An international group of researchers is developing high-capacity analytical computer software that examines small-scale fisheries and develops a diagnosis that makes it possible to update resources and promote sustainable development.
The software, called FishPath, evaluates the health of the species from a questionnaire that must be answered by resource managers and that offers a range of options for managers to choose the most appropriate one for their needs.
“FishPath does not say that ‘one must perform this option’, but it gives one a wide range of options on which one, as an administrator of that resource, should be informed in order to know what would be the best for one’s fishery,” told EFE the coordinator of the Gulf of California of The Nature Conservancy, Mariana Walter.
Depending on the chosen option, the software warns a number of “considerations to keep in mind to be carried out”.
The new software, which is now at an advanced stage of its development, arises to solve the problem that many fisheries in the world have not been evaluated.
In this sense, Walter argues that most artisanal fisheries do not have access to this type of assessments and, therefore, are unaware of their status.
The tool, which had pilot projects in Mexico, Peru, the United States, Australia and Kenya, began to be developed in 2014 and is scheduled to be published in early 2019.
This software is a collaboration between The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States (NOAA), the Science for Nature and People Partnership and the Scientific and Industrial Research Organization of the Confederation of Australia (CSIRO).
1995 – 2017 Fish Info & Services Co.Ltd