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The Isles of Scilly are host to a unique and biologically diverse marine environment that supports wildlife, a small-scale fishery and a significant recreation and tourism economy. The aim of the project is to develop the underpinning research to ensure that the Isles of Scilly has healthy seas which support the wide range of ecosystem functions and services alongside a sustainable and viable fishing industry. Through combining effort across the ecological and social-economic sciences the team will develop decision support tools for the IFCA.

These tools will characterise the marine environment; identify how the fisheries and other parts of the economy (e.g. recreation and tourism) are linked to the ‘condition’ of these habitats; document the (present and future) threats to key functional habitats; predict the likelihood of change and; demonstrate the potential scale of impact on ecology, economy and society. This project creates the opportunity for the IFCA to trial a new approach to management, allowing decisions to be based on a wider understanding of benefits and impacts and improving co-ordination between authorities and organisations with roles and responsibilities in managing the marine environment.