The ESPARDE project seeks to strengthen the scope of these collective challenges by providing marine environmental governance processes with new scientific knowledge and experience from the fisheries sector, training the development of collective capacities and skills that favour structured dialogue and mutual learning between scientific staff, public administrations, fishery producers and environmental or civic NGOs for fair and sustainable governance of the sea. sustainable. To this end, ESPARDE will generate among its results a collaborative model for innovation and change management, including stable tools, techniques and skills, accepted by the fishing sector and easy to implement, which allow minimizing the impacts of spatial displacements and knowing their socioeconomic and environmental consequences when decisions are made that may affect fishing areas of artisanal and coastal fleets.

This contribution is of particular interest for the implementation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) and their developments, plans and measures related to the marine environment, as the initiative will develop new knowledge, methods and objective criteria that can be incorporated as innovative tools into their governance processes and design of measures. In addition, it will minimize or avoid the environmental and socio-economic effects caused by the spatial relocation of small-scale fleets by decisions on the protection and planning of the marine environment

The project will develop indicators and predictive models, tools that can allow Marine Environment Management Plans (POEMs) to incorporate assessments before the impacts of displacement, improving the compatibility between artisanal fishing and other uses (such as wind energy or conservation), avoiding conflicts and facilitating the acceptability of measures by the fisheries sector. POEMs require stakeholder participation, but the lack of integration of local knowledge and the perceived exclusion of the artisanal fisheries sector can lead to governance issues. For this reason, ESPARDE includes participation actions (interviews, participatory dynamics, creation of a governance laboratory or tools to integrate displacement into decision-making). All these actions will strengthen the future participation of the fishing sector in the POEMs, ensuring that Priority Use Areas and High Potential Areas reflect their needs and reduce the disaffection of fishing communities and organizations. Likewise, ESPARDE will provide the POEMs with tools to implement a more robust ecosystem approach, ensuring that spatial constraints do not compromise either the marine environment or the viability of artisanal fleets.

The following entities act as collaborating entities: Asturian Federation of Fishermen’s Guilds of the Principality of Asturias (FECOPPAS), Organization of Artisanal Producers of the Principality of Asturias (OPAsturias-OPP90), Organization of Fishing Producers of the Port of Burela (OPP-7 Burela), General Directorate of Maritime Fisheries of the Government of the Principality of Asturias and Consellería do Mar, Xunta de Galicia.