Role of the Secretariat The Secretariat will be responsible for the co-ordination and enhancement of research and networking activities within MariFish. Specifically –Communication with the Commission (including the preparation of periodic reports) –Communication between Partners –Oversight of the management of MariFish (including work flow and scheduling of work, oversight of budgets and payments to partners, and the dissemination of information)

Financial arrangements The Secretariat will make payments directly to partners on a 6- monthly basis. The first payment will be made as soon as all of the necessary documentation has been received (Signed Form A and Consortium Agreement, bank details, and proof of Audit arrangements). Payments will be based on the budget profiles which you have all received, but may be amended based on actual spend as reported by the partners to the Secretariat throughout the life of MariFish.

Internal Reporting Partners will be required to report on their progress to the Secretariat on a quarterly basis (every 3-months). The frequency of this reporting will be reviewed after the first year. The Secretariat will produce a short reporting template for this purpose, and will be seeking information on work carried out, progress against targets and an overview of finances. The Secretariat will be compiling all of the key information from these reports, and producing a summary (dashboard) for the entire project, which will be available to all partners on the MariFish website.

Reporting to the Commission Reports to the Commission will be compiled by the Secretariat, but will require input from all partners. The reporting periods are –P1: 1-18 Months –P2: months –P3: months (last month of the project) For each reporting period we will be required to submit –Overview of activities and progress towards targets –Updated plan for the remainder of the project –Justification of resources distributed to each partner (Form C) –Audit statements (end of P1 and P3 only)