WSB 17/5.2/2 Swimway 2
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Agenda Item: 5.2
Subject: Swimway
Document No. WSB 17/5.2/2
Date: 27 May 2016
Submitted by: CWSS
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Attached is a short progress report on developments with regard to the preparation of a proposal for a Swimway project
Proposal: The meeting is invited to to endorse this approach and to instruct TG-MM to discuss the proposal in detail and to start investigating possibilities for financial support for the coming years.
Towards a Trilateral Swimway Strategy
Background
In § 28 of the Tønder Declaration it was agreed to
“Acknowledge the importance of fish for the Wadden Sea ecosystem and
therefore instruct the WSB to work on the further implementation of the trilateral fish targets of the Wadden Sea Plan.”
As a first step towards the further implementation of the fish targets, as well as to collect and analyse material for the 2016 QSR, the CWSS, the Programme towards a Rich Wadden Sea (PRW) and the Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries (TI) conducted a workshop focusing on the “Conservation Management of Fish Populations in the Wadden Sea” at the TI in Hamburg on January 8-9 2015.
The workshop unanimously recommended investigating the option of developing a so-called trilateral “Swimway Vision”, in analogy to the flyway-vision, as an integrated trilateral approach to implementing the fish targets, through investigating, monitoring, managing and communicating Wadden Sea fish ecology matters. The Swimway Vision should focus on both migratory species, such as the sturgeon, and important commercial species such as the herring.
The aim should be to have the Swimway Vision signed by all involved stakeholders at the 2018 Wadden Sea Conference.
The recommendations of the workshop were submitted to WSB-13 via TG-MM. WSB appreciated the idea of developing a Swimway Vision and instructed TG-MM to elaborate a more detailed proposal on the basis of the full report of the workshop.
In the course of 2015 work on developing a more detailed proposal was carried out by PRW with the support of the CWSS.
In February 2016 a second trilateral workshop was held in Hamburg at which several central elements of a Swimway Strategy were discussed, in particular which stakeholders to involve, for which species to develop showcases and which gaps in knowledge to address.
PRW is currently working on a detailed proposal for the elaboration of a Swimway program. The aim of the proposal is to present a solid program at the ministerial meeting in 2018 and have the Swimway program signed by all involved stakeholders, including managers in the field, the fisheries sector, water authorities, researchers, NGO’s and local and regional authorities, at the 2018 Wadden Sea Conference. After 2018 the program can be executed in the period 2018-2024.
Proposed approach and content program Swimway 2018-2024
During the period 2016-2018 the following elements of the program 2018-2024 will be elaborated:
- Fish targets: development of applicable indicators for monitoring fish targets
- For the five in Hamburg 2016 selected guilds and their representing Flagship species[1]
o Assessment existing knowledge, research, monitoring, and identification of gaps, proposals for filling them
o Assessment of existing policies and required additional actions
o Identification of measures to conserve or enhance the population
o Education and communication to enhance stakeholder involvement and political commitment
o Showcases, that can be demonstrated at the 2018 Conference; These should be equally divided over the three involved countries.
The proposal also contains a trilateral project structure for the period 2016-2018, an approach for stakeholder participation during the development of the program and estimation of costs for elaboration the program, which will partly be covered by PRW and which will partly have to be provided by the trilateral partners. Special attention will be paid to gaining political support for the program in the three countries.
It will furthermore be investigated whether each of the trilateral partners can be made responsible for one or two of the proposed showcases.
[1]Marine juvenile migrants (MJ) (Proposed flagship specie: Herring), Estuarine residents (ER) (Proposed flagship specie: Flounder), Catadromous and anadromous migrants (CA) (Proposed flagship specie: Sea trout), Marine seasonal migrants (MSM) (Proposed flagship specie: Shark/Ray) Marine adventitious species (MA) (Proposed flagship specie: Anchovy), Marine adventitious species (MA) (Proposed flagship specie: Anchovy)