A digital technology system developed by FAO and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has begun to transform data collection and the management of fisheries and aquaculture in the country.

The Fisheries Directorate of the Saudi Ministry of Environment Water and Agriculture (MoEWA) worked with FAO to develop the new technology which enables the government to speed up the collection and review of data and statistics across the sector. A mobile application is now helping fisheries officials, fish farmers, fishers and others to instantly upload their data and information which is automatically analysed by statistical software. “This is a significant innovation because it provides authorities with the latest statistics without the costly operations of a manual system,” said Pedro Guemes FAO Technical Adviser and fisheries expert.