FAO FishCode-STF – SEAFDEC Regional Workshop on the Improvement of Fishery Data and Information Collection Systems. 15-18 February 2005, Bali, Indonesia

OBJECTIVES OF THE WORKSHOP

The workshop was attended by some 50 participants from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore Laos PDR, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, staff members of SEAFDEC and the FishCode-STF project.

The major objective of the workshop was to improve fisheries data collection systems in the region to support:

• better policy development,
• better decision-making,
• and responsible fisheries management.

WORKSHOP REPORTS

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• Agenda
• Workshop proceedings

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RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE WORKSHOP ON STF

With the view to promote the implementation of the Strategy-STF, the Workshop discussed the regional synthesis of fishery statistics and data collection systems in the Southeast Asian region, and information requirements for sound policy-development, better decision-making and responsible fisheries management. Based on the above discussion, the Workshop identified future directions, considerations and immediate follow-up actions for the improvement of fishery statistics as follows:
- Results of the regional analyses and working group discussions indicate that existing fishery data collection systems in the region reflect traditional monitoring systems, focusing on total catch and value. To obtain information on status and trends of capture fisheries and to support development and implementation of sound and sustainable policies and management, both main objectives of CCRF and STF, more appropriate indicators (CPUE, species composition and fishing effort, etc.) are required.Although in nearly all countries in the Southeast Asian region some indicators are collected, it is still difficult to obtain reliable information needed for management and planning due to a variety of constraints.Estimated Catch per Unit of Effort (CPUE) and effective effort on a regular basis is the most commonly used method to describe trends in fisheries. For countries in the Southeast Asian region, implementation of fisheries management on the basis of analysis of status and trends requires the following actions:

• Evaluating how far direct measurement of CPUE and effective fishing effort are currently made by individual countries
• Indicating feasible and sustainable methods for direct measurement of CPUE and effective fishing effort, taking into account the characteristics of fisheries in the region
• Investigating how to progressively incorporate these feasible methods into national data and information collection systems.

FAO welcomes the initiative formulated by the Southeast Asian countries in their "Plan of Action on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security for the ASEAN region" on the use of practical and simple indicators for small-scale multi-species fisheries as a substitute for classical fisheries management models. This initiative is in line with the principles of the Strategy for improving information on status and trends of capture fisheries. The FAO FishCode-STF project actively supports the development and field-testing of such indicators and therefore calls for proposals from the Southeast Asian region.It has been recognized by COFI that small-scale fisheries are not being given due attention and are not well monitored. For the Southeast Asia region this was confirmed by the regional synthesis presented. The Strategy-STF outlines the importance of monitoring this sector particularly in the socio economic aspects. It is therefore recommended to improve the monitoring of small-scale multi-species fisheries by:

• Actively developing and implementing multi-sectoral approaches, including socio-economics and livelihood aspects, for data collection and analysis;
• Raising awareness on the importance of small-scale fisheries among all stakeholders involved in the sector.

The FAO FishCode-STF project actively supports the development of sustainable methods of multi sectoral monitoring of small-scale fisheries and calls for proposals from the Southeast Asian region for pilot projects. Some information to support the development of fisheries policy and management in majority of countries in the Southeast Asian region is available from non-fishery institutions. The regional analyses and the discussions during the working group sessions indicated that the existing fishery-independent information and data collection systems that could be useful for fisheries management purposes are not fully exploited. It is recommended to improve the use of such information through:

• Actively participating in the designing of such collection systems to ensure the inclusion of information of direct relevance to the fisheries sector;
• Enhancing cooperation with non-fishery institutions on data exchange and applied methodologies;
• Making use, when appropriate, of fishery-independent data or information to formulate data collection strategy and methods in the fisheries sector.

The Strategy-STF outlines the importance of capacity building of developing countries, which need to be enhanced so that they can fulfil existing commitments to collect fisheries statistics and to conduct fisheries research. The regional analysis indicates that, in the Southeast Asian region, some countries have advanced monitoring systems while others are just starting to develop their systems. It is therefore recommended to make use of the regional expertise for capacity building. Recommended actions described above are in line with the main activities envisaged by the FAO FishCode-STF Project, and will therefore be supported in close coordination with on-going and planned SEAFDEC activities. The Workshop recommended that the regional synthesis of the fishery data and information collection systems in the Southeast Asian region finalized in consultation with the Southeast Asian Countries will be published by FAO FishCode-STF Project for future reference.