Generally, fisheries inspectors come into the job from an enforcement/surveillance background (i.e. ex-navy, coastguard, police), from marine sciences (university graduates) and in the lesser cases, ex fisheries observers. But hardly ever from the fishing industry, this always struck me as odd, having done that road myself. Particularly since my insider knowledge it has been always being welcomed by the officers I work with. I have maintained many times… "it is impossible to appropriately measure or regulate what you do not understand"
On that line, over a year ago Duncan Copeland from Trygg Matt Tracking (TMT) contracted me to write in english a set of ‘MCS Practitioners Introductory Guides’ to help fisheries inspectors in particularly those for Western Africa with the practical side of fishing in a simple and illustrated way.
The project took a bigger dimension when the International MCS Network (iMCSn) got also involved so the guides took on a more international role
Right from my 1st draft, it became then a collaborative effort with revisions and additions by good friends and colleagues such as Duncan Copeland, Stig Fjellberg and Callum Vale from TMT, Mark Young from iMCSn and Hugh Walton from FFA.
Then there the text was agreed, it came the fundamental document design phase and finding pictures to illustrate many of the topics discussed. I was fortunate to be able provide many of them that come from the my work with pacific island colleagues and vessels over the last years. Then the review of the Spanish translations, so it was a long but very instructive process.
The first fishing gear specific guides on Longline Fishing, Pole and Line Fishing, and Purse Seine Fishing, are all very pertinent to the WCPO, and have been now published. To further support capacity building to inspectors and non-inspectors, we worked on a fourth guide for Industrial Fishing Vessel Inspections , that is complementary to the gear guides, and tackles an introductory understanding of the key considerations and needs during vessel inspections. Further, two more guides one for Refrigerated Carrier Vessel (Reefers) and a further one for Trawl Fishing are planned for release in early 2022.
The guides provides an overview of how to recognise vessels by the specific gear type, a description of the fishing operation, an overview of the gear and related equipment used, guidance on vessel positional tracking, and key issues for fisheries compliance and enforcement officers to be aware of during the conduct of an inspection. And as such they are also a good resource for people in the media, non-specialists in NGOS and institutions with an interest in fisheries.
Needless to say, I’ll be always very thankful (and proud) for the opportunity that TMT and iMCSn gave me in having a key role in these publications and the excellent work done on the design and quality of the final product. But even more thankful to every fishing boat I have worked in my life, every skipper and fellow crewmember that spent time teaching me stuff and everyone one that did not mind me taking pictures while they are doing their jobs!
And they are available in English, Español, Français. Please share far and wide.
EN ESPAÑOL
EN FRANÇAIS
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
