The aim of GIFS was to promote the importance of inshore marine fishing for the development of sustainable coastal communities through an exploration & sharing of the socio-economic and cultural impacts of inshore marine fishing. This will was delivered through community engagement programmes, a demonstration project and the development of tools for policy makers including a Geography of Inshore Fishing Toolkit.

The objectives of GIFS were as follows:

• Contribute to sustainable development of fishing places by engaging policy makers and communities on the contribution that inshore marine fishing makes to integrated coastal development. Policy makers will actively contribute during the lifetime of the project and part of the project legacy will be a ‘Geography of Inshore Fishing Toolkit’.

• Understand the way that inshore marine fishing is incorporated into different governance frameworks across the study area. Understand and identify best practice in coastal zone governance and marine fishing throughout the study area.

• Explore the importance of inshore marine fishing to community life, place identity and cultural heritage. Enable the ‘voice’ and ‘pictures’ of community life to be shared in broader societal contexts and provide a framework for understanding diversity and shared experience of communities across the study area.

• Understand and capture the broader economic importance of inshore marine fishing for coastal communities including the relationship to tourism and regeneration.

• Communicate and disseminate the results of the project to a wide range of audiences (communities, elected representatives and policy holders) both within and beyond the programme study area.

• Use a fishery related economic regeneration programme in Arnemuiden as a demonstration project to show the importance of culture and heritage for regeneration across the common priority area.

Primary research was undertaken and data collected..
Throughout the project there were seven partner meetings. Several questionnaire/surveys were distributed, in-depth interviews took place in many locations, 3 workshops and 1 focus group took place, 11 in-depth case studies were completed , historical data was collected from public and archival records, 7 community photographic exhibitions 'People, Place and Fish' took place, professional and researcher photography was completed across the eligible area and those images have been displayed in a photographic exhibition 'Landscapes of Fishing' in three locations in UK, Belgium and Netherlands. In addition, a selection of the images from all partners have been prepared for an online gallery and used in the final outputs.
The streets of Arneumuiden were re-developed to make it more attractive for residents and to improve tourism in the area. For publicity purposes one fishery event was held and articles in several local magazines and newspapers were published. SMEs were supported to assist with the growth of the town for the future. Two PhD and one MPhil/PhD student progressed with completion expected after the conclusion of the project. Two traineeships were completed. The GIFS Toolkit which was published in September 2014.
Three GIFS newsletters have been published; the website has been continually developed.
Promotional leaflets, press releases, magazine contributions, a YouTube video, photo exhibitions have all been distributed and partners have presented their work at conferences, meetings and other events both to academic and stakeholder audiences. The addition of the TourFish cluster was another major dissemination tool by which the work of GIFS has been publicised more widely as have presentations at conferences and events outside of the eligible area. The project has generated increased interest from policy stakeholders such as Defra and the MMO.

1: Detailed case studies were developed and seven reports generated. Opportunities for inshore fisheries governance were identified and an agenda for integration, guiding principles, mechanisms and tools for developing collaborative and inclusive interaction governance models in inshore fisheries management were identified; key barriers to fishing community engagement in interactive multi-sector governance models were identified as well.
2: Five community exhibitions and three professional exhibitions were held and an extensive questionnaire survey implemented. Results were produced in a report that concluded an understanding of sense of place and the attachments that people form in fishing places can help develop more sustainable fisheries management policies. A final report was written and an online photography gallery developed. A range of academic papers are now being produced. Inshore fishing historical statistics were gathered to give a picture of the rise and fall of the fishing industry and results presented as part of the interactive map with methods being reported on in the toolkit. New business innovations were developed in the form of fisheries heritage inspired knitting designs.
3: Two reports were produced on economic aspects of inshore fisheries. An increased understanding of the market and non-market benefits of inshore fishing was achieved and the level of tourism demand generated by the presence of inshore fishing was revealed. One final report was produced on fisheries related education including guides for the delivery of education material. A demonstration project in Arnemuiden was completed as an example of heritage-led redevelopment. Work included improvements to the communal areas and street furnishings, a festival and support for SMEs and promotion of the village. The main result of the project was the GIFS Toolkit which has been widely disseminated by both hard copy and electronic version and an Interactive Map.

Activity 1: The target group was policy and decision makers in fisheries and the institutions responsible for delivering coastal zone management. The outputs were prepared to inform on governance decisions at European, Member State and regional levels. Stakeholder meetings and related conferences contributed to informing these parties.
Activity 2: Communities were engaged in sharing their views on the importance of inshore fishing from both within the fishing community and the wider residential community and businesses. The tourism industry has been engaged when sharing best practice and raising the profile of fishing places. Policy makers have benefited from an increased understanding of the issues that need to be dealt with in the development of coastal management strategies which have been referred to in stakeholder meetings, conferences, networking events. The work of Middelburg has developed new SMEs in Arnemuiden and raised the profile of fishing heritage and place identity.
Activity 3: Policy-makers have been engaged when disseminating the work on the broader economic value of fishing communities; presentations have been made at meetings and conferences. The fishing industry and its relation to professional organisations and committees have assisted with the collection of data and attended stakeholder meetings. The tourism industry has benefitted by being involved in identifiying tourism activities that are fishing-based and will help to promote/develop new products or services. Through engagement with local councils and alternative education providers new programmes have been established so that schools in fishing communities will benefit from new learning materials.

The aims of GIFS was to have created a Toolkit, developed an interactive map describing small-scale fishing communities, development of two main case studies in Arnemuiden and Hastings and the production of a coherent body of research that underpins our understanding of small scale fisheries. All of these outcomes have been delivered within the time span of the project, however the effects will only be developed and felt over time. Already the following policy related outcomes can be identified:

• Toolkit. The final toolkit has been translated into French and Dutch. In the UK the toolkit has been presented to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). They are interested in how the Toolkit might help to inform the development of marine spatial plans. The Toolkit is now being used by Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities. The New Economics Foundation (NEF) has expressed interest in the Toolkit and synergies with their New Blue Deal programme are being explored. Community engagement with the toolkit is continuing. In the UK the work carried out in the toolkit development is feeding into national debates about the identification of Cultural Ecosystem Services.

• The interactive atlas has received 20,000 hits in 2014. However, NEF have already commented that it will be a very useful resource and feels excited about its future development. Talks are already ongoing with FARNET about ways to build on the GIFS work and align future priorities with the development of a Fishers Village Network as part of an Atlantic cooperation project.

• The lessons learned in the case study work in Hastings and Arnemuiden are being transferred to other communities and there are future plans to develop these impacts much further through the creation of a SSF Trail / Network.

• The project results have been disseminated to LIFE (Low Impact Fishers of Europe) and more broadly internationally, particularly through the 2014 Small Scale Fisheries Congress in Mexico.

We feel that GIFS has made a good start in developing regional geographical perspective on inshore fisheries that ties that maritime activity in the Channel terrestrial activities in towns and villages. This geography has been captured through photography, social survey research, economic analysis, governance analysis as well as in depth case study development. This range of work just would not have been possible without the partnership working as a team. Each partner facilitated the work of other partners in their own country. This partner co-operation underpinned the success of the GIFS project and the creation of a Geography of Inshore Fishing and Toolkit.

GIFS work has been shared with the VALMER and PEGASUS projects.

• Spend time building a strong partnership, and ensure there are plenty of opportunities to allow partners to get to know each other

• Great graphics and images can really help to deliver your message to a broad audience

• Cross border networking provides excellent opportunities for bringing together stakeholders and expertise that can’t be achieved working in single countries alone

• Be prepared for the unexpected and learn to be flexible while also keeping a clear vision of the goals you are trying to achieve

Now that the project has ended, the website is still generating a high number of hits per month and this site will be maintained and added to via Coastal Wiki. The Toolkit is available electronically via the website. Future funding will be sought to build on areas of the work that took place throughout GIFS.
The results will have long lasting effects in areas such as the alternative education provision that was developed in Hastings, the materials built will be used to educate children in several fishing communities. The infrastructure work in Arnemuiden will have a long lasting effect, the village looks different and the community has been revived by residents and small businesses embracing the fishing heritage of the village and its people and as a result attracting new visitors.

Some of the partners are planning to continue to work in several of the areas that were initiated through GIFS. Some of the partners are currently working together on the TourFish cluster which takes the direction to a stronger toursim focus and a new funding grant application is being planned by the LP and will include some of the existing partners.
Existing results will continue to be disseminated through the activities of partners e.g. journal publications, conferences etc. New funding bids e.g. TourFish, INTERREG VA FCE programme.

The GIFS project has already formed a foundation for the development of a TourFish project. This has taken the work being carried out in the direction of Responsible Tourism and the economic, socio-cultural and environmental benefits that can be obtained by making better places for people to visit through community based approaches that make better places for people to live. This area will continue to be developed through a new INTERREG VA FCE bid called RENEW-COAST (Realising the Well-being of Coastal Communities through Responsible Tourism and Small-Scale Fisheries). There are plans to create a Fisheries Village Trail / Network building on the approaches developed in GIFS but adding in closer to market business, economic and educational development initiatives.
Links are being explored to try and make RENEW an integral part of a broader Fisheries Village Network being discussed as part of the Atlantic Action Plan (contacts through FARNET). It is hoped that the lessons learned as part of GIFS can be translated into wellbeing benefits in more communities WITHEN the common priority area and also to enable a blueprint of action that has broader European and international significance.