Speakers at the first day of three-day workshop on "Data Collection for Tuna Fisheries in the Indian Ocean" jointly organised by WWF-Pakistan and Marine Fisheries Department (MFD), Federal Ports and Shipping Ministry in collaboration with IOTC under its Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) project at a local hotel, said the effective management of data collection is all linked to the provision of consistent and robust information of tuna stocks in Indian Ocean.
They proposed the establishment and strengthening of national observer programmes by regional countries with a use of available modern instruments like Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and E-Logbooks and Electronic Monitoring Systems (EMS). Experts said that the observer data is important for fisheries management that provides an independent source of detailed and high quality information on fishing activities and catches. The event focused on collection of fisheries.
They stressed on the need of improved compliance with several international resolutions at IOTC that focus on conservation of Species of Special Interest (SSI). Fabio Fiorellato, data coordinator at the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) secretariat, provided updates on the level of compliance to the IOTC Regional Observer Scheme (ROS), noting that - as of today-details of 375 observers from 15 CPCs (Contracting Parties and Cooperating, non-contracting parties) have been provided to the IOTC Secretariat in accordance to the ROS requirements, and that these do not yet include Pakistani observers as no such scientific national observer program is currently in place.
Alternative protocols to support observer data collection and reporting are currently explored during this workshop. The participants are considering the crew-based observer scheme successfully implemented by Pakistan as one possible alternative. Muhammad Moazzam Khan said that Pakistan has substantially large tuna fleet catching about 70,000 million tons of tuna which can be a major source of export for the country because at present the tuna is not properly handled and processed. Considering shortcomings in data collection, WWF-Pakistan has initiated an important programme whereby information is collected through fishermen.
This crew based observer programme has acclaimed international recognition. Indian Ocean Tuna Commission has asked during this workshop to study the feasibility of this programme for adoption in small scale fisheries of the Indian Ocean Countries. Moazzam Khan further pointed out that with proper management measures in place, Pakistan can contribute substantially to national economy at the same time complying with the requirements of IOTC.