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More than 20% of the European fishing fleets catches are taken from non-European waters. Access to these waters is often based on agreements with coastal states that allow the EU fleet to fish from surplus stocks in return for financial support. These agreements have been subjected to criticism, as these fisheries are sometimes poorly regulated and management decisions are often based on limited knowledge, compliance, and enforcement capabilities. It is also too often the case that trust between stakeholders is lacking. The aim of the FarFish project is to overcome these hurdles. The FarFish project is designed around six case study areas in which the European fleet is actively engaged in fishing activities, including Cape Verde, Mauritania, Senegal and Seychelles, as well as the international high-seas areas in the southeast and southwest Atlantic. Among the Research & Innovation outputs of the FarFish project is a development of a management approach where the management authorities and the resource users come to an agreement on some key objectives and how to meet them. This approach is designed to reduce micromanagement by involving stakeholders and increase the degree of co-management by delegating management responsibilities to resource users. The process is broken into a number of steps, which include a) the provision of guidelines on how to develop so called management recommendations (MRs), b) provision of an invitation from the authorities to the resource users to develop MRs, where overall objectives are established, c) development of MRs, d) third party audit of the MR, where the success of the MR is evaluated. Draft guidelines and MR invitations have been published, and this report compiles the first proposals for MRs for each of the FarFish case studies. These will then be audited by an independent auditor and the whole process will then be re-iterated. The aim is that by the end of the project, we will have a tested / validated approach for how to manage fisheries in cocreation between authorities and resource users.

The EU is obliged to ensure sustainable utilization of the fisheries’ resources to which EU fleets have access to, both in the high seas and through bilateral agreements, based on the principles of good economic and social governance. This is mainly done through cooperation with Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and national authorities in partnership countries to improve knowledge and management of the fisheries. Inadequate governance of these fisheries can hinder the goal of sustainable utilization of fisheries’ resources, resulting in suboptimal or over-exploitation of shared and straddling fish stocks. On the other hand, limited knowledge regarding the processing and market conditions in partner coastal states has contributed to substantial criticism regarding the social and economic benefits that the international fisheries actually bring to the partners’ countries. In line with the overall objective of the FarFish project to ensure sustainability and profitability in EU fisheries outside of Europe, this report utilises the knowledge acquired across the different work packages in the FarFish project to identify challenges and opportunities for improvements in the FarFish case studies regarding governance structure, social and economic issues. This analysis is twofold: 1) identification of institutional challenges obstructing the achievement of the intended governance principles as expressed in the relevant fisheries agreements; 2) analysis of the processing and market strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the selected case studies, which are then summarized in the form of road maps, which visualize the pathways towards achieving the ambitions identified for the FarFish project.

FarFish is a H2020 project that aims to provide knowledge, tools and methods to support responsible, sustainable and profitable EU fisheries outside European waters. To achieve this, FarFish will develop practical, achievable and cost-effective fisheries management tools and advice. The work will be done in collaboration of scientists, policy makers, resource users and other stakeholders aimed to improve fisheries management competences. A key output of the project are case specific Management Recommendations (MRs) that are based on Results-Based Management (RBM) principles in line with the Responsive Fisheries Management System (RFMS) approach, which was developed in the FP7 project EcoFishMan. The fisheries included in FarFish are in the high-seas areas of the SW-Atlantic Ocean (FAO area 41) and the SE-Atlantic Ocean (FAO area 47); as well as in the waters of Cape Verde, Senegal, Mauritania and the Seychelles. In line with the RFMS approach, the engagement of stakeholders is highly prioritized in the project. Wide variety of stakeholders have been contacted throughout the first year of the project in order to contribute to the development of the MRs. The first multi-stakeholder physical meeting was held in Vigo, Spain, on the 26th -27th of June 2018. The meeting was titled “Strengthening fisheries sustainability outside EU” and was the official MR kick-off meeting. This document reports on that meeting. The aim of the meeting was to discuss stakeholders’ interests and needs, related to how they can contribute to the development of the MRs, while improving the sustainability of the fishery of the EU fleet fishing in distant waters. The current status of the work in the different FarFish working groups and case studies were presented to inform the attendants on issueslike “where are we”, “what are the options” and “what do we need”. Despite all challenges in culture, language and interest/needs, progress was made on important issues in the project. Having representatives from both EU and China, as well as authorities from countries that haves signed Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPA) with the EU around the table was one important step towards strengthening EU fisheries sustainability outside EU waters. With relevance to the high-seas case studies, representatives from both the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences (CAFS) and the Long Distance Advisory Council (LDAC) presented their views on the high-seas fisheries. LDAC emphasized the need for a level playing field for fishing operators from EU and nonEU countries, ensuring that all fleets abide by the same international rules and regulations. CAFS highlighted the challenges and main policies that apply to the Chinese distant water fleet and want to contribute actively towards goals aiming towards a more sustainable fishery. To ensure the best utilization of stakeholders’ knowledge and contribution, the participants from similar case studies separated into two working groups. In light of the communicated interests and needs of stakeholders, potential Outcome Targets (OTs) and management recommendations were drafted. Defining OTs is challenging as they are to be initially defined by authorities and implemented by operators, but through the cooperation of both authorities and operators, FarFish has now succeeded in drafting OTs that most stakeholders took part in the discussions of, which in accordance to the RFMS approach should ensure successful implementation of the MRs. The fruitful discussionsin this meeting emphasize that this exercise can be thought provoking. Work Package 3 (WP3) and Work Package 4 (WP4) drafted potential alternative scenarios after the meeting, based on outcomes of the meeting, the MP0 (see D4.1), and OTs presented in MR Invitations (see D3.2). It is however, obvious that many management strategies will achieve a given OT, when the set indicators are yes/no or present/absent. In those cases, the need for modelling of scenarios is redundant.

The EU is obliged to ensure sustainable utilization of the fisheries’ resources to which EU fleets have access to, both in the high seas and through bilateral agreements, based on the principles of good economic and social governance. This is mainly done through cooperation with Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and national authorities in partnership countries to improve knowledge and management of the fisheries. Inadequate governance of these fisheries can hinder the goal of sustainable utilization of fisheries’ resources, resulting in suboptimal or over-exploitation of shared and straddling fish stocks. On the other hand, limited knowledge regarding the processing and market conditions in partner coastal states has contributed to substantial criticism regarding the social and economic benefits that the international fisheries actually bring to the partners’ countries. In line with the overall objective of the FarFish project to ensure sustainability and profitability in EU fisheries outside of Europe, this report utilises the knowledge acquired across the different work packages in the FarFish project to identify challenges and opportunities for improvements in the FarFish case studies regarding governance structure, social and economic issues. This analysis is twofold: 1) identification of institutional challenges obstructing the achievement of the intended governance principles as expressed in the relevant fisheries agreements; 2) analysis of the processing and market strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the selected case studies, which are then summarized in the form of road maps, which visualize the pathways towards achieving the ambitions identified for the FarFish project.

More than 20% of the European fishing fleets catches are taken from non-European waters. Access to these waters is often based on agreements with coastal states that allow the EU fleet to fish from surplus stocks in return for financial support. These agreements have been subjected to criticism, as these fisheries are sometimes poorly regulated and management decisions are often based on limited knowledge, compliance, and enforcement capabilities. It is also too often the case that trust between stakeholders is lacking. The aim of the FarFish project is to overcome these hurdles. The FarFish project is designed around six case study areas in which the European fleet is actively engaged in fishing activities, including Cape Verde, Mauritania, Senegal and Seychelles, as well as the international high-seas areas in the southeast and southwest Atlantic. Among the Research & Innovation outputs of the FarFish project is a development of a management approach where the management authorities and the resource users come to an agreement on some key objectives and how to meet them. This approach is designed to reduce micromanagement by involving stakeholders and increase the degree of co-management by delegating management responsibilities to resource users. The process is broken into a number of steps, which include a) the provision of guidelines on how to develop so called management recommendations (MRs), b) provision of an invitation from the authorities to the resource users to develop MRs, where overall objectives are established, c) development of MRs, d) third party audit of the MR, where the success of the MR is evaluated. Draft guidelines and MR invitations have been published, and this report compiles the first proposals for MRs for each of the FarFish case studies. These will then be audited by an independent auditor and the whole process will then be re-iterated. The aim is that by the end of the project, we will have a tested / validated approach for how to manage fisheries in cocreation between authorities and resource users.

FarFish is a H2020 project that aims to provide knowledge, tools and methods to support responsible, sustainable and profitable EU fisheries outside European waters. To achieve this, FarFish will develop practical, achievable and cost-effective fisheries management tools and advice. The work will be done in collaboration of scientists, policy makers, resource users and other stakeholders aimed to improve fisheries management competences. A key output of the project are case specific Management Recommendations (MRs) that are based on Results-Based Management (RBM) principles in line with the Responsive Fisheries Management System (RFMS) approach, which was developed in the FP7 project EcoFishMan. The fisheries included in FarFish are in the high-seas areas of the SW-Atlantic Ocean (FAO area 41) and the SE-Atlantic Ocean (FAO area 47); as well as in the waters of Cape Verde, Senegal, Mauritania and the Seychelles. In line with the RFMS approach, the engagement of stakeholders is highly prioritized in the project. Wide variety of stakeholders have been contacted throughout the first year of the project in order to contribute to the development of the MRs. The first multi-stakeholder physical meeting was held in Vigo, Spain, on the 26th -27th of June 2018. The meeting was titled “Strengthening fisheries sustainability outside EU” and was the official MR kick-off meeting. This document reports on that meeting. The aim of the meeting was to discuss stakeholders’ interests and needs, related to how they can contribute to the development of the MRs, while improving the sustainability of the fishery of the EU fleet fishing in distant waters. The current status of the work in the different FarFish working groups and case studies were presented to inform the attendants on issueslike “where are we”, “what are the options” and “what do we need”. Despite all challenges in culture, language and interest/needs, progress was made on important issues in the project. Having representatives from both EU and China, as well as authorities from countries that haves signed Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPA) with the EU around the table was one important step towards strengthening EU fisheries sustainability outside EU waters. With relevance to the high-seas case studies, representatives from both the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences (CAFS) and the Long Distance Advisory Council (LDAC) presented their views on the high-seas fisheries. LDAC emphasized the need for a level playing field for fishing operators from EU and nonEU countries, ensuring that all fleets abide by the same international rules and regulations. CAFS highlighted the challenges and main policies that apply to the Chinese distant water fleet and want to contribute actively towards goals aiming towards a more sustainable fishery. To ensure the best utilization of stakeholders’ knowledge and contribution, the participants from similar case studies separated into two working groups. In light of the communicated interests and needs of stakeholders, potential Outcome Targets (OTs) and management recommendations were drafted. Defining OTs is challenging as they are to be initially defined by authorities and implemented by operators, but through the cooperation of both authorities and operators, FarFish has now succeeded in drafting OTs that most stakeholders took part in the discussions of, which in accordance to the RFMS approach should ensure successful implementation of the MRs. The fruitful discussions in this meeting emphasize that this exercise can be thought provoking. Work Package 3 (WP3) and Work Package 4 (WP4) drafted potential alternative scenarios after the meeting, based on outcomes of the meeting, the MP0 (see D4.1), and OTs presented in MR Invitations (see D3.2). It is however, obvious that many management strategies will achieve a given OT, when the set indicators are yes/no or present/absent. In those cases, the need for modelling of scenarios is redundant., This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 727891.

FarFish is a H2020 project that aims to provide knowledge, tools and methods to support responsible, sustainable and profitable EU fisheries outside European waters. To achieve this, FarFish will develop practical, achievable and cost-effective fisheries management tools and advice. The work will be done in collaboration of scientists, policy makers, resource users and other stakeholders aimed to improve fisheries management competences. A key output of the project are case specific Management Plan Recommendations (MPRs) that are based on Results-Based Management (RBM) principles in line with the Responsive Fisheries Management System (RFMS) approach, which was developed in the FP7 project EcoFishMan. The fisheries included in FarFish are in the high-seas areas of the SW-Atlantic Ocean (FAO area 41) and the SE-Atlantic Ocean (FAO area 47); as well as in the waters of Cape Verde, Senegal, Mauritania and the Seychelles. In line with the RFMS approach, the engagement of stakeholders is highly prioritized in the project. Wide variety of stakeholders have been contacted throughout the first year of the project in order to contribute to the development of the MPRs. The first multi-stakeholder physical meeting was held in Vigo, Spain, on the 26th -27th of June 2018. The meeting was titled “Strengthening fisheries sustainability outside EU” and was the official MPR kick-off meeting. This document reports on that meeting. The aim of the meeting was to discuss stakeholders’ interests and needs, related to how they can contribute to the development of the MPRs, while improving the sustainability of the fishery of the EU fleet fishing in distant waters. The current status of the work in the different FarFish working groups and case studies were presented to inform the attendants on issueslike “where are we”, “what are the options” and “what do we need”. Despite all challenges in culture, language and interest/needs, progress was made on important issues in the project. Having representatives from both EU and China, as well as authorities from countries that haves signed Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPA) with the EU around the table was one important step towards strengthening EU fisheries sustainability outside EU waters. With relevance to the high-seas case studies, representatives from both the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences (CAFS) and the Long Distance Advisory Council (LDAC) presented their views on the high-seas fisheries. LDAC emphasized the need for a level playing field for fishing operators from EU and nonEU countries, ensuring that all fleets abide by the same international rules and regulations. CAFS highlighted the challenges and main policies that apply to the Chinese distant water fleet and want to contribute actively towards goals aiming towards a more sustainable fishery. To ensure the best utilization of stakeholders’ knowledge and contribution, the participants from similar case studies separated into two working groups. In light of the communicated interests and needs of stakeholders, potential Outcome Targets (OTs) and management recommendations were drafted. Defining OTs is challenging as they are to be initially defined by authorities and implemented by operators, but through the cooperation of both authorities and operators, FarFish has now succeeded in drafting OTs that most stakeholders took part in the discussions of, which in accordance to the RFMS approach should ensure successful implementation of the MPRs. The fruitful discussionsin this meeting emphasize that this exercise can be thought provoking. Work Package 3 (WP3) and Work Package 4 (WP4) drafted potential alternative scenarios after the meeting, based on outcomes of the meeting, the MP0 (see D4.1), and OTs presented in MPR Invitations (see D3.2). It is however, obvious that many management strategies will achieve a given OT, when the set indicators are yes/no or present/absent. In those cases, the need for modelling of scenarios is redundant.

The overarching objective of the FarFish project is to provide knowledge, tools and methods to support responsible, sustainable and profitable EU fisheries outside European waters, both within the jurisdiction of non-EU nations as well as international waters. To achieve this, FarFish aims to develop practical, achievable and cost-effective fisheries management tools and advice. Among those tools are user-friendly guidelines on how to create management recommendations (MRs) within these fisheries, which builds on the concepts of results-based management, where responsibility for fisheries management is to a point transferred to resource users, provided that they meet with necessary requirements set forth by the authorities. The FarFish project is designed to go through two iterations when designing and validating this approach, where first version guidelines for making MRs are developed, they are then tested by applying them to the FarFish CSs and the MRs are then audited by an independent third party. This report gives a summary of the audit in the first iteration. The audit will be used to improve the guidelines and ultimately the second version of the MRs. The audit builds on the Audit Framework developed in the FP7 project EcoFishMan. The audit aims to create a basis for improving the guidelines for making MRs, the MR invitations and the MRs developed in the next iteration of the project, through a planned, independent, and documented evaluation to determine whether the MR is being implemented as agreed. The role of the auditor is to evaluate whether the contract between the authority and the operator has been fulfilled, in the sense that the outcome targets listed in the MR have been achieved. In this first audit, the MR for each case study is audited ex-ante, focusing on measuring the results of the MR, based on the indicators set for each of the outcome targets Two tasks are performed by the auditor at this stage, to conform with the provided documentation system and if data is available, and conduct a sensitivity analysis to establish a baseline for the evaluation of the performance in the second version of the MR. All together the audit should provide a basis to improve and advance in the developed of the MRs in the next iteration of the FarFish project, enabling the operators to improve management goals and implementation strategies, tailoring management strategies to comply with policy requirements, while advancing their own objectives and making use of local knowledge and resources. Enabling responsive management with a clear documentation system and audit framework that allow for timely interventions and adaptive management.