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To improve the management and sustainability of fisheries resources through the creation and implementation of a coordination network between the fishing sector and research centres in the Gulf of Cadiz. The development of an action plan and tasks to identify research and/or knowledge management needs is contemplated, as well as the holding of a specific seminar on research and the fishing sector.

The execution of the project has made it possible to set up a network called the InPesCA Network and the coordination between the various agents that make up the research centres and the fishing sector involved in the generation of knowledge and management, respectively, of the geographical area of the Gulf of Cadiz.

The first phase consisted of determining the key actors for fisheries research in the area, along with the identification of the needs and priorities of the fisheries sector. Reports were made on research needs in the fisheries sector and scientific capacity in fisheries. Both reports reflect the current situation of each of the fisheries from the prism of their sustainability and long-term continuity, by providing information on the problems they face in their day-to-day lives. The report on scientific capacity outlines the possible solutions that can be provided to the different research needs of the fishing sector.

Subsequently, the working groups and successive meetings have contributed to consolidating the level of coordination for the development of an operating protocol for the InPesCA Network, as well as an annual action plan.

The main lines of activity on which the network will work, in accordance with the established action plan , are: fisheries monitoring; invasive species; marketing and operation in fish markets; management and use of discards; new models of fisheries management (co-management); socio-economic studies of fisheries (profitability thresholds); environmental aspects – marine litter, ghost fishing gear, etc.

This information is currently used to coordinate and connect the different actors. An email (redinpesca@fecopesca.com) was set up to share all the needs of the fishing sector and propose management solutions based on this information and through the different working groups and meetings set out in the annual operating schedule.

In this way, the operation of the network and its effectiveness are valued in a living and active way that aims to bring knowledge management closer to the fishing sector.

In the short and medium term, or at least once the current restrictions derived from COVID-19 are lifted, it is expected that this network will be able to function normally, organising meetings and coordinating the interests of the sector with the potential of research, and all this through the tools, events, forums and actions that have been considered and that are most appropriate.

In short, the InPesCA Network will facilitate the development of the activity of the fishing sector in the Gulf of Cadiz from the perspective of sustainable management of resources and the marine environment, through the consolidation of a channel for the continuous transfer of needs and knowledge among the agents that make it up.