Our Purpose
FisheryStandards.org has been created to provide a free central repository of standards for fisheries management. Our website is also intended to be a gathering place for the exchange of ideas and information within the fisheries management community.
Why Have Standards Between Fisheries?
In the not-too-distant past, fisheries were usually the concern of the country or region in which fishing took place. Fishery managers operated in relative isolation and had little opportunity for close communication with managers of fisheries outside of their jurisdiction. At a political level, the success of a fishery was more closely tied to ecomonic benchmarks than conservation.
It was the dramatic decline or collapse of fisheries that served as a wake-up call to governments all over the world. These events provided stark evidence of the interconnected nature of marine ecosystems. As such, a new era of cooperation was formed. Today, fisheries managers and scientists attend international conferences and collaborate like never before. Data is constantly exchanged and initiatives such as expanded monitoring, electronic logbooks, and seafood traceability programs are springing-up.
Increases in the volume and scope of data that is collected, analyzed, and reported requires the development of specialized I.T. systems, often by external contractors at great cost. When various agencies have adopted data standards, they can collaborate on the development of I.T. systems. At the same time, third-party software vendors will have access to a larger potential client base. This in turn will encourage the development of "off-the-shelf" software that can be purchased and implemented by various fisheries management organizations at a fraction of the cost of traditional custom systems development.
In today's reality, fishery standards will provide a uniform context in which fisheries managers can communicate. The efficiency, effectiveness, and cost savings of such communication are greatly improved when fisheries managers share a unified and well documented set of terminology, data formats, and processes.
Our First Project
One of the core sets of data for fisheries management is the fishing trip. As such, the first initiative of FisheryStandards.org is to propose a standard format for fishing trip data. Such data starts with fishery, licence and vessel information, followed by departure details, fishing effort and catch data from the logbook, arrival at the dock/purchaser, and details of offloaded catch. The proposed standard provides for a core set of common data which can be extended, thus providing maximum flexibility for a wide variety of organizations.
Our Invitation to You
We invite all fishery management professionals to contribute to the fishing trip standard and to FisheryStandards.org in general via our forums. To contribute, simply follow these steps:
- Please start by downloading and reviewing the Proposed Fishing Trip XML Standard Document. You'll find links to the document and sample XML files on the Fishing Trip XML page of this website. Links to all pages are in the "Topics" box on the left side of each page.
- Each section of the document includes discussion points. The document sections and discussion points are reflected in our Fishing Trip XML Forums. Feel free to browse through the forums.
- Any visitor to FisheryStandards.org can view the forums, but you will need to register in order to add posts to the forums and respond to the posts of others. Please register via the link at the top of the forums page and please contribute to the discussions.
If you aren't familiar with XML, please don't assume that you are not qualified to contribute. The data that is to be captured for fishing trips is far more important than the technical details of the XML format. If fisheries management is part of your daily life, then your perspective and ideas are worth contributing.
Your Participation is Important
If you share our belief in the benefits of a central gathering place for fishery management standards and if you would enjoy being part of a global community of fisheries professionals, please register on our forums and let your voice be heard! Better yet, please refer your colleagues and friends in fisheries management to this new online community.
FisheryStandards.org is a brand new project. Its ongoing success will depend upon gathering a critical mass of members to generate discussion, lively debate, and the sharing of ideas for the advancement of fisheries management around the world.
