The aims of this project are two-fold:
1. Establish a baseline of the social and economic value of fishing to the West Sussex inshore fishing community, against which to assess future change following introduction of the Sussex IFCA Nearshore Trawling Byelaw (2019).
2. Assess fishermen’s interest in developing a collaborative approach and aspirations for improved management, research, value added schemes and other initiatives.
The data will be used as a baseline against which to assess future changes in fishing activity and value in response to anticipated recovery, of the benthic fauna and flora, resulting from the Byelaw and any future management measures put in place to support sustainable low-impact fisheries in the area.