The
Western Indian Ocean (WIO) Fisheries Database has been
produced through the NORAD funded project: Progress
in the development of a partnership programme for implementing
the Jakarta Mandate in the WIO (2000-2004), or WIO Marine
Biodiversity Conservation Project. This project is implemented
by the Eastern Africa Regional Programme (EARP) of the
World Conservation Union (IUCN). The Project’s
overall goal is to promote the protection of the Eastern
Africa marine and coastal biodiversity and the sustainable
exploitation of the resources in order to maintain ecological
integrity and equitably provide quality goods and services.
The project is being implemented in WIO countries which
are party to the Nairobi Convention, including South
Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Seychelles, Madagascar,
Mauritius, Comoros, Somalia and Reunion (France).
The Jakarta Mandate recognizes that sustainable management
of fisheries is critical to conservation of marine biodiversity,
and this is captured in the second theme of the Mandate
which states that “ Marine and coastal resources
to be used and managed more sustainably in the Eastern
Africa Region”.
During
the first project meeting held in March 2000, in Mombasa,
Kenya with participants from South Africa, Mozambique,
Tanzania, Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles and Madagascar,
concern was expressed at the lack of detailed understanding
of small-scale fisheries that commonly occur in the
WIO region. This state of affairs compromises biodiversity
conservation and sustainable development. The WIO Marine
Biodiversity Conservation Project was developed with
the key result area to address this regional concern.
Within the general framework of the project this falls
under key result area 3, which states that “Marine
and coastal living resources used and managed more sustainably
in the region” The sub-result areas are:
- A
better understanding of biological and socio-economic
fisheries in the region, including ‘non-traditional’,
lesser-known species, developed.
- Improved
monitoring of fisheries, including by-catch and an
ecologically representative sample of other species.
- Improved
management systems, policy, legislation, governance
and institutional capacity for sustainable fisheries
in place.
- The
development of sustainable and appropriate livelihoods
(fishery and non-fishery based) facilitated and promoted.
The
WIO Fisheries database was developed to address the
first of the sub-result areas. During the development
of the WIO fisheries database, a network of institutional
collaborators was established from Seychelles, Kenya,
Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa to develop an
information profile which captured the diversity of
species composition, research, technological and management
characteristics of WIO region coastal fisheries especially
the small-scale sector. The completion of the profile
by the collaborating institutions provided a useful
first description of these fisheries and also identified
areas where data are currently lacking for each fishery.
The original information profile was then developed
into a Microsoft Access database to facilitate data
entry and management and to aid subsequent analyses.
Objectives and operations of the database
The
main objective of the WIO Fisheries Database is to provide
a better understanding of biological and socio-economic
aspects of fisheries in the WIO region, including lesser
known “non-traditional” species. This in
turn will provide a regional overview of inshore, especially
small-scale fisheries (and associated offshore fisheries
that impact on them), including their problems and specific
management needs. In turn this will enable comparisons
of policy and management strategies among these fisheries.
The database will provide semi-quantifiable indicators
of the status of, and progress in, the management of
these fisheries which will increase the understanding
of the threats to biodiversity of the WIO fisheries
The
database was initiated in 2004 with data from five countries:
Kenya, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa and Tanzania.
It is anticipated that information from other countries
in the WIO, including, but not limited to, Madagascar,
Mauritius, Comoros and Reunion (France) will be included
within the next two years.
The
database is designed to be dynamic, live and evolving,
and accessible through the worldwide web (www.wiofish.org).
It will be managed and updated by a regional node, in
close collaboration with the national nodes. Presently,
the regional node is the Oceanographic Research Institute
(ORI) from South Africa who has led the development
of the database, in collaboration with IUCN-EARP. The
national nodes are the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research
Institute (KMFRI), the Institute of Marine Sciences
(IMS) in Tanzania, the Instituto de Investigacao Pesquiera
(IIP) in Mozambique, and the Seychelles Fishing Authority
(SFA).
The
database will also provide a useful forum for addressing
fishery stocks that transcend international boundaries,
and will provide a useful scientific base for the WIO
Coastal Fisheries Commission that is currently being
set up by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).
It is intended that the database will provide a strong
basis for improving fisheries management, promoting
research particularly on stock assessment, and improving
fisheries monitoring.
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