The University of Malta is participate in EcoScope, a project that addresses ecosystem degradation and anthropogenic negative impact on fisheries in European seas. It aims to help restore the sustainability of fisheries and ensure food security and healthy seas balance.
The European Union (EU) has awarded the EcoScope consortium nearly EUR 8 million through the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, to promote an effective and efficient ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management.
Existing fisheries management practices have not always been successful in sustainably exploiting fish stocks, because of weaknesses in management approaches, improper implementation and illegal fishing.
The four-year project addresses ecosystem degradation and anthropogenic impact that cause fisheries to be unsustainably exploited in several European seas. The project will develop several tools, available through a single public portal, to promote an efficient, ecosystem-based approach to the management of fisheries and achieve maximum and continuous participation of stakeholders. It will apply novel methods for data-poor fisheries and marine ecosystems and test new technologies for evaluating the environmental, anthropogenic and climatic impact on ecosystems and fisheries.
Led by Dr Marie Briguglio, the UM will focus on the assessment of societal expectations and economic valuation of ecosystem based fisheries management. The consortium includes 23 other partners from Greece, Bulgaria, Germany, Canada, Israel, the Philippines, Spain, France, Belgium, the UK, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Malta, Norway, Switzerland and Cyprus.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 10100302.