One year on, and we’re making steady progress investigating the effectiveness of three different self-sampling programmes addressing the issue of discards:
- the self-sampling fleet providing data for the data collection regulation of the EU (approximately 21 fishing vessels).
- the self-sampling for monitoring the effects of the pulse-fishery (approximately 20 fishing vessels).
- the self-sampling in the TR gears (approximately 52 fishing vessels).
The three programmes have been set up different with different goals as well as with different methods of self-sampling.
To explore this issue, we have been working with fishermen both at sea and on land.
At sea, we have been collaborating with fishermen from nearly 100 fishing vessels who have been busy self-sampling; some fishers are analysing their own results.
On land, we have been conducting interviews with both scientists and fishers involved involved in self-sampling. This has been ongoing since May 2011. We are using semi-constructed interviews to collect information on how the cooperative research is progressing today, as well as in the past (e.g. the Dutch F-project).
In order to ensure that all progress and activates are shared between scientists and stakeholders, we plan meetings, publish our news in the fisheries bulletin, meet fishers at the ports at the weekend, and use twitter and emails.
