CEFAS26-107 Contract for Support Services to the Coastal Health Programme

Following on from the work delivered in the pilot phase of the Coastal Health programme, The Association of Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCA) has been selected to support delivery of core requirements as follows:

1. Work with all IFCAs to review, update and test protocols and tools to improve our preparedness, response and intelligence gathering processes, and trial their implementation at a national scale. This will include advising Cefas in the development of a scenario testing exercise, and attending preparatory meetings to ensure IFCA processes are adequately captured and tested in this exercise

Actions:

• Continue to circulate and receive input from IFCAs on the protocols and guidance.
• Set up an external shared drive with protocols, guidance and training material.
• Run through a scenario testing exercise with the IFCA Technical Advisory Group, Chief Officers Group and the National Inshore Marine Enforcement Group.
• Run through protocols and guidance at the IFCA Training Course in Brixham in February.
• Promote the work of the Coastal Health programme at relevant national conferences attended by AIFCA (including Coastal Futures and SAGB).

2. Building on work started by the AIFCA, create stakeholder maps for each IFCA district of their key local and regional fisheries and environmental stakeholder groups, including a database of contacts.

Actions:

• Work with all IFCAs to pull together lists of stakeholders in each IFCA district, including contact details, and pull together into stakeholder maps.
• Continue to engage with the Coastal Partnerships Network to build on stakeholder mapping across England.

3. Key representation for the AIFCA in attendance at the Coastal and Marine Health programme board every two months. Provide updates into the PgB pack. Attendance at CHEPARD and other Coastal Health meetings.

Actions:

• Attendance at meetings and sending over progress updates.
• Production of reports every 2 months to be delivered to the PgB.

4. Facilitating engagement with local IFCA's and industry stakeholder groups. This will consist of at least three planned engagement sessions:

a) To present and discuss Coastal Health work on cockles and mussel mortalities in the Wash estuary, with industry representatives and EIFCA officers.

b) To present and discuss the cockle baseline study led last year to relevant industry representatives and IFCA officers, Location TBC.

c) To set up a pilot 'Changing seas' study in an IFCA district (e.g. Sussex), to understand local community perspectives on changing species distribution and abundance in key fisheries.

Actions:

• Work with Eastern IFCA to to present on Cefas cockle work to stakeholders. This will include organisation of the meeting (or facilitation of other means of engagement), producing information to circulate, and travel time.
• Similar to above for second workshop presenting cockle baseline study.
• Changing Seas study

o Work with Cefas to develop design of surveys and interviews for the study.

o To work with an IFCA (e.g. Sussex) and local partners to reach out to local fishermen and wider community members.

o Conduct an engagement session or quayside interviews.

o Support write up and reviewing of final report.

o Support Cefas with scoping national study for next financial year 2027-28.

As needed, ad hoc meetings may be set up to engage with stakeholders' groups in the event of adverse coastal health events