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The SUMMER project will explore recent findings that suggest that the global ocean’s mesopelagic zone contains 90 % of the planet’s fish biomass. Even if this is correct by only a fraction of this value, the exploitation potential in fishmeal production, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals is enormous. However, as the role of mesopelagic fish in pelagic ecosystems is not well understood, it is necessary to first establish methods to accurately estimate their biomass, taxonomic/functional diversity, contribution to the global carbon cycle and potential as a sustainable fishery. Using state-of-the-art tools (e.g. eDNA, acoustics and gut analysis), SUMMER will also investigate environmental repercussions of such exploitation, and quantify the impact of commercial extraction on pelagic ecosystems. The Data Management Plan (DMP) summarizes the data that will be collected and generated during the project and lays out how, where and under which conditions the data will be disseminated. Preparing and updating the DMP is a requirement of the Open Research Data Pilot in which SUMMER participates. WP1 – Open Science ensures that the data are shared according to the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) principles. This update defines persons responsible for cruise summary reports as well as embargo periods for data publication in open access. Expected data generated from each work package was updated due to COVID-19 issues where necessary.

In 2018, the EU fishing fleet numbered 81 199 vessels with a combined gross tonnage of 1.56 million tonnes and engine power of 6.3 million kilowatts. Based on data submitted by Member States under the EU MAP, there were 63 593 active vessels in 2018. Direct employment generated by the fleet amounted to 146 906 fishers, corresponding to 105 851 FTEs; on average earning EUR 24 287 in wages, annually. The EU fleet spent 6.5 million days-at-sea and consumed 2.3 billion litres of fuel to land 5.2 million tonnes of seafood with a reported value of EUR 7.7 billion. The Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Profit (all excl. subsidies and fishing rights) was estimated at EUR 4.3 billion and EUR 1.8 billion, respectively. GVA as a proportion of revenue was estimated at 55% and gross profit margin at 23%. With a total net profit of almost EUR 1 billion in 2018, 12% of the revenue was retained as profit. These results indicate a deterioration compared to 2017 while nowcast estimates suggest that the performance of the EU fishing fleet improved in 2019, rebounding back to levels seen in 2016, to then deteriorate in 2020 mainly due to the COIVD-19 crisis. This publication includes: 1) a structural and economic overview of the EU fishing fleet in 2018 and trend analyses for the years 2008-2020 where possible (nowcasts for 2019 and 2020); a regional analysis of the EU fishing fleet by major sea basin, as well as, fleets operating in Other Fishing Regions; 3) a detailed structural and economic overview of each Member State fishing fleet, including qualitative economic performance assessments for 2018 and nowcasts for 2019 and 2020

Commission Decision of 25 February 2016 setting up a Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries, C(2016) 1084, OJ C 74, 26.2.2016, p. 4–10. The Commission may consult the group on any matter relating to marine and fisheries biology, fishing gear technology, fisheries economics, fisheries governance, ecosystem effects of fisheries, aquaculture or similar disciplines. The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries held its 64th plenary as a virtual meeting from 6 to 10 July 2020.

International audience

This study examines the latest developments of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in the fields of fisheries management, Common Market Organisation (CMO) and its external dimension. It also discusses the potential challenges that the EU fisheries policy might be facing in the near future. The present research contains ten case studies and concludes with possible solutions and recommendations to address some of the sector’s forthcoming challenges.

Implementation of Ecosystem Based Management in fisheries has led to higher integration of knowledge in advices and higher engagement of stakeholders in the decision support Process. As part of the process, fisheries scientists contribute in different ways and at different levels to decision support and experienced partnership approaches in the context of research projects or institutional decision support. Role of scientists in the process is however not trivial to define and operationalize. Several pitfalls can occur that scientists may have experienced through partnership projects or in the expert assessments done for authorities. A workshop was organized from 15 to 17 January 2018 as part of the ScipaDe project of the Cluster of Excellence ('Labex') funded by the French 'Investment for the future' program and supported by the French Ministry of Research and Education. It brought together biologists, economists and social and political scientists involved in decision support processes and partnership approaches in fisheries at European level to share experiences and views across case studies, disciplines and projects. Context, content and lessons learnt from concrete experiences of bio-economic impact assessment of fisheries management scenarios provided in different case studies were reviewed and the links between scientists-stakeholders-decision makers in the decision support process in fisheries was explored through discussions and SWOT analyses. An Australian case was also reported to put into perspective the approaches and lessons learnt described at the European scale with respect to the institutionalized partnership platform for decision making used in Australian. This report provides information on the SciPaDe project, the participants to the workshop, the content of the workshop and the main perspectives and tasks identified. The workshop underlined the need to continue and better structure networks around interdisciplinary approaches, to share our vision of the role of scientists in decision support process, our experiences, methods and recommendations and to disseminate lessons learnt from analysis of practices in integrated science decision support in fisheries.

The main objectives of the study presented in this report were to test the FLBEIA API, condition an operating model for the North Sea mixed fisheries and provide feedback on bioeconomic modelling limitations. Additionally, Fishrent and Fcube were also tested. FLR, FLBEIA, Fishrent and Fcube are software packages implemented by the scientific community studying fisheries to run bioeconomic models. A large test was carried out on FLBEIA by both running existing examples and trying to implement a bioeconomic model for the North Sea. In general the group felt FLBEIA is on the correct path to provide a bioeconomic modeling framework, although some work is still required. FLBEIA is not ready yet for production. A list of bugs and improvements was assembled. Conditioning a bioeconomic operating model for the North Sea showed the difficulties of merging economic and biological information. Inconsistencies on the effort definition seem to create additional problems when relating both sources of information. This subject must be further explored. The exercise was successful but data problems prevented the performance of a full economic analysis, although trend analysis on economic indicators for each scenario tested was possible. Nevertheless, these results must be taken carefully., JRC.G.4-Maritime affairs

In 2018, the EU fishing fleet numbered 81 199 vessels with a combined gross tonnage of 1.56 million tonnes and engine power of 6.3 million kilowatts. Based on data submitted by Member States under the EU MAP, there were 63 593 active vessels in 2018. Direct employment generated by the fleet amounted to 146 906 fishers, corresponding to 105 851 FTEs; on average earning EUR 24 287 in wages, annually. The EU fleet spent 6.5 million days-at-sea and consumed 2.3 billion litres of fuel to land 5.2 million tonnes of seafood with a reported value of EUR 7.7 billion. The Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Profit (all excl. subsidies and fishing rights) was estimated at EUR 4.3 billion and EUR 1.8 billion, respectively. GVA as a proportion of revenue was estimated at 55% and gross profit margin at 23%. With a total net profit of almost EUR 1 billion in 2018, 12% of the revenue was retained as profit. These results indicate a deterioration compared to 2017 while nowcast estimates suggest that the performance of the EU fishing fleet improved in 2019, rebounding back to levels seen in 2016, to then deteriorate in 2020 mainly due to the COIVD-19 crisis. This publication includes: 1) a structural and economic overview of the EU fishing fleet in 2018 and trend analyses for the years 2008-2020 where possible (nowcasts for 2019 and 2020); a regional analysis of the EU fishing fleet by major sea basin, as well as, fleets operating in Other Fishing Regions; 3) a detailed structural and economic overview of each Member State fishing fleet, including qualitative economic performance assessments for 2018 and nowcasts for 2019 and 2020., JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resources

Commission Decision of 25 February 2016 setting up a Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries, C(2016) 1084, OJ C 74, 26.2.2016, p. 4–10. The Commission may consult the group on any matter relating to marine and fisheries biology, fishing gear technology, fisheries economics, fisheries governance, ecosystem effects of fisheries, aquaculture or similar disciplines. This report deals with options to assess the socio-economic impacts of the TAC and quota proposal in the longer-term context. STECF reviewed the EWG report during its plenary meeting on 2-6 July in Brussels, Belgium., JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resources