Marine fisheries provide protein for more than 3 billion people worldwide, provide employment opportunities for more than 200 million people, and make significant contributions to people’s livelihoods, food security and well-being. However, due to climate change, overfishing, habitat destruction, marine environmental pollution and eutrophication, global fishery resources — including Chinese fisheries — are facing a serious decline. Read More
By Berenice García and Rafael Ortiz
Digital technology can be a powerful ally to sustainable fishing. Diverse experiences around the world have shown it can improve fisheries management — sustainably and cost-effectively.
In the Mexican fishing sector, these technologies are still in a developmental and exploratory stage, yet the experience for Mexican hake producers in the Gulf of California is already showing promising results for both fishers and the environment. Read More
MD Blue Crab Design Team member and active EM pilot project participant, David Kirwin, uses a tablet to submit daily harvest reports from his boat
Photo Credit: Ward Slacum
Discussion about innovation, trends and shortfalls in fisheries monitoring tends to focus on large, off-shore fisheries in New England, Alaska and the Pacific. Those regions are home to multi-species fisheries, with complex biological interactions, and are targeted by large boats that result in sizeable discards of “non-target” fish. Monitoring technologies, both human and electronic, are essential to reduce this waste. Smaller scale fisheries, however, have just as much need for improved electronic monitoring and accountability measures.
Not surprisingly, blue crab is the most valuable fishery in the Chesapeake Bay. And it’s about as complex as they come. More than 7,000 watermen deploy small boats from thousands of waterfront access points and are regulated by three different management jurisdictions, all of which use antiquated reporting systems.
As reported on this blog before, commercial crabbers in Maryland have tested mobile technologies, like smart phones and tablets, to report and verify daily harvest. In 2012 and 2013, volunteers used these various technologies and provided constructive feedback to Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) to improve its monitoring and reporting system. Overall, participants in the two-year pilot are pleased with mobile technology tools and the web-based reporting platform, which along with dockside spot checks, have improved reporting accuracy and timeliness, according to fisheries managers. As part of the 2013 pilot, fisheries managers offered limited regulatory flexibility for pilot volunteers in order to encourage participation and demonstrate how improved accountability can lead to streamlined regulations. Read More
While winter around the Chesapeake Bay is known for oysters and striped bass, summertime means blue crabs. If you enjoyed steamed crabs from Maryland this summer, you may have consumed crabs harvested by watermen involved in a ground-breaking test of technology to improve long-term blue crab management.
The Maryland Blue Crab Accountability Pilot program – a collaborative effort among commercial watermen called the Blue Crab Design Team, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and other partners – was designed to test electronic daily harvest reporting in order to gather more accurate and timely harvest information. From mid-July through the end of Maryland’s commercial crabbing season in mid-November, some 50 commercial crabbers, ranging in age from 25 – 75, tested the use of hand-held technologies like cell phones, smartphones and tablets, to report blue crab harvest daily.
Sustainable fisheries management requires sound science and accurate harvest and effort information. Current reporting relies on monthly paper reports and manual data entry that can take months to process. Daily electronic harvest reporting can improve the accuracy of harvest data, and result in real-time harvest information for in-season management decision-making. Read More
