What is CoralFISH?

CoralFISH will assess the interaction between corals, fish and fisheries, in order to develop monitoring and predictive modelling tools for ecosystem based management in the deep waters of Europe and beyond.

Background

In 2006, the UN General Assembly Resolution (61/105) called upon fisheries management organisations worldwide to:
i) assess the impact of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems;
ii) identify/map vulnerable ecosystems through improved scientific research/data collection;
iii) close such areas to bottom fishing unless conservation and management measures were established to prevent their degradation.

In European deep waters there is also a need to establish monitoring tools to evaluate the effectiveness of closed areas for the conservation of biodiversity and fish and their impact on fisheries. Two FP6 projects (PROTECT & HERMES) have already identified the need for information concerning the interaction between fish and cold water coral habitats.

CoralFISH brings together a unique consortium of deep-sea fisheries biologists, ecosystem researchers/modellers, economists and a fishing industry SME, who will collaborate to collect data from key European marine eco-regions. The consortium numbers 16 partners from 10 countries.

This project is funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) Theme 6: Environment; Activity 6.2: Sustainable Management of Resources Grant agreement no.: 213144