Collaborating with Defra to communicate UK fisheries science

The UK’s fishing industry, NGOs, government and academia are now better informed about the role of research and collaboration in UK fisheries, thanks to our recent collaboration with the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Defra is working to deliver sustainable fisheries in the UK, through its Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs). These are evidence-based  plans, developed in collaboration with the fishing industry and other stakeholders, to help ensure fishing stocks are managed sustainably.

As part of this work, Defra engages with marine scientists and other stakeholders to address ‘Evidence Gaps’ across these different FMPs To support this science communication, the University of Exeter’s Green Futures Solutions team worked with Defra to deliver a national event and digital communications package, showcasing the current workstreams.

Science and FMPs Event

The ‘Science and FMPs’ event, held on 18^th March 2025 in London, shone a light on these research collaborations with a series of panels and talks, bringing this work to over 143 stakeholders. The event also included insight on the policy-science interface from Gideon Henderson (Chief Scientific Adviser, Defra) and David Carlin (Lead Marine and Fisheries Scientist, Defra).

Research and Development Projects Newsletter

To communicate how the active research programmes are contributing to Defra-led FMPs, Ben Dickenson Bampton and Dr Pamela Buchan interviewed marine biologists and social scientists from Defra, Cefas, JNCC, and Bangor University, before profiling their work in a digital newsletter.

The full newsletter is now available to view on Science Search – we have included a few snapshots below, to illustrate how our team brought the science to life.

Collaborative Process and Delivery

After the project finished, we heard positive feedback from our partners at Defra:

Katie St John Glew, Fisheries Science Advisor (Defra), said: “It has been such a pleasure working with the Green Futures Solutions team; the whole process has been extremely professional, organised, and calm. Both the newsletter and event were delivered to a high quality, and we have received a lot of great feedback. It has also been a really fun and enjoyable process.”

Speaking about the benefits this project delivered, Robbie Fisher, Policy Manager (Defra), said: “It was really great to showcase all that we’re doing, bring further transparency to the Evidence portfolio and offer some interesting insights and perspectives from different stakeholders.” Finally, Will Francis (Defra) summed up the event delivery as “very impressive and very professional – it was run so smoothly.”