Effective Electronic Monitoring Systems Incorporate Stakeholder Input

This fact sheet is one in a series outlining key elements for regional fisheries management organizations to consider as they develop electronic monitoring programs.

When regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) design and implement an electronic monitoring (EM) program, it is vital that the process be transparent and include all stakeholders. Frequent engagement with stakeholders as the program is developed is necessary to garner broad support for its adoption. Several studies show that a lack of buy-in by relevant entities can hinder a program’s success.¹Because an RFMO’s EM program can cover many countries and a wide range of vessel sizes, gear types, fishing locations, and catch compositions, a representative group of stakeholders should be consulted to address concerns before they become intractable.

Table 1 provides an overview of common stakeholders, their key interests, and relevant discussion topics related to electronic monitoring.

Table 1

Stakeholder Interest in EM and Discussion Topics

© 2020 The Pew Charitable Trusts

Collaboration opportunities

The first steps of the collaboration process are to identify the relevant stakeholders and then create engagement opportunities. They can be in the form of an RFMO EM working group, stakeholder workshops, EM pilot showcases, or other gatherings. To allow for both top-down and bottom-up communication, the events could be hosted in collaboration with RFMOs, NGOs, or United Nations bodies. Regardless of the forum, the gatherings would provide a platform for industry, government agencies, and secretariats to ask questions, offer lessons learned, and develop solutions.

While engaging stakeholders is a clear starting point for designing an EM program, feedback mechanisms must also be established to ensure that such engagement continues once a program has been put in place.

Industry Engagement

Collaboration with vessel owners, captains, and crew must occur in the early phases of designing an EM program to help ease industry uncertainty about how the systems would affect fishing operations. Pilot partnerships between industry and governments could help inform decisions on scaling up EM programs.

Conclusion

To ensure the long-term success of an EM program, fisheries managers must create opportunities to collaborate with, and incorporate feedback from, a variety of stakeholders. Formal processes for stakeholder engagement should continue for the duration of the program.

Endnote

1. R. Fujita et al., “Designing and Implementing Electronic Monitoring Systems for Fisheries: A Supplement to the Catch Share Design Manual,” Environmental Defense Fund, San Francisco (2018), http://fisherysolutionscenter.edf.org/sites/catchshares.edf.org/files/EM_DesignManual_Final_0.pdf.