Report of the Expert meeting on Methodologies for Conducting Fishing Fleet Techno-Economic Performance Reviews, Chennai, India, 18-20 September 2018

Abstract

The Expert Meeting on Methodologies for conducting fishing fleet techno-economic performance reviews was held in Chennai, India, 18-20 September 2018. The Meeting was attended by fisheries economists from China, European Union, India, Indonesia, Norway, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United States of America. The Meeting was co-organized by the Bay of Bengal Programme – Intergovernmental Organization (BOBP-IGO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The Meeting brought together a group of key fisheries economists with experience in fishing fleet reviews to: 1) present and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various methodologies applied for reviewing the economic and technical performance of fishing fleets, 2) develop and agree on a general sampling/survey methodology for conducting techno-economic performance reviews, which can be applied also in developing countries, and 3) discuss technological innovations that have taken place in the last 10 years that had an impact on the economic and financial performance of fishing fleets. The Expert Meeting agreed on data and information to be collected in the 2018-19 surveys for the FAO global review of techno-economic performance of fishing fleets and on the financial and economic indicators to be applied in the analysis. The Meeting concluded, amongst others, that the number of countries that collect and analyze socio-economic information on fisheries and analyze the performance of their fishing fleets has increased rapidly over the last decade, particularly in the European Union and the USA. The Meeting recognized that technological advances have increased fishing efficiency tremendously since the last FAO global review of fishing fleets in 2003. Technologies such as GPS and Fishfinders are now widely applied by industrial, small-scale and recreational fisheries, and smart FADs (Fish Aggregating Devices), which are communicating via satellite with the vessels, are changing the fisheries sector. Improvements in vessel fuel efficiency, vessel design, communication, fish processing on-board and bycatch reduction devices also have major positive effects on profitability of the fishing fleets.