The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is pleased to announce the two winners in the latest round of its scholarship program, which aims to further develop knowledge and understanding of fishery science and management.

Josu De Isusi Rivero, an MSc student in marine biology at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, will be examining the role of seafood market incentives on the sustainable uses of fishery resources in developing world countries.  

Fanny Vessaz, an MSc student in marine biodiversity and conservation at the Federal University of Paraná in Brazil, will be assessing bycatch reduction devices in the southern Brazilian artisanal seabob shrimp trawl fishery.

Josu and Fanny were among 40 other students who submitted proposals, which ranged from cuttlefish stock dynamics in the English Channel and lifecycle assessment of Icelandic fisheries, to the shrimp supply chain in Sri Lanka and the impact of fungi produced mycotoxins on cultured South African abalone.

David Agnew, standards director, MSC, said: "The calibre of student scholarship proposals this time was particularly high, which made the judging process that much harder, but it is very encouraging to see so much positive research taking place."

The students will receive funding of up to £4,000 to support their research projects in 2014. As part of the scholarship program, Josu and Fanny will regularly update the MSC on their progress and a paper detailing their completed work, which will be published by the MSC.

A previous MSC scholarship student, Giulia Gorelli, from the Institut de Ciències del Mar in Barcelona, has featured in the second volume of the MSC Science Series, which publishes key science that contributes to the global understanding on fisheries. Her research on management strategies will help ensure the deep-sea red shrimp fishery in Catalonia, north-east Spain, will remain sustainable.