All over the world, declining fish stocks have provided a wake-up call to governments and fisheries managers. This in turn has prompted new initiatives such as transferable quota, bycatch reduction measures, and electronic logbooks and monitoring. The amount of data being tracked for fishing activities is increasing at a phenomenal rate.
Fish and other seafood species have no respect for international borders. Marine life migrates all over the globe, so fishing activities in one country can have a devastating impact on fisheries elsewhere. As such, international cooperation is key to sustainable fisheries.
The establishment and promotion of standards provides a shared context for fisheries information and serves as a common language for fisheries to communicate and cooperate with one another. FisheryStandards.org was formed in the pursuit of this goal.
Administrator, FisheryStandards.org
So, who the heck is Phil Bailey?
I’m an information systems designer/developer/consultant, specializing in Fisheries Management for the last several years. Most of my work has been for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in Canada where I worked on systems for fisheries operations, quota management, e-licensing, scientific licensing, and more. I was also directly involved in updating systems and creating new systems for the DFO’s move to individual transferable quota, the integration of fisheries, application of quota to bycatch, and 100% monitoring of trips including electronic monitoring.
So why did I start FisheryStandards.org?
Because somebody should! The idea started at about the time that I attended the International Fisheries Observer & Monitoring Conference in July, 2009 where I learned a great deal about the varying state of fisheries and fisheries management around the world. At the conference, I gained a new appreciation of the need for the sharing of data between fisheries and therefore, the need for common standards.
I also figured that I might be a suitable candidate to start FisheryStandards.org as I am not a manager or staff member for a particular fisheries managment organization. By being at “arms-length” from such groups, I can avoid the perception of political interference and attempts to influence standards due to a specific group’s vested interests.
If you have any questions or you would like to find out more about me, please send me a message via the form on the “Contact Us” page.
