Insight into Fiji's Inshore Fisheries Data
Aspects of Inshore Fisheries Data in Fiji
Inshore Fisheries Management Division
Ministry of Fisheries, Suva
First Regional Technical Meeting on Coastal Fisheries
Noumea, SPC
28
th
Nov – 1
st
Dec, 2017
The Current Data Being Collected on Inshore Fisheries
•
The Market Survey for sales of the production of
commercial inshore fisheries
•
A permit system of the Ministry of Fisheries for
determining the value/volume of exports from
inshore fisheries
•
Monitoring of exports by the Fiji Revenue and
Customs Service
•
Collection of various types of data at the community
level by the Ministry’s Marine Resource Inventory
Survey
•
Information on licensed inshore fishers and their
activities
The Market Survey:
•
In 1977 the Fisheries Division starting collecting species
composition at four locations near Suva: Suva Market,
Nausori Market, Nasinu roadside, and Suva/Nausori Hotels
and shops. This sampling was expanded a few years later.
•
The output of the survey is the species, length, weight, value,
and mean price of finfish and shellfish that are sold in the
country.
•
In recent years some problems have developed, mostly due
to funding cut-backs and mainly involve diverging
methodology used and consistency in the 4 geographic
divisions of the country
•
Evolved into excel data inputs from Division and submitted
to HQ
•
In 1985 Jon Cook was employed by FAO to review the
Market Survey. He will review the system again in Feb 2018.
Fishery Export Data:
•
Using powers of the Offshore Fisheries Management
Regulations 2014, a permit for exports (including
exports from inshore fisheries) issued by the
Ministry of Fisheries is required as part of the
regular export process of the Fiji Revenue and
Customs Service.
•
Ideally, each inspection leads to a permit for export
and the species & quantities from each permit are
entered into a database.
•
The process of issuing permits for exports and the
maintaining of the export database is presently
handled by the Offshore Fisheries Division (inshore
fish, aquaculture, cites regulated species, aquarium).
Monitoring exports by Fiji Revenue and Customs Service:
•
Fiji keeps track of exports (including fishery exports) using the international
harmonised system of tariff codes (HS system).
•
Historically, the Ministry of Fisheries publishes HS fishery export information in its
annual reports.
•
For fishery purposes, there are two difficulties with the HS system:
1.
The system can be quite imprecise. For example, HS0304 is “fish fillets and other
fish meat (whether or not minced), fresh chilled or frozen” – so it is not possible
to determine whether a particular HS0304 commodity is from coastal fisheries,
offshore fisheries, or aquaculture.
2.
The inspection is not done by people with fisheries experience and some errors
of classification exist. For example, during many years the data show that “other
salmonids” are a major export of Fiji.
Collection of various types of data at the community level
by the Ministry’s Marine Resource Inventory Survey:
•
Resource surveys have been undertaken by the Ministry to determine the fishery
resource status of each of traditional fishing area to assist in the development of
management plans.
•
The surveys have included underwater visual census, gillnetting, reef transect sampling and
socio-economic evaluations.
•
The surveys have been operating for 15 years and about half of the 410 of traditional
fishing areas in Fiji have been surveyed.
•
The survey now has a complement of 24 staff in two survey teams, with funding of around
US$250,000 annually in recent years.
•
A major challenge is to analyse the large amount of data collected and report on it to the
communities in a timely manner.
Information on licensed inshore fishers:
•
Data on inshore fisheries licencing and related
activities are important for fisheries management.
•
In addition to data on the fishers, fishermen are
required to return monthly reports of their catch per
fishing area.
Ideally,
the Ministry of Fisheries can
determine what is the total weight of fish caught per
species in each fishing area, with which fishing method
and time spent fishing.
•
The analysis of the catch data has been challenging.
•
In Feb 2017 SPC assisted in the improving the
database to make extractions simpler.
Challenges
•
Consistency
–
Collecting data on a regular and uniform basis
–
Data validity (variations in dates), Forms not filled out by fishermen etc.
•
Resources
–
Having the right tools and consistent (human)resources to collect the necessary data on a
systematic manner
•
Methodology
–
Having a standard a single standard of collecting data across the division and points of access for
catch, licensing information
–
Collecting the “right” type of data that is again uniform and consistent across all points of data
collection and entry
•
Storage
–
Loss of Data
•
Analysis
–
Resources to analyze
–
Updated and analyzed Real time data for briefings and decision making
For the Future:
•
There is considerable interest in using SPC’s “Fisheries Friendly” household income and
expenditure survey (HIES) to obtain information on Fiji’s small-scale fisheries.
There have
been HIES in Fiji in 2003, 2009, and 2014. There will be another HIES in Fiji in mid-2018
(hopefully it will be “fisheries friendly”).
•
Establishment of a New Inshore Fisheries Management Division for Fiji
•
A review of the Market Survey will be carried out in February 2018.
•
Reforms to the Marine Resource Inventory are underway and the Ministry is
contemplating cleaning up its inshore fisheries export database.
•
Fiji’s National Development Plan (released November 2017) states:
“To ensure better management of coastal and inshore fisheries, a reliable data-gathering framework
will be established to track the level of catch and fish stock on a regular basis.”
•
SPR Work (Northern & Western Provinces)
•
Tails (SPC) (Ra & Kadavu)
Thank you
This content sheds light on the data collection methods and processes for inshore fisheries in Fiji. It covers aspects such as market surveys, export data, and monitoring practices. The information provides valuable insights into the management of coastal fisheries in the region, highlighting key observations and challenges faced in the collection and analysis of fisheries data.
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Presentation Transcript
Aspects of Inshore Fisheries Data in Fiji Inshore Fisheries Management Division Ministry of Fisheries, Suva First Regional Technical Meeting on Coastal Fisheries Noumea, SPC 28thNov 1stDec, 2017
The Current Data Being Collected on Inshore Fisheries The Market Survey for sales of the production of commercial inshore fisheries A permit system of the Ministry of Fisheries for determining the value/volume of exports from inshore fisheries Monitoring of exports by the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service Collection of various types of data at the community level by the Ministry s Marine Resource Inventory Survey Information on licensed inshore fishers and their activities
The Market Survey: In 1977 the Fisheries Division starting collecting species composition at four locations near Suva: Suva Market, Nausori Market, Nasinu roadside, and Suva/Nausori Hotels and shops. This sampling was expanded a few years later. The output of the survey is the species, length, weight, value, and mean price of finfish and shellfish that are sold in the country. In recent years some problems have developed, mostly due to funding cut-backs and methodology used and consistency in the 4 geographic divisions of the country Evolved into excel data inputs from Division and submitted to HQ In 1985 Jon Cook was employed by FAO to review the Market Survey. He will review the system again in Feb 2018. mainly involve diverging
Fishery Export Data: Using powers of the Offshore Fisheries Management Regulations 2014, a permit for exports (including exports from inshore fisheries) issued by the Ministry of Fisheries is required as part of the regular export process of the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service. Ideally, each inspection leads to a permit for export and the species & quantities from each permit are entered into a database. The process of issuing permits for exports and the maintaining of the export database is presently handled by the Offshore Fisheries Division (inshore fish,aquaculture,cites regulated species,aquarium).
Monitoring exports by Fiji Revenue and Customs Service: Fiji keeps track of exports (including fishery exports) using the international harmonised system of tariff codes (HS system). Historically, the Ministry of Fisheries publishes HS fishery export information in its annual reports. For fishery purposes,there are two difficulties with the HS system: 1. The system can be quite imprecise. For example, HS0304 is fish fillets and other fish meat (whether or not minced), fresh chilled or frozen so it is not possible to determine whether a particular HS0304 commodity is from coastal fisheries, offshore fisheries,or aquaculture. 2. The inspection is not done by people with fisheries experience and some errors of classification exist. For example, during many years the data show that other salmonids are a major export of Fiji.
Collection of various types of data at the community level by the Ministry s Marine Resource Inventory Survey: Resource surveys have been undertaken by the Ministry to determine the fishery resource status of each of traditional fishing area to assist in the development of management plans. The surveys have included underwater visual census,gillnetting,reef transect sampling and socio-economic evaluations. The surveys have been operating for 15 years and about half of the 410 of traditional fishing areas in Fiji have been surveyed. The survey now has a complement of 24 staff in two survey teams,with funding of around US$250,000 annually in recent years. A major challenge is to analyse the large amount of data collected and report on it to the communities in a timely manner.
Information on licensed inshore fishers: Data on inshore fisheries licencing and related activities are important for fisheries management. In addition to data on the fishers, fishermen are required to return monthly reports of their catch per fishing area. Ideally, the Ministry of Fisheries can determine what is the total weight of fish caught per species in each fishing area,with which fishing method and time spent fishing. The analysis of the catch data has been challenging. In Feb 2017 SPC assisted in the improving the database to make extractions simpler.
Challenges Consistency Collecting data on a regular and uniform basis Data validity (variations in dates),Forms not filled out by fishermen etc. Resources Having the right tools and consistent (human)resources to collect the necessary data on a systematic manner Methodology Having a standard a single standard of collecting data across the division and points of access for catch,licensing information Collecting the right type of data that is again uniform and consistent across all points of data collection and entry Storage Loss of Data Analysis Resources to analyze Updated and analyzed Real time data for briefings and decision making
For the Future: There is considerable interest in using SPC s Fisheries Friendly household income and expenditure survey (HIES) to obtain information on Fiji s small-scale fisheries. There have been HIES in Fiji in 2003, 2009, and 2014. There will be another HIES in Fiji in mid-2018 (hopefully it will be fisheries friendly ). Establishment of a New Inshore Fisheries Management Division for Fiji A review of the Market Survey will be carried out in February 2018. Reforms to the Marine Resource Inventory are underway and the Ministry is contemplating cleaning up its inshore fisheries export database. Fiji s National Development Plan (released November 2017) states: To ensure better management of coastal and inshore fisheries, a reliable data-gathering framework will be established to track the level of catch and fish stock on a regular basis. SPRWork (Northern &Western Provinces) Tails (SPC) (Ra & Kadavu)
