Posters
New projects for monitoring the Venezuelan fishing fleet in the Caribbean and in the Western Central Atlantic that would be integrated in a database for fisheries management Manuel J. Correia¹, Alvin M. Delgado¹ and Carlos E. Gimenéz² ¹ Programa Nacional de Observadores de Venezuela de FUNDATUN (FUNDATUN-PNOV) ² Fundación para la Pesca Sostenida y Responsable de Túnidos (FUNDATUN)
Extended Abstract Fisheries monitoring and the collection of data to provide scientific advice for management are inextricably linked in fisheries management and to management in other sectors. The staff of FUNDATUN-PNOV comes working and developing projects in several fisheries circuits, in tries to identify problems of target and nontarget species involved in different fishing activities made by Venezuelan fleet in the Caribbean and in the Western Central Atlantic. Some of them must be monitored with urgency (like: deep water demersal fish otter trawlers, the tuna fishery in their different categories, and some local fishing on small-scale), because all of them have arrived at its maximum development or exhibit exhaustion signs, from which urgent measures are required to avoid a collapse.
Proposed new projects for Venezuelan onboard observer programs: • Measure the effect of TEDs on incidental capture of marine turtles by demersal fish otter trawlers in the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters of Atlantic Ocean. • Implement a new On-board Observer Program in tuna purse seiners and bait boats that operate in the Western Central Atlantic. • Contribute to assessment of the sardine (Sardinella aurita) resource in northeastern Venezuela. All projects would be coordinated and evaluated by the official institutions and national scientific entities, and universities in a susbcribed agreement with FUNDATUN-PNOV. Other fisheries like the pelagic longliners, must be meticulously observed, due to their potential interactions with marine turtles.
In socioeconomic terms, the importance of the different kinds of fishing arts is undeniable given the immense capacity of jobs that it generates in direct or indirect form. In this sense, it becomes necessary that when being orchestrated a program of scientific observers to collect information ‘in situ’ on determined fishing activity plus the information traditionally obtained by administrative civil employees in the ports of debarkation and the data registered in the binnacles of the crews, it is counted with a plan of action previously evaluated by the official institutions and national scientific entities, conceiving the couple, resource-unit of production in those plans. Finally, a database would be implemented, allowing its integration to regional and international systems.
Main objective of the PNOV proposal To create a unified database of fishing activities in Venezuela that can be shared between different users which includes compiled observations on tuna purse seiners, bait boats, bottom and pelagic longliners, and deep water demersal fish otter trawlers.
Specific objectives • To create technical guidelines. • To create and validate procedures applicable to different fishing activities. • To train observers to apply the aproved procedures. • To create and validate a specific software package. • To create a permanent DATA BANK in PNOV.
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Posters
Advantages • The elimination of cumbersome and slow processes. • The scientific community will obtain up-todate information to make decisions. • It will allow for data to be reduced to a series of numbers that can be administrated with different restrictions levels in specific points of interfaces accesses.
Process of collecting and managing data It will be initiated when the observer arrives at the field office for the revision of data forms completed on-board during a trip. In the process of automatisation it would be activated 3 modules for managing the data: • Module of data input, called ‘Capture Module’ (Inputting the data from the lists). • Module of Editing data (correcting and checking the data). • Module of utilitarian actions, named as ‘Utility’ (to transfer edited data from Temporary to Permanent database or vice versa). Additionally, there are 4 connected Databases, to manage the inputted data:
• LOGBOOK DATABASE: Initial Database to input new trips assigned before they leave from the port, estimated times of departures or arrivals (ETD/ETA), captains and observers names and codes, number and kinds of sets, etc • TEMPORARY DATABASE: this database is proposed to be used while the complete edition process is carried out for a specific trip; • HANDLING DATABASE: this is proposed to be used for the management and revision of specific information from a trip without interference from the rest of the saved information in the temporary database. It can be activated from different workstations; and • PERMANENT DATABASE: this is the final phase, inputting of revised and edited data.
Beneficiaries of the proposal • The national fishing administration and the official entities. • Independent research scientists as universities and fisheries research institutions. • The users of the resources such as fishermen and owners of fishing ships, as indirect beneficiaries.
Proposed Scheme of the Operation of an Automated System, Level 0.
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PROCEEDINGS of the 5TH INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES OBSERVER CONFERENCE
Victoria, BC, Canada 15 – 18 May 2007
Edited by T.A. McVea and S.J. Kennelly
ISBN 978 0 7347 1861 7
Suggested Citation: McVea, T.A and Kennelly, S.J. (ed.), 2007. Proceedings of the 5th International Fisheries Observer Conference – 15 – 18 May 2007, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre of Excellence, Cronulla, Australia, 412 pp. ISBN 978 0 7347 1861 7. A colour version of these proceedings can be downloaded as a PDF file from: http://www.fisheriesobserverconference.com
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Printed in September 2007 by the NSW Department of Primary Industries, PO Box 21, Cronulla, NSW, 2230, Australia ISBN 978 0 7347 1861 7