Fisheries management poses considerable difficulties for decision-makers, who are required to take a precautionary approach to the exploitation of renewable resources and to the sustainable development of activities based on those resources.
These difficulties result from:
the common problem, in developing countries, of a scarcity of reliable fisheries statistics;
an inadequate understanding of the status of resources and of the ecological processes necessary for forecasting the evolution of systems;
the lack of a holistic approach to biological, ecological and socio-economic aspects of fisheries.
One of the reasons for inadequacy in fishery management is a failure to study the reactions and adaptations of fishers to management interventions, which would result in a better understanding of their reactions to change. The drawing-up of a fishery management plan necessitates an up-to-date knowledge of fishing fleets, including technical and socio-economic characteristics as well as fishing capacity. The process of profiling fishing fleets aims to provide the basic elements of a better understanding of these different components.
These management problems and the implementation of scientific investigations have led to the realization that the fisheries models that are commonly used are too simplistic to describe the complex reality of fishing. These models were originally developed for single-species fisheries without taking into account factors such as the environment, ecology, or the behaviour of the various actors in the fishery. New models have been put forward in the course of fisheries research, based on analysing the interaction dynamics of fishers, of resources, and their environment. The "Fishery System" is analysed in all its complexity - from the process of capture to the processes of production and management. In parallel, the evolution of information technology, particularly with the availability of computers, the establishment of digital databases and the accessibility of user-friendly statistical software, has promoted the development and implementation of the new methods resulting from this realization.
The benefits expected from profiling a fishing fleet, in terms of designing and implementing fishery management plans, result from a better understanding the fishery. The different components of a fishery can be classified according to parameters describing their average characteristics, and their variability is a function of criteria such as typical fishing techniques, tactics and strategies, or socio-economic aspects. This analysis provides a better assessment of the impact of fishing on the resource, through an improved description of fishing capacity and the spatio-temporal strategies of fishing fleets, and leads to decisions which are more appropriate to the fishery management plans concerned.
Fleet profiling is thus a tool that helps fishery managers to more completely understand a fishery and thus to make decisions that are more appropriate to the resource and the fishing method. By "fleet profile" we mean the description of the different components of a fishery: components which can then be quantified and classified according to their characteristics. These descriptions are important in order to clarify the similarities and variability of items in the same category, as well as the differences between categories. The purpose of fleet profiling is actually to assemble a synthetic picture of a whole that is often difficult to grasp in all its reality and heterogeneity.
In fisheries, the initial classification is usually based on simple criteria:
the type of fishery, using economic (industrial/artisanal) or spatial (coastal/oceanic) criteria;
the port from which the fleet operates;
the fishing gear used in the fleet: purse seine, trawl, nets, lines, etc.;
the size or age of the vessels;
the species targeted: fish, molluscs, crustaceans, etc.;
the market or usage-category of the landed product: fresh, frozen, preserved, fishmeal etc.
However, the last two categories above pose the problem that the same fishery unit may contribute to several different classes - for example, the same boat may land different species destined for different markets - and will be included in different classes by a percentage equal to the percentage of the classifying catch.
One, two, sometimes even three variables can serve as the basic criteria for classifying and differentiating the components relating to the fishery resource being exploited by a fleet. However the manager or the scientist must analyse the fishery components which jointly exploit a particular geographical zone even more precisely. The fleet profile aims to provide the information necessary to make sound decisions in the context of fishery management plans, whether this concern the allocation of fishing quotas, defining fishing areas (e.g. Marine Protected Areas), fishing periods (opening and closing of seasons), or economic measures.
It is possible to distinguish different kinds of profile depending on the question being asked or the objective desired. The evaluation of fishing capacity is not carried out using the same criteria that are used for the reorganization or the modernization of the fishing sector. The first question requires an evaluation of the status of landings with regard to the technical specification and behaviour of fishing units, whereas the second requires a judgment of the potential of the sector and the identification of constraints to its organization. But whilst the data sets that are subject to fleet-profiling are different, in both cases the methods applied in order to produce the profiles are similar.
A profile of a fishing fleet provides a better understanding of the relationships between the fishers and the measures applied to the fishery units, fishing schedules and fishing areas (these concepts are presented in Figure 1). The result of a profiling process is presented as a list of categories of fishing units (fleets 1, 2 and 3). The relative importance of each category comprising the overall fishery is calculated, and is accompanied by a summary of the characteristics of each of the categories. As a result it is possible to estimate the catches associated with each fleet (since the overall list of vessels is known), according to the fishing methods practiced throughout the year, on the fishery map, by season.
The methods for fleet profiling described in this document are based on quantitative approaches to a substantial set of data, requiring the maximum amount of information to be taken into account in order to describe the fundamental complexity of the system under consideration: the variability of the fishing units within the fleet. The implementation of these methods necessitates a rigorous approach to the acquisition of data, through the design and implementation of survey systems through to database management and statistical analysis. To implement these processes efficiently requires technical skill, but appropriate specialist support can minimize the need for advanced statistical knowledge by the primary investigator.
The following chapters present the principles for profiling a fleet. Without elaborating on the details of the data-processing or statistical techniques used, the following are provided:
principles for the acquisition, management and analysis of data;
the presentation of results, their interpretation and their use;
a discussion of the means necessary to implement any subsequent actions.
|
Examples are provided in text boxes, like this, to illustrate the various points presented in the document. They are drawn mainly from a profiling process on the Moroccan inshore fishery carried out in 1996 - 97 by the Institute National de Recherche Halieutique of Casablanca (Morocco), under FAO project TCP/MOR/4556. |
