Evaluation and Uptake Promotion of Data Collection Guidelines for Co-managed Fisheries (R8462)
Information and relevant data are vital to be able to make informed choices and decisions concerning the management of natural resources. With the shift towards fisheries co-management there is a need for managers to reconsider their information requirements based on new co-management structures and stakeholder roles and responsibilities. Data collection systems must be designed to support the diverse needs of a range of potential stakeholders according to their objectives, capacity, and available resources.
In order to meet the growing need for simple guidance to develop data collection systems to support co-management, a set of guidelines have been developed and tested in collaboration with a wide range of institutions and stakeholders from a number of developing countries. These guidelines help fisheries co-managers design and implement appropriate and cost-effective systems to deliver their data and information needs.
The Guidelines will be available shortly through the FAO Technical Series and are in two parts:
Part I) Practical Guide: is aimed at co-managers and facilitators working in the field. It offers simple and practical advice on identifying the information needs of different stakeholders; developing and putting into practice information collection and sharing systems by following an eight-stage participatory process.
Part II) Technical Guidelines: provide more detail on the types of data and information that may be required to support co-management arrangements, data collection methods and sources and the design of sampling programmes. They draw together relevant elements of the literature, outputs from previous FAO and DFID funded research as well as experience and expressed needs from co-managers currently designing or preparing to design their data collection systems.
Latest developments
The Guidelines have been field tested by collaborators in Bangladesh and the Mekong Basin, and subsequently revised to improve their usability and incorporate lessons learned. The project was promoted at Fish Fortnight in Bangladesh in August 2005, which is a series of workshops, discussions and seminars across the country about fisheries.
Draft sets of the guidelines are provided as downloads below.
In addition to the Guidelines, the following are also available (see downloads below):
- Leaflet on the importance of information in fisheries co-management;
- Flyer: providing updates on progress of the project (English & Bengali);
- Policy brief: synthesising the main points in the context of fisheries co-management issues.
This project has also produced:
- Newsletters: articles within collaborators publications
This project builds on a previous FMSP supported project (R8285) which developed an initial draft of a set of guidelines and field guide through research and case studies with a number of collaborators including Marine Resources Assessment Group (MRAG), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the Worldfish Centre and several DFID-funded projects including the Integrated Lake Management Project, Uganda (ILM), the Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP) in West Africa and the Regional Fisheries Information Systems Project (RFIS) in Southern Africa.
| Download Documents | View PDF |
| Information for Co-management Flyer July 2005 (English) | Download (185Kb) |
| Information for Co-management Flyer July 2005 (Bengali) | Download (486Kb) |
| Information for Co-management Leaflet | Download (136Kb) |
| Policy brief on designing sustainable data collection systems | Download (1.3Mb) |
| FAO Guidelines for Designing Data Collection and Sharing Systems for Co-managed Fisheries: Part 1: A Practical Guide (Draft) | Download (1.9Mb) |
| FAO Guidelines for Designing Data Collection and Sharing Systems for Co-managed Fisheries: Part 2: Technical Guidelines (Draft) | Download (2.7Mb) |
| Contacts | ||
| Contact | Dr Ashley Halls | Suzannah Walmsley |
| Role | Project Leader | Communications Advisor |
| Organisation | Aquae-Sulis Ltd | MRAG Ltd. |
| Telephone | +44 (0) 1225 722 092 | +44 (0) 20 7255 7755 |
 |
 |
|