Newsletter TXOTX

Technical eXperts Overseeing Third country eXpertise TXOTX. 2nd Newsletter - July 2010

Successful

WP2workshop in London

B

etween 18-22nd of January, Imperial College London hosted TXOTX´s WP2 workshop. The project hosted a team of international experts from a variety of scientific, administrative and academic institutions such as DEFRA, EC, ICCAT, IOTC, IEO, MRAG and the University of Louisiana, who greatly contributed to this event. During the three day meeting, preliminary project findings were discussed and problems and gaps highlighted within the gathered information. The available information was synthesised and debated with the panel of experts through preliminary GAP/SWOT analyses. In addition, a strategic plan for WPs 3-4 was drafted and action and work plans for the coming year were agreed.

The minutes of the London workshop were distributed by Imperial College and are available on the project’s Wiki page http://wiki.azti.es/txotx/doku.ph. Interested readers should consult this source for further information. Among the main actions agreed, the delivery of case studies was scheduled for the 30th of April 2010. A coordination meeting to discuss the main findings prior to the final dissemination workshop was agreed to take place in November 2010. Recently, it has been decided that the meeting will be held in London, at which time partners and key experts will review project outputs. The final dissemination workshop with stakeholders will take place in Bilbao in March 2011.

Marifish

and TXOTX

A

t the TXOTX WP2 workshop in London, Dr. John Lock of Defra introduced the EU ERA-NET project Marifish as an example of an existing framework for collaboration. The presentation highlighted the importance of building good relationships and trust between researchers and fisheries managers, and the need for fisheries administrations to have sufficient in-house scientific capacity to interpret research outcomes. An interesting discussion arose among the panel regarding whether scientists are good communicators, and how these skills can be improved.

Partners agreed that there is a clear affinity between TXOTX and MariFish, with both projects having amongst their aims the goals of improving the coordination of research, both in terms of collaboration as well as research funding. TXOTX, for example, is working to gather a clear understanding of the research that is being undertaken in support of scientific advice for fishery management in different regions. This information will then be used to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of research and collaboration on a regional level, in order to develop and help deliver regional research priorities. The Marifish approach has relevance to TXOTX, as MariFish’s WP2 has distilled best practices for commissioning jointly funded, transnational research programmes. The framework utilised by MariFish, especially the identification of research priorities of different funding bodies, the development of research strategic priorities and plans, and recommendations for effective coordination, are of great utility to our project.

TXOTX. 2nd Newsletter - July 2010

D

Txotx

dissemination

r. Hilario Murua made a presentation entitled “Enhanced cooperation between tuna RFMOs” at the Joint tuna RFMOs Meeting of experts to share best practices on the provision of scientific advice held in Barcelona between May 31st and June 2nd 2010. Hilario’s presentation was based on the work of TXOTX and highlighted that although there are differences in RFMO structures in relation to scientific activities, the various Working Groups within each tuna RFMO are addressing similar subjects.

Although several cooperation activities are taking place between the scientific groups of tuna RFMOs (i.e. training, ad-hoc meetings, international tuna research projects, etc.) there is currently no formal agreement on approaches to tackle global issues of common interest. Hilario´s presentation recommended enhancement in the area of cooperation between tuna RFMOs over scientific activities, by means of more formal agreements, and the formation of joint horizontal Working Groups to address research priorities identified globally in existing Tuna RFMO meetings (i.e. issues of data, assessment methods, precautionary approach, ecosystem approach to fisheries management, etc.). A second recommendation arising from the presentation was to develop regional and global Strategic Research Plans developed by all tuna RFMOs to identify research priorities, joint collaborative efforts, and funding.

TXOTX

in the news

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ast May, the Journal of International Innovation published a special issue entitled “Disseminating science, research and technology”. This issue carried an article on the TXOTX project. The article “Casting the net of collaboration” contains an overview of the project, highlighting its main objectives, partners and the importance of the project in terms of network contraction and collaboration with regards to maritime regions where fish stocks resources are shared. The article also contains an interview with TXOTX coordinator Dr. Hilario Murua. The article is downloadable from the TXOTX Wiki.

The Spanish branch of the European Fisheries Fund published an article about TXOTX entitled “Fisheries research institutions of Europe, America and Africa participate in a scientific project for sustainability of seas”. The article describes the way in which project partners from diverse regions, where exploitation of stocks is carried out by many actors, including the EU, are participating in building a network of scientific institutions. It noted that the aim of this project network is to gather information regarding the diverse initiatives in science in support of management in the various regions, in order to compare them and identify gaps in knowledge and opportunities. It also noted that the project will provide recommendations for further collaboration and the development of plans to tackle sustainable management of shared stocks ttps://www.mapa.es/es/ pesca/pags/FEP/revista/art_datos.asp?ar ticuloid=72&codrevista=REP

TXOTX

planning W

e are approaching the final stage of the project and the next months will require active participation by all to meet our endeavours. The next steps comprise completion of the information summary matrices for tuna and non-tuna RFMOs and country case studies. These matrices are of paramount importance for the analyses within WP3-4, which is led by Cefas. The deadline for the completion of these matrices is late July. On September 9th, Cefas is leading a mini-workshop to prepare information to be placed on the Wiki, providing background information for partners and invited experts attending the November workshop in London. In this workshop, external invited experts along with the project team will review the processes and products of the project so far and brainstorm methods and outputs for the final deliverables. The 31st of December is the deadline for submission of reports WP3.3 and WP3.4. The final stakeholder workshop is to be held in March 2011, likely in Bilbao, and is a key dissemination mechanism for project products. The project will conclude with submission of the final project report.

Project team and panel of experts in London workshop at Imperial College

Mini-workshop in Cefas

O

n the 14th of July, a mini workshop was held in Lowestoft (UK) where Panel Coordination Committee (PCC) members gathered to discuss methodologies to address WP3-4 outcomes. A matrix previously developed by Cefas was designated as the main tool for the inventory of information to be used for further analysis.

Analytical approaches that are considered for examination of the information available include SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis, Gap analysis, assessment of scientific performance and subsequent management, key areas of best practice, and the analysis of key case studies.

These approaches will use information from the matrices. A number of alternatives for project dissemination outputs were discussed. These included scientific papers, dependent upon the analyses and results. Potential areas included the compari-

Porjects’

son of RFMOs for tuna and non-tuna RFMOs, a best practice paper and challenges faced by regional management and research approaches. In addition, a highly focussed and short report presenting recommendations to the EU, for example identifying research gaps and how to fill them, is viewed as a key project output.

Working Calendar

Date

Event/actions required

31st July

WP3.2 Synthesis data from different cases studies.

Inventory of Information mounted on TXOTX Wiki.

September 9/10

Prepare materials for November meeting, lead by Cefas.

Materials to be put on Wiki for expert access

15th - 19 th November.

Experts Workshop (London)

External review of process and products plus brainstorming and support for final deliverables

31st December 2011

WP3.3 report on gaps and similarities; and WP3.4 catalogue of strengths and weakness and intercomparison of research programmes

March 2011

Stakeholder workshop (Bilbao)