“It has been stated recently that environmental data are becoming increasingly important in the scientific assessment of fish stocks. The sad truth is that environmental data were always important. Just, that they were ignored or disregarded for many years, and only now the official science starts getting aware that it cannot persist on basing itself on models considering fishing being the only factor affecting stock dynamics.
The best way to make the Beta data useful is to employ/finance one or more MS or PhD students, who would analyze the data and then synthesize in a cross-disciplinary manner, while correlating them with any external (not included in the data) environmental and climatic shifts and fluctuations, to achieve better understanding of what controls the Faroese groundfish resources and how (this should include also the effect of changes in fishing pressure as caused by market situation). In short, this would be a combined effort in fishery oceanography and economics.
I wouldn’t, therefore, rely on the hope for international researchers to do real work on Beta’s data. They all have their own agendas, budgetary limitations, etc. I’d think of the Faroes’ own industry circles, perhaps jointly with Danish, Icelandic, and Norwegian, to create a fund for such an endeavor. In such case, I’d volunteer to help with working plan, terms-of-reference, and some guidance.
Menakhem Ben-Yami, Dr hc
International independent fisheries expert