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Data availability is a recurrent barrier when attempting to analyse the human dimension in fisheries. This report introduces a methodological approach to measure the human dimension within Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement fisheries (SFPAs), combining different variables which are going further from those used within the current ex-ante ex-post evaluations. The methodological approach combines quantitative and qualitative data sources, namely literature review, data gathering and harmonization and in-depth interviews, to develop a comprehensive and accurate description of the human dimension of long-distance fisheries of the EU within the SFPAs of Cabo Verde and Senegal. The method follows a 4 steps process set to provide a better understanding of the magnitude of fishing activity: (1) environmental and fisheries; (2) human dimension at sea; (3) human dimension at port; and (4) human dimension at international level. These case studies selected for testing the methodological approach, have displayed significant results on the importance of the fishing dimension in their national fisheries. The analysis of Cabo Verde points out how the tuna fishery is a high-relevant activity for the EU fleet. It is prompting a development of the processing industry also driving local socioeconomic development, despite certain weaknesses in port infrastructure to support the processing industry. In the Senegalese case study, the variety of actors, species and trade flows have mitigated the role of EU fleet as primary agent. Nevertheless, the SFPA has facilitated linkages between EU capital and local fleets through mixed-ventures. The case studies evidence the applicability of the method and provide relevant outputs, oversighted in other analysis. Finally, the conclusion suggests next steps to advance forward the approach, particularly for those flows involving the EU and the NON-EU long-distance fleet.

This is the third and final report on the FarFish data base (FFDB). Task 2.3 (Advancing biological and ecological knowledge) of WP2 in FarFish aims to compile and make available in the FFDB, developed in WP6, data for the relevant stocks in the different Case Studies (CS). The data feeds into models and management tools that provide better understanding of the biology and ecology of the respective species and ecosystems, and will be used by other WPs (1, 3, 4, 5 & 6) for stakeholder interaction, development of management recommendations (MRs), modelling, stock assessment and for visualisation tools. The two previous reports (D2.3 and D2.6) provided an overview of the data that was obtained and used as example data sets for the implementation of the Data Limited Methods (DLM) package and as input to the other WPs. In this report we focus on other sources of data, especially data that we were not able to obtain, namely Nansen survey and national research surveys. The report provides a comprehensive overview of Nansen surveys and national research survey for the CSs. It is clear that a plethora of data suitable for application of Data DLM exists, especially in the form of national pelagic and demersal research surveys that are more continuous than the Nansen surveys. Acquisition of Nansen data was hindered by bureaucratic procedures and we strongly recommend a revision of the Data Policy to facilitate access to data. We also recommend that Nansen surveys should take into consideration the requirements for assessment and management of CSs and regional fisheries; lack of continuous time series of sampling makes Nansen data of limited use for assessment and management purposes. Reluctance on the part of CS national institutes to provide national survey data for the FFDB limited the implementation of DLM. However, some example data sets were used to illustrate the possibilities of DLM and it is hoped that CS participants will bring their own national research survey data to the FarFish DLM course organized by WP7 with the collaboration of WP6 (planned for October 2021). We strongly recommend that CS partners explore the use of national survey and fisheries biology data for assessment of data limited stocks. The report also reviews data collected by Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) observers and data collected by observers within the Data Collection Framework (DCF). It was concluded that the SFPA-observer data is of limited use for scientific advice purposes, while DCF data was much more complete and detailed, and could be useful for scientific advice. The final section provides an overview of the data available in Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMO) such as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic tunas (ICCAT) and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC).

The overarching objective of the FarFish project is to provide knowledge, tools and methods to support responsible, sustainable and profitable EU fisheries outside European waters, both within the jurisdiction of non-EU nations as well as international waters. In order to achieve this, the FarFish project has explored the applicability of implementing self-sampling programmes within EU long-distance fisheries and initiated a pilot self-sampling program as “proof of concept”. The pilot self-sampling programme was implemented on board three Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) trawlers fishing for black hake (Merluccius poli and Merluccius senegalensis) in Mauritanian waters and Senegalese national vessels (Industrial and Artisanal). Sampling protocols and kits were provided by FarFish. The data collected includes fishing locations, dates, depth, visual identification of the species, sex and length. Fin clips were taken and stored in 100% ethanol. A total of 867samples were obtained from three SFPA trawlers belonging to OPROMAR, the fishing vessel Kanbal of the SOPERCA company in Senegal, and artisanal longline vessels from Senegal. DNA analysis was carried out at the University of Oviedo. Self-sampling was successfully carried out for all the fleets. However, results of the DNA analysis showed that mislabelling (misidentification) of black hake species is significant and variable, with differences between vessels of the same fleet (SFPA) and between the different sampled fleets (SFPA, Senegal Industrial and Senegal Artisanal). These differences may be explained in part by the geographic area and depth of the sampling location, with higher probabilities of misidentification in areas and depths where both species co-exist and are found together in the catches. These preliminary results, along with the results of a follow-up questionnaire to eight self-samplers from Senegal suggest that self-sampling on board SFPA vessels is viable, cost-effective and can provide valuable data for improving stock assessment and management. However, in the case of the black hakes, training of self-samplers in morphological identification is essential if reliable fisheries and biological data is to be collected by self-samplers.

The FarFish project published a so called “Legacy booklet” towards the end of the project, which is intended to summarise progress and key results to a wider audience e.g. to stakeholders that do not have scientific background or expert knowledge on the main project topics. The publication of this “project summary report aimed at a wider audience” was described in the original project description as follows: Task 7.8 Project summary report aimed at a wider audience: In order to make the project results widely known and understood by everyone with an interest in the subject, the project coordinator will produce a project summary report at the end of the project. The report will describe in layman-terms the project as a whole, the main challenges and the most important results. This will facilitate dissemination to a wider audience, which will be important when considering the wide range of stakeholders connected to the subject. The ”Legacy booklet” is presented in this report, The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 727891/FarFish project.

The External Dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has increased its visibility in the last decades, both in relation to its coherence with the internal dimension (comprising bilateral access agreements within EEZ and the management of international waters subject to jurisdiction of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations) and its links with other EU policies such as cooperation for development, human rights, labour, health and trade issues. As a relevant player in the development of global fisheries governance, the EU has an enhanced responsibility to promote sustainable and responsible fisheries management into the international scene, in its double role as a major fishing actor and the largest single market for marine products in the world. The External fisheries policy ensures the EU commitment to jointly manage fish stocks outside EU waters where the EU fleet operates. It is in practice implemented by an active participation of the EU and other countries States and partners from around the globe through the United Nations system, including the Food and Agriculture Organisation the International Maritime Organisation or United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and Regional Sea Conventions, as well as other international and regional bodies. However, despite the solid theoretical foundations, internationally agreed principles and overarching goals upon which the External Dimension of the CFP is built, there are still many weaknesses and challenges that are hampering an effective implementation This policy report summarizes the core elements of the EU’s external fisheries policy, providing recommendations aimed to inform the revision process of the CFP towards 2022, while contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals under Agenda 2030.

International audience; Since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the international community’s efforts to achieve the SDGs have been unevenly distributed. An exploration of the data related to these goals raises the urgent need to mo- nitor them in order to better focus efforts in the least develo- ped countries. We propose here a method based on Machine Learning to overcome the lack of data and the need for dynamic monitoring. This method is based on three prin- ciples : participatory research, context localized process and dynamic model development. An illustrative example is presented in the context of the development of new data sets and prediction models in Senegal, showing the interest of the proposed approach.

Better management of coastal marine resources generally requires good knowledge of habitats and resources. This need led to the performance of an identification and bioecological characterization study of critical sites for small pelagics in the Senegalese coastal marine zone. Biological and ecological data were collected using beach seines (12 to 28 mm mesh) and surface drifting gillnets (28 to 36 mm mesh) at sites identified by fishermen on the basis of surveys. The results of the study highlight the bioecological characteristics of these sites: (i) the Port-Baie Hann site - a nursery and spawning site with a high diversity for the target species; it is under marine pollution threat; (ii) the Mbodiène-Ngazobil site, with high diversity for target species and the Kafountine-Cap site are nursery and spawning sites under high fishing pressure, (iii) the Diakhanor-Sangomar site - a spawning site under the potential threat of exploration of offshore Sangomar oil in addition to the high fishing pressure. This work is a first flagship contribution to a process that should lead to the development and control of new tools for the effective and sustainable management of small pelagics at national and regional scales.

This report contains the 2nd management recommendation (MR) invitations submitted to the case studies in the FarFish project i.e. the high-seas fisheries in SW-Atlantic and SE-Atlantic, and the SFPA fisheries in Cape Verde, Senegal, Mauritania and Seychelles. The purpose of these MR invitations is to offer selected operators (resource users) the opportunity to develop MRs following the “second draft general guidelines for making MRs” presented in FarFish deliverable 3.5. The approach presented in the guidelines are based on principles of results-based management (RBM), where the responsibility for fisheries management is partly transferred to the resource users, provided that they meet with necessary requirements set forth by the authorities and provide documentation confirming implementation and achievement of specified management objectives. The advantages of such an approach include facilitation of more bottom-up style of management where the actual resource users and other stakeholders are involved. This approach is likely to increase the sense of ownership, by the resource users, in the management. Other advantages are for example increased transparency, as well as reduced costs and increased coverage of monitoring, control and surveillance. The MR invitations follow up on a pre-invitation dialogues where the basics of the approach have been introduced. The MR invitations include a short description of what is to be the focus of the MRs, identification of the main actors and their roles and responsibilities in the process, details on the current status of the fishery and finally the identification of so-called Outcome Targets (OTs) that are performance goals that the MRs are to meet.

One of the key objectives of the FarFish project is: "To advance knowledge and collate data related to biological characteristics of the main fish stocks in selected fisheries outside EU waters that are important for the EU fleet, and to evaluate the relevance and applicability of appropriate stock assessment methods for these fisheries." In this context, the review and evaluation of stock assessment models used in the different Case Studies and the status of the stocks is one of the primary objectives of the project. The FarFish project has therefore published this report, which contains a review the stock assessment carried out for the target species in each of the case study areas.

This report contains the 2nd management recommendation (MR) invitations submitted to the case studies in the FarFish project i.e. the high-seas fisheries in SW-Atlantic and SE-Atlantic, and the SFPA fisheries in Cape Verde, Senegal, Mauritania and Seychelles. The purpose of these MR invitations is to offer selected operators (resource users) the opportunity to develop MRs following the “second draft general guidelines for making MRs” presented in FarFish deliverable 3.5. The approach presented in the guidelines are based on principles of results-based management (RBM), where the responsibility for fisheries management is partly transferred to the resource users, provided that they meet with necessary requirements set forth by the authorities and provide documentation confirming implementation and achievement of specified management objectives. The advantages of such an approach include facilitation of more bottom-up style of management where the actual resource users and other stakeholders are involved. This approach is likely to increase the sense of ownership, by the resource users, in the management. Other advantages are for example increased transparency, as well as reduced costs and increased coverage of monitoring, control and surveillance. The MR invitations follow up on a pre-invitation dialogues where the basics of the approach have been introduced. The MR invitations include a short description of what is to be the focus of the MRs, identification of the main actors and their roles and responsibilities in the process, details on the current status of the fishery and finally the identification of so-called Outcome Targets (OTs) that are performance goals that the MRs are to meet.

Accuracy in reporting captures is a key element to achieve fisheries sustainability. However, identification of the catches might be a challenge when two or more species are morphologically similar and caught jointly, like the mixed fisheries of black hakes in East Atlantic African waters. Black hakes (Merluccius senegalensis and M. polli) are tough to differentiate without previous training due to their high morphological resemblance. The two species are managed as a single stock, although the biological differences between them suggest the need of a separate management. In this study, a total of 806 black hakes were visually identified by fishers on deck of fishing vessels operating in Mauritania and Senegal waters, then assigned to a species by sequencing 450bp of the Mitochondrial Control Region. Comparing the results with visual identification we found 31.4% of the total catch were incorrectly labelled on board by the fishermen. The accuracy of the fishers’ identification depended on the depth of capture and on fish size, larger individuals caught from deeper waters being more correctly assigned to M. polli. Mislabelling biased to M. polli suggests that M. senegalensis, already catalogued as endangered, is being underreported, which could endanger the conservation of this species and threaten the sustainability of black hake fisheries. Our results highlight the need for separate evaluation of the stocks in mixed fisheries for morphologically similar fish. Thus, monitoring through DNA barcoding in the very first step of the seafood chain surveys would improve accurate species delimitation and reduce its impact on the correct assessment of the stocks.

One of the key objectives of the FarFish project is: "To advance knowledge and collate data related to biological characteristics of the main fish stocks in selected fisheries outside EU waters that are important for the EU fleet, and to evaluate the relevance and applicability of appropriate stock assessment methods for these fisheries." In this context, the review and evaluation of stock assessment models used in the different Case Studies and the status of the stocks is one of the primary objectives of the project. The FarFish project has therefore published this report, which contains a review the stock assessment carried out for the target species in each of the case study areas.