed populations;

(ii) Address the extent to which deepwater fish species have been impacted by commercial fisheries, and consider the sustainability of the fishery, including the potential effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas;

(iii) Assess contaminant concentrations in the Scottish deepwater environment.

In order to move towards the Government's vision of achieving clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas, the state of different ecosystems within Scottish waters needs to be assessed through the development of ecosystem-specific indicators.

CODE

MF0764

Fisheries-induced evolution (FIE)

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 07

Mar- 10

(i) Evaluate whether fisheries-induced evolution (FIE) can account for the observed changes in life-history traits of demersal stocks exploited by Scottish fishermen;

(ii) Examine the potential for environmental mechanisms to explain the observed changes in life history traits;

(iii) Review the potential mitigation measures of FIE, and consider the consequences for Scottish fisheries.

Long term sustainability of stocks should not be undermined by uncertainty surrounding FIE. It is particularly important to assess whether there are alternative explanations for why there has been a decline in whitefish size at maturity, e.g. ocean climate.