Ecocentric management for sustainable fisheries and healthy marine ecosystems : report on descriptive and quantitative analyses from socioeconomic surveys

Abstract

This report constitutes deliverable 7.1 of the Horizon 2020 EcoScope (Ecocentric management for sustainable fisheries and healthy marine ecosystems). Within EcoScope’s Work Package 7 (assessment of societal expectations and economic values) the first task, led by the University of Malta (UM) was to conduct large scale socio-economic surveys to gain an understanding of the perceptions, preferences, and expectations of the public for current and ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) in Europe and to derive a sense of the economic value of ecosystem-based fisheries management attributes. The research undertaken aims to answer three clusters of research questions (RQ) which together shed light on public perceptions, preferences, expectations and value assigned to EBFM. The first set of research questions (RQ1) are “What characterises people’s fish consumption and food security issues? What is the value of EBFM in willingness to pay terms?”; the second (RQ2) are: “What kind of fishery impacts do people perceive? What kind of management/policy interventions do they expect?” The third (RQ3) asks: “How does EBFM impact societal value in wellbeing terms?” Together, these questions provide insights on the public in their role as consumers and as citizens.