Cooperative Science

Cooperative fisheries science is a two-way process that requires the participation and input of fishers, and/or other fishing industry stakeholders, into the design, implementation and interpretation of fisheries scientific research and data.

Cooperative scallop management in Ramsey Bay Fisheries Management Zone
A depleted scallop fishing ground in Ramsey Bay (RAM) was closed to fishing for three seasons from December 2009 to enable stock recovery. In October 2011 the area was designated as a marine nature reserve (MNR) protecting priority habitats. Whilst mobile gears were excluded from the majority of the MNR a fisheries management zone (FMZ) was established where scallop fishing was permitted to a limited group of local fishers under a territorial user rights fisheries (TURF) management system. Annual fisheries independent surveys are undertaken by industry with scientific support to monitor stock recovery and by 2013 the stock was considered to have increased to commercially viable level and the fishery reopened. Fishers were given responsibility for strategic decisions on where, when and how much to fish, whilst ensuring that the ‘ecological integrity’ of the area was maintained. The fishers have continued to make management decisions that have aligned with improving both environmental outcomes and economic efficiency and the stocks within the area continue to provide large, high quality product during its annual Christmas fishery.

Industry led scallop survey
Since 2019 the local Manx Fish Producers Organisation (MFPO), with scientific support from Bangor University, have led a fine resolution, random stratified scallop survey within Isle of Man territorial waters. At each fishing ground the outer survey extent was delineated using vessel monitoring system data (VMS) at fishing speed for the king and queen scallop fishing seasons individually, using data amalgamated from 2011 – 2018. These survey areas were then assigned to strata based on depth and split into a fixed grid with a resolution of 1 min (longitude) x 0.5 min (latitude). A novel scheme for funding these research surveys has been introduced by industry and government by allowing ‘excess scallops’, caught above and beyond the daily catch limit on the last tow of the day by permitted vessels, to be landed with the proceeds going to an industry research fund to enable surveys like this to be funded.