Provide Advice for a sustainable fisheries Management Based on suitable stock Assessment modelS

ongoing

The PAMBAS project aims enhancing the scientific foundation for fisheries management under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The project focuses on deep-sea shrimp stocks exploited by the EU fleet in West Africa, addressing critical knowledge gaps to support evidence-based decision-making and sustainable fisheries management. The external dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) provides the framework for the UE fishing activities outside EU waters. In the context of West African waters, it is structured around two types of arrangements with third countries: Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) and direct authorizations, both requiring that fishing activities outside EU waters adhere to the same sustainability principles as those operating inside EU waters. The PAMBAS project is designed to strengthen the scientific basis for fisheries management under the CFP by improving knowledge on deep-sea shrimp stocks exploited by the EU fleet in West Africa, by addressing critical data gaps and applying advanced stock identification and assessment methodologies. Key objectives include enhancing stock knowledge through biological data collection, focusing on the deep water rose shrimp Parapenaeus longirostris and the striped red shrimp Aristeus varidens in fishing areas of Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Angola; refining stock identification ensuring biologically meaningful stock units; developing standardized catch per unit effort indices that better reflect the relative abundance of the stocks ; applying advanced stock assessment models to enhance management recommendations and providing scientific advice to CECAF, Joint Scientific Committees of SFPAs, and administrations of EU Member States with interest in operating in the EEZ of the involved coastal states. Our scope encompasses external EU fleets operating under both frameworks SFPAs and SMEFF and will be developed in coordination with local research institutions.