EFIMAS - Operational Evaluation Tools for Fisheries Management Options
Introduction
European fisheries are not doing well at the moment. Many important stocks have declined and so have the number of fishing boats and people employed within the fishing industry. At the same time, the management and regulation of European fisheries becomes more and more complicated every year.
In response to this situation, managers such as the European Commission and national authorities are hoping to develop alternative regimes that take a broader, more long-term perspective and consider not only the biological consequences of managing a fish stock but also the social and economic impacts, for instance on the fishing industry.
Why EFIMAS: Virtual fisheries management
To facilitate the development of better fisheries management regimes, the European Commission, in corporation with 30 national research institutes, launched "EFIMAS", a large research project to develop a set of new tools that can simulate and evaluate both the biological, social and economical consequences of a range of fishery management options and objectives.
In the same way that a pilot might fly in a simulator before flying for real, the EFIMAS project will develop software tools and simulation models that can predict and compare the outcomes of different management options on European fish stocks and fisheries.