Feasibility Study for a Survey of Fishers

The promotion and development of a thriving fishing industry - that sustains livelihoods whilst sustainably exploiting marine resources - requires the development of social objectives in fisheries policy alongside environmental and economic objectives. In turn, these social objectives must be informed by a strong social science evidence base. Existing evidence is largely economic, with a focus on employment and a number of socio-demographic variables collected to comply with requirements under the EU Data Collection Framework (DCF). While this data has proved a useful starting point, there are significant gaps in understanding of the broader social issues affecting fishing communities. Data that includes socio-psychological measures of fishers, such as attitudes, knowledge, perceptions, values, and motivations driving behaviour, would be a valuable asset for both policy makers and industry stakeholders. Through a combination of desk based reviews and stakeholder consultation via interviews and workshops, the project aimed to understand the extent to which a new social survey of fishers could add value to the existing evidence base and begin to identify areas of consensus on social data needs. Discussions, recognising that fishers are a hard to reach group, explored alternative approaches for implementing a survey, in terms of sampling and data collection strategies. As the project progressed, it became clear that any new social survey is likely to be more successful if designed and deployed collaboratively between government, researchers and fishing stakeholders. Indeed, stakeholders indicated that a survey that is jointly designed, funded and delivered, would achieve better response rates and support from fishers. The project team therefore sought to develop a framework for a co-produced survey that would actively involve a variety of stakeholders from policy makers through to fishers themselves.