April 2016: Over Earth Day weekend, from 22-24 April, coders and science enthusiasts are participating in the third annual Fishackathon, during which teams develop new applications and tools to promote sustainable fisheries and address fisheries challenges, ranging from data collection to facilitate cost effective fish stock assessments to ghost fishing. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has also been working to address ghost fishing during the month of April, including through a process to develop a set of international guidelines on the challenges. Other fisheries related developments during the month of April include progress on signatories to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and the creation of a locally managed marine area (LMMA) in Timor-Leste, a member of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF).

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s Office of Global Partnerships launched the inaugural Fishackathon in the context of the 2014 Our Ocean Conference. The first event took place in five cities across the US while the second expanded to 12 cities around the world. This year’s Fishackathon will convene in more than 40 cities around the world, including at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. In 2015, participants developed solutions, including: an app that displays fishing species, laws and regulations based on detected location; an app to help consumers find and eat sustainable seafood; a reporting tool on marine mammal protection; and a game to help teach children about sustainable fishing.

In 2016, teams are considering problem statements from fisheries experts related to: fisheries data collection to support stock assessments and effectiveness management; ease of comparability of fisheries data and other information; an application to determine high risk areas and times of the year for spawning of aquatic invasive species (AIS); and ghost fishing, a phenomenon in which abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) continues to catch or entangle fish and marine mammals. One problem statement asks participants to develop a smartphone app similar to Strava or other activity trackers that can capture data on fisheries practices and catch composition with minimal data entry and immediate feedback for the fisher.

FAO is also working to find ways to recover ALDFG. As the scale of fishing operations has increased, the amount of ALDFG has also increased, contributing to approximately 10% of all marine litter and marine debris, according to FAO. ALDFG can also become entangled in ship propulsion systems and propellers, hindering safe navigation.

To address these and other challenges posed by ghost fishing, FAO is leading a consultative process to develop a set of International Technical Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear. The guidelines, which were initially discussed during an expert meeting in early April at FAO headquarters, are expected to help prevent and minimize ALDFG and its effects on fisheries and marine mammals, and to help fishers minimize the loss of their catch and equipment. FAO will present the results of this process, including draft guidelines, to its Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in July 2016 for review and decisions on next steps.

In other news, only one more country needs to sign the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing for the Agreement to enter into force. Cuba became the latest signatory to the Agreement when its Ambassador to the UN agencies in Rome, Alba Soto Pimental, deposited Cuba’s instrument of accession with FAO. Port State measures set standards for inspecting foreign vessels that enter the port of another State and allow a country to block a ship it suspects of engaging in IUU fishing from entering its port, essentially preventing illegal fish catch from entering international and local markets. The Agreement is also expected to support the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, which promotes long-term fisheries sustainability.

FAO Director José Graziano da Silva expressed confidence that the target of 25 signatory countries or regional blocks could be reached by July 2016, suggesting other Caribbean countries might follow Cuba’s action. Barbados, Guyana, the Republic of Korea, South Africa and the US also signed the agreement recently.

On coral reef fisheries, WorldFish and Timor-Leste’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) are partnering with communities to promote sustainable fisheries management, coastal livelihoods, food security and climate change resilience. The Adara community on Atauro Island has declared a LMMA that is closed to all fishing activities and will serve as an ecotourism area. Adara is using tara bandu, a traditional management system, to implement and enforce a fishing ban on small-mesh gill nets, the use of poisons and the collection of small fish and turtles. To provide an alternative livelihood for Adara and improve their food security, WorldFish and MAF have deployed a fish aggregating device (FAD) about 800 meters from the community LMMA. FADs attract oceanic fish, which means that the community will be able to catch species such as mackerel and scads while allowing the reef fish to recover.

Many of the activities described above are aligned with targets under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 (Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development). For instance, Adara’s LMMA contributes to Target 14.2 to sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and taking action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans; and Target 14.5 to conserve at least 10% of coastal and marine areas by 2020. FAO’s efforts on ghost fishing and tackling IUU fishing will contribute to Target 14.1 to prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution and target, by 2025; and 14.4 to effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, IUU fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics by 2020, among others. [US Mission to UN Agencies in Rome Press Release] [2016 Fishackathon Problem Statements] [US State Department Blog on Fishackathon] [Fishhackathon Website] [FAO Press Release 1] [FAO Press Release 2] [FAO Website on Port State Measures Agreement] [IISD RS Story on US Signing] [IISD RS Story on Caribbean Action on IUU Fishing] [WorldFish Press Release]