SCIENTISTS, fishermen and the government are meeting in the Isle of Man this week to set up a system to create dialogue over the future of the Manx scallop industry.
The Scallop Fisheries Science Workshop starts today in Port Erin and runs until Friday. There are eight fishing skippers from the Island and a similar number from the United Kingdom attending, in addition to other stakeholders.
The chief aim of the three-day workshop is to discuss ways in which the fishing industry can be involved in collaborative research projects and data collection with the overall intention of maintaining sustainable stocks for the future.
Fishermen and fisheries scientists plans to work much more closely with each other in future, as the requirement to manage fisheries more sustainably, and with better fishery species stock data.
A statement issued by DEFA prior to the start of the workshop said, “EU directives, requirements from fishery certification organisations (e.g. Marine Stewardship Council), and variable or failing stocks mean that we need better science to understand and manage fisheries stocks.
“This requires input from fishermen, both as a source of information, but also to assist with the data collection. The scientists also face a problem in collecting the data required to support recommendations, made harder as central Government funding decreases.
“One of the most obvious and efficient suggestions is to involve fishermen in collecting the data, but this requires better mutual understanding – one of the primary aims of this workshop.”
The informal event starts over lunch at the Cherry Orchard Hotel and is based on a successful programme developed in the USA. One of the American managers is on the Island to facilitate this first workshop and there will be lectures from well respected fisheries scientists and practical exercises.
The workshop is supported by the Isle of Man government, Seafish and the speakers institutions; Marine Scotland, Bangor University and the University of Liverpool.
If successful, it is hoped to run an additional follow-up workshop in May, followed by repeat events next year. This will give those skippers who have unfortunately missed out this time the opportunity to attend in future.
