Covid-19 driven job losses across the Pacific islands and Territories (PICT’s) have resulted in increased levels of fishing in coastal systems as families endeavour to keep food on the table. Understanding the full extent of this sharp and sustained increase in resource extraction levels requires targeted, accurate and persistent data collection programs and a significant baseline from which to make appropriate comparisons. Unfortunately, the quality of existing data and data collection programs is extremely variable across the PICT’s from an already low base. Continuing with a business-as-usual approach will not suddenly improve this situation hence a re-boot of approaches to coastal fisheries data collection is urgently needed. SPC as a primary provider of technical advice and support in the coastal fisheries realm has invested significant time and resources over the past 2 years to develop an electronically-based system focussed on the collection of a small subset of key fisheries indicators and presented as a model for a standardised approach to collection, curation, analysis and reporting of coastal fisheries data sufficient to make informed management decisions around coastal fisheries stocks. We present here the rationale for our approach, a brief talk-through of our system, and how we see it as a core building block that can be scaled-up in complexity and power through the addition of other complementary blocks, according to capacity and funding.
For more information, visit https://www.spc.int/events/solutions-to-dealing-with-a-data-poor-world-in-coastal-fisheries
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