A new tool has been released in order to provide an evidence-based diagnostic tool for analyzing how a country’s fisheries management system is performing.
The Fisheries Governance Tool allows anyone using it – from fishery managers to funders, investors, and key stakeholders – to get a comprehensive look at how well a country’s a fisheries management system is doing. The tool allows users to track progress against sustainability goals, identify gaps, and more.
“Healthy fish are the key to healthy oceans. It’s important for fishery managers and fishers to both understand what the baseline is in their fisheries, and then get clear on what they are trying to achieve,” Walton Family Foundation Environment Program Director Moira Mcdonald said. “This tool helps them do that, so that they will continue to have healthy fish populations and healthy seafood businesses.”
Development of the tool was headed by U.S.-based independent private consulting and auditing company MRAG Americas. Based on Microsoft Excel, the tool is free to download in English, Spanish, and Indonesian Bahasa.
“The FGT puts power in the hands of managing agencies, environmental organizations, funders/investors, and other key stakeholders,” a release announcing the new tool said. “Importantly, the FGT allows stakeholders to designate user-defined objectives such as those in their country’s own policy and management plans, rather than against an external standard that may not be relevant or achievable.”
The tool can be used to track the progress of a nation’s fisheries governance, allowing stakeholders to create reproducible assessments of the fisheries to determine whether policies are achieving the desired effects or if there are gaps in coverage.
“MRAG Americas is pleased to have been part of the development of this novel fisheries evaluation tool This tool is freely available, and the system draws on existing knowledge and experience,” MRAG Americas Executive Vice President Graeme Parkes said. “It allows fishers and regional fishery managers to see the connection between policy choices and progress on the waterfront and identify specific elements of good management that work for their fisheries.”
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