Focus
What you will find on this site
Research Themes
The Impact of FMSP research
Focus
The Fisheries Management Science Programme (FMSP) was funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) between 1991 and 2006, and managed by the Marine Resources Assessment Group (MRAG) to produce innovative and world-class research on marine and inland capture and enhancement fisheries management. Sustainable use of the world's oceans, coastal areas and inland water bodies is critical for global food security, employment and income generation. Since 1991 the FMSP has commissioned over 60 innovative research projects on fisheries management that have produced outputs of a high scientific standard. This research contributes to achieving the Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty and hunger by supporting fisheries managers and policy makers in the sustainable management and development of fisheries in developing countries.
What you will find on this site
The Search Projects Database makes research products developed through the FMSP available to you. It provides details, descriptions and outputs for all projects conducted under the Programme. Responding to the need for better fisheries management and demand from developing countries, FMSP interdisciplinary research projects have examined the role and importance of fisheries in the livelihoods of the poor and as a means of contributing to poverty reduction and increased economic development. The FMSP has conducted research in Africa and Asia, where projects have been carried out across the continents, as well as the Pacific and Caribbean.
Guidelines, manuals and Software are available to download from this website covering a wide range of management issues including stock assessment, resource dynamics in floodplain fisheries, control of illegal fishing, adaptive learning, the role of fisheries in livelihoods and information on the vulnerability of fishers to predicted climate change. The Software page on this site provides access to free fisheries assessment tools we have developed. All other outputs may be downloaded from the Projects database.
A synthesis of information across the projects conducted during the life of the Programme, and key lessons learned and messages for policy in particular are presented on the Key Programme Lessons page on this site.
Research Themes
The FMSP is arranged around five themes, comprised of eleven groups (clusters) of similar or related projects.
| Product Theme | Project Cluster |
| 1. Information to inform management-research and influence policy. | 1: Databases of information 2: Livelihood appraisals 3: Impacts of climate change |
| 2. Information requirements for including poor fishers in the assessment and management of their fisheries. | 4: Information requirements for fisheries management |
| 3. Fisheries assessment methods to inform management. | 5: Stock assessment guidelines 6: Bayesian stock assessment and management with limited data |
| 4. Pro-poor capture fisheries management strategies. | 7: Generic management guidelines 8: Control of foreign fisheries 9: Floodplain fisheries management |
| 5. Pro-poor enhancement fisheries management strategies. | 10: Enhancement of inland fisheries 11: Enhancement of marine fisheries |
The Impact of FMSP research
Many of the outputs from FMSP projects conducted against these themes and clusters are targeted at fisheries scientists, managers and policy makers in developing countries. Developmental impact is achieved largely by creating an enabling environment and assisting these intermediary organisations to achieve benefits at the community level. Promotion of research messages and outputs through accessible guidelines, manuals, seminars, workshops and training courses have enabled the research findings to be adopted and applied in developing countries across the world, maximising their impact on poverty reduction. A study of the impacts achieved through the FMSP is available in the Search Projects Database (see R4778C) and some examples of impacts are summarised in Key Programme Lessons.