Jump to:

The Fisheries Management and Innovation Group

The Fisheries Management and Innovation Group brings people together to discuss and share knowledge on catching sector issues.

The Fisheries Management Innovation Group (FMIG) provides a safe meeting space to discuss the key challenges facing the UK catching sector. The three key areas for discussion are: legislation and regulation, stock assessment issues and how to introduce new technology.

People take part to keep-up-to-date with the latest developments, to be part of a cross-industry discussion and listen to the issues raised by other parts of the industry. They can also raise their own issues, present new ideas, network with other people or make new contacts.

The group is led by our industry and we take responsibility for running the FMIG. The Group has met twice a year since 2009. The FMIG brings together people who represent the catching sector, as well as the retail, food service and restaurant industries. Other people who attend are not-for-profit environmental voluntary groups, consumer groups, government, scientists and industry bodies.

This group was formerly the Discard Action Group (DAG) and was originally set up as a forum for the discussion of industry-wide problems relating to discards.

There are generally two meetings a year. The presentations and minutes from the most recent meetings are below. Presentations and minutes from previous meetings are available from Karen Green.

Due to COVID we are running shorter online bite-size FMIG meetings at the moment. 

Next meeting

The next meeting is on Wednesday 13 July 2022. Advances in UK gear technology. 

Previous two bite-size meetings

Cross-sector governance in UK waters (5 April 2022). Spatial squeeze is a current and rapidly growing issue. The competition for maritime space includes: oil and gas (exploration, production and decommissioning); marine renewables; subsea cables; marine protected areas/conservation sites; aquaculture; marine tourism/recreation; maritime traffic; dredging and mineral extraction. More renewable energy is clearly vital in the fight against climate change but as the tensions and trade-offs between energy, fisheries, aquaculture and nature conservation grow, a fair and equitable plan for co-existence has to be the goal. This meeting examined spatial squeeze in UK waters, the encroachment on fishing grounds for the fleet and the potential for massive displacement, as well as look at where the fishing industry fits into the decision-making process. See the presentations from this session:

The impact of offshore wind development on fisheries (1 February 2022). The UK Government Net Zero Strategy has set out how the UK will deliver on its commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. A major expansion in renewable energy is needed to help reach this target, with a particular focus on offshore wind projects. This meeting looked at the impacts of offshore wind farms and offshore floating wind technology on fisheries interactions. It focussed on how ecological change and the presence of infrastructure affects fishing activities and fishing behaviour, as well as looking at the resulting economic and cultural effects on fishing and coastal communities. See the presentations from this session:

Terms of Reference and archive

  • We have archived presentations from previous bite-size meetings. These are available from Karen Green.
  • Notes and minutes on the bite-size meetings can be found below. 
  • Presentations from our face-to-face FMIG and DAG meetings are available from Karen Green
  • View the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the group (March 2019).
  • To be added to the FMIG mailing list to receive our monthly news update and details on meetings please register 

FMIG bite-size notes 

FMIG monthly news alerts

Contacts

For more information about The Fisheries Management and Innovation Group contact 
Karen Green.  

Back to top