Case study GIFS project: Hastings

Hastings Case study

Hastings Case Study Introduction

Hastings is one of Britain's oldest fishing ports with boats launched from the beach from an area known as the Stade for over 1000 years. Once a medieval Cinque port, today it is home to one of the largest beach launched fishing fleets in Europe (approximately 23 boats in 2014). All the boats are under ten metre inshore vessels. Hastings is a mixed fisheries with MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certification for its Dover Sole, Mackerel and Herring fisheries. Hastings is an urban coastal town situated on the southeast coast of England (See Figure 2). It has a rich historical and cultural history, including its association with nearby Battle and the 11th Century Norman Conquest. This was followed by many centuries as a successful fishing town and the 19th century emergence as a popular and affluent Victorian spa resort. Sadly this was followed by a well-documented economic decline from the mid 20th century onwards. Hastings is ranked in the 2010 Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) as the 19th most deprived district in England. Hastings has sought to address pockets of social and economic deprivation through intensive government and community led regeneration interventions over the last twenty years. Efforts to reverse this decline with regard to the fleet and fishing community (which faces challenges of rising fuel and license costs, reduced quotas, an ageing demographic, risk of reduced fishing grounds and limited numbers of new industry entrants) has manifest in an ongoing fishing quarter cultural regeneration programme, and in 2010/11 with the town securing European FLAG (Fisheries Local Action Group) funding. This is an important context for fisheries governance integration within wider local development planning and an important motivation for applying the GIFS methods here in order to capture a comprehensive evidence base to help inform that planning.

Each of the methods in the diagram above was developed by a different GIFS partner and applied in collaboration with Hastings fishing community stakeholders via the HFPS (Hastings Fishermen’s Protection Society) and/or the FLAG (Fisheries Local Action Group). The importance of community participation in the support, co-design and/or delivery of these methods is paramount to the success of their use in addressing each Research Question (RQ). The findings help inform a more holistic approach to fisheries management that takes better account of social and cultural values, as well as ensuring IF is better integrated into coastal and marine planning and wider economic development strategies. The objective is to provide a robust set of findings for policymakers and stakeholders that reflect the total value and different ways in which IF contribute to sustainable coastal communities. Note: Figure 1 indicates the GIFS partner that led the research in Hastings and does not indicate those partners who conducted the same methods elsewhere. For more detail on how to apply each method see Chapters 3-6 in the GIFS toolkit: http://www.gifsproject.eu/en/results/toolkit-products.

What difference have the GIFS methods and resulting findings made to Inshore Fishing in Hastings?

The box below highlights example benefits to the Hastings fleet of applying these methods and their findings. However, it is important to note the impact of the findings indicated below do not cover the long-term value to the fleet of this engagement with GIFS (such as the now established knowledge exchange partnership with the Municipality of Middelburg), but rather provide a snap-shot of the benefits to date and early application of findings.

Box 1. Example benefits to the Hastings fleet & wider town of GIFS methods

1. They have further embedded the value of fisher knowledge in local regeneration (via alternative education and participatory methods) and marine planning decision-making (via sea-bed filming).

2. Guidance on good practice in collaborative fisheries/local community governance has helped shape FLAG strategic planning.

3. Cross-border knowledge and resources exchange to develop the education model which improves the effectiveness of this offer and helps secure this as an alternative income stream.

4. A new tailored online local tourism survey has been developed & piloted with the Hastings FLAG, local council, University of Brest and University of Brighton following the success of GIFS survey results.

5. Participatory methods have highlighted the potential for and resulted in planned community action to replicate these methods to involve voices rarely heard in marine planning from particularly deprived areas of the town.