The Fisheries Management Science Programme (FMSP) was funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) between 1991 and 2006, and managed by 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.

The FMSP is arranged around five themes, comprised of eleven groups (clusters) of similar or related projects.

Product Theme

  1. Information to inform management-research and influence policy.
  2. Information requirements for including poor fishers in the assessment and management of their fisheries.
  3. Fisheries assessment methods to inform management.
  4. Pro-poor capture fisheries management strategies.
  5. Pro-poor enhancement fisheries management strategies.

Project Cluster

  1. Databases of information
  2. Livelihood appraisals
  3. Impacts of climate change
  4. Information requirements for fisheries management
  5. Stock assessment guidelines
  6. Bayesian stock assessment and management with limited data
  7. Generic management guidelines
  8. Control of foreign fisheries
  9. Floodplain fisheries management
  10. Enhancement of inland fisheries
  11. Enhancement of marine fisheries