Acknowledgements
This report was prepared under the overall guidance of Paulo Kautoke, Senior Director, Trade, Ocean and Natural Resources, Commonwealth Secretariat.
The project was led by Kirk Haywood, Head, Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda Section, and coordinated by Dr Benjamin Kwasi Addom, Trade Advisor, Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda Section.
The report was authored by Morgan Lord, Fisheries Ecologist and Stakeholder Lead, and Andrew F Johnson, CEO, of MarFishEco Fisheries Consultants Ltd.
Fisheries in the Commonwealth
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 independent countries that can be divided into 5 distinct regions: Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Americas, the Pacific and Europe. Home to over 2.5 billion people, member states represent both advanced and developing economies.1 Of the 56 member states, only 7 are landlocked. Most are islands, including two-thirds of all small island developing states (SIDS) globally.
The larger member states, including Australia, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Canada and the United Kingdom, have long coastlines.2 Thus, marine resources are an important part of life, and fisheries play a significant role for most Commonwealth populations as a source of income and food.3 Both marine and inland fisheries are fundamental in poverty alleviation, food security, gender empowerment, cultural services, ecosystem function and biodiversity,4 including for landlocked countries such as Uganda, Zambia and Malawi.5 Just as the member states themselves are diverse, the fishery industries within the major regions of the Commonwealth are equally varied.6
Small-scale and artisanal fisheries (referred to as SSF herein) represent a diverse and dynamic subsector that contribute to about half of global fish catches and employ more than 90 per cent of the world’s capture fisheries and fish workers.7 SSF are broadly described as employing labour-intensive harvesting, processing, and distribution technologies to exploit marine and inland fishery resources. However, the specifics of SSF vary greatly depending on the country and/or culture in which they operate.8 SSF are often subsistence and focus on supplying local and domestic markets.9 However, export-orientated production within some SSF operations is increasing due to greater market integration and globalisation.10
In comparison, large-scale fisheries (referred to as LSF herein) in many cases are controlled by fishing companies and larger enterprises with the fishers themselves involved as employees instead of business owners. Such operations often utilise large fishing vessels, which are typically mechanised and operate using more advanced fishing technologies than SSF. These larger vessels typically land fish in well-developed ports with established infrastructure and services rather than the small, informal landings sites used by many SSF.11 LSF often have stronger political and economic influence compared to SSF even though they employ much fewer workers. As a result, SSF communities commonly had less influence in national fisheries management decisions and had suffered at the hands of inequality.12 This is, however, changing as the importance of SSF to livelihoods and poverty alleviation is increasingly recognised.
The Commonwealth
Commonwealth Countries
Commonwealth Small States
Commonwealth Small Island Developing States
Challenges facing Global Fisheries
Unsustainable Practices
Over-exploitation, climate change, ocean acidification, pollution
Fisheries Governance
Must be fair, equitable and consistent with sustainability goals
Fisheries Management
Must be viable and effective
Competing Interests
More fishers, less fish
COVID-19
Has shocked global fisheries
Social Issues
Human rights, personal safety, gender discrimination
Digitalisation
Despite the myriad challenges facing the fisheries sector, there are still a great deal of opportunities to improve practices and overcome hurdles to sustainable, safe and equitable fisheries globally. Digital innovations along with data infrastructure, business development, and appropriate enabling environments will play a big role in the future of fisheries. While digitisation broadly refers to changing information from analogue to digital formats, the correct definition is more complex. “Digitalisation” is the use of digital technologies to change the business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities for a business, organisation or entity13. With specific regard to the fisheries context, digitalisation can be defined to refer to the use of digital technologies, innovations and data to transform the business models and practices across the fisheries value chain and address the biological, social and economic bottlenecks across the fisheries value chain. This is aimed at achieving greater income for SSF, improving food and nutrition security, building climate resilience and expanding inclusion of youth and women.
The following table presents fishery enforcement challenges that can be addressed with existing or soon-to-be available digital innovations (services and technologies). First three columns are taken from Technologies for Improving Fisheries Monitoring (2018)14. Note, not all these tables are used in the Commonwealth countries analysed in this report.
Acronyms
VMS = Vessel Monitoring System, AIS = Automatic Identification System, TNC = The Nature Conservancy, FACTS = The Fishery Activity and Catch tracking System, CVision = Computer Vision, SA = St Andrews, DNA = Deoxyribonucleic acid.
This report
To harness opportunities that digitalisation can play in improving fisheries globally, a common understanding and operationalisation of the concept of digitalisation is needed. This desk-based report aims to evaluate the current state of digitalisation within the fisheries sector in the five regions of the Commonwealth with the goal of building a strong supply side connectivity. The current state of play of fisheries and progress towards digitalisation that has been made to date was reviewed from the published literature with regional information also based on interviews with key informant (KI) experts. The concept of digitalisation herein is divided into three main pillars, each of which are supported by a common base:
· Pillar 1: Digital innovations
· Pillar 2: Data infrastructure
· Pillar 3: Business development services
· Base: Enabling environments for digitalisation
Methodology
Defining Digitalisation of Fisheries
To understand the potential of digitalisation within the fisheries sector, the current state of “digital fisheries” must first be understood. In terms of the Commonwealth, this requires the analysis of current digitalisation trends within the fisheries sectors across the five Commonwealth regions. To do so requires the understanding of these four elements of digitalisation, as illustrated here. The report also draws on specific case studies that highlight the utility of digitalisation in fisheries. It ends with specific policy recommendations on the role of digitalisation in the short-term response, medium-term recovery, and long-term resilience of the fisheries sector.
Digitalisation is the use of digital technologies and services to change the business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities for a business organisation or entity.
Digitisation, on the other hand, is the process of changing the form of an item from analog to digital form; this is also sometimes known as digital enablement. Digitisation is a pre-condition and a step towards digitalisation of fisheries. Digitisation enables access to up-to-date and quality content data as well as data on users. When digitisation is done correctly, digitalisation becomes more inclusive and sustainable for the benefits of all actors including the small scale fishers. In other words, digitalisation capitalises on digitisation as data becomes more accessible digitally.
The framework used to assess the state of digital fisheries in the Commonwealth is illustrated in the Digital Fisheries Framework shown here. The framework depicts an ancient Greek temple with
I) A roof of the temple representing some key systemic issues - biological (climate resilience, resource management, access rights and catch, compliance, control and surveillance); economic (export earning, value addition, processing and marketing, licensing and renting, financial services); social (gender, employment, participation, safety nets, associations and networks) - needed to be tackled for fisheries transformation at small scale fishers and macro level impacts.
II) Three pillars of the temple consisting of digital innovations (digital technologies and services for fisheries), data infrastructure (content data, user data, and the needed infrastructure to manage the data), and business development services (the issues of who pays for digitalisation including the initial financing and subsequent investments) that are needed to ensure fisheries transformation.
III) The base of the temple representing the enabling environment for digitalisation of fisheries consisting of technological and non-technological factors.
Data and information gathering
This report was formulated using two distinct approaches for data and information gathering. Structured literature reviews were undertaken using keyword search terms that covered all countries within each of the five Commonwealth regions, key institutions and organisations known to be involved in fisheries technology development and digitalisation. In total, 1,360 search engine hits (both in Google and Google scholar) were reviewed for content pertinent to the development of this report. Of these 1,360 hits, 55 publications were deemed relevant and reviewed in greater detail. Relevant content was determined through a “pilot run” through related literature. For each report, a series of meta-data were extracted. Case studies of particular interest were also noted from the literature, and some are presented within the text, and some as standalone boxes with input from the companies themselves through online interviews (more information below).
KI experts were sourced from the literature search. Some of these were interviewed to help corroborate information and provide additional insights, particularly in regions where data and information from the literature search were lacking. Each KI was sent a standard set of 11 questions and invited to respond to the questions and/or speak with the research team about their experience and thoughts on fisheries digitalisation in their respective regions. In some instances, KIs responded to the questions based on their experience in more than one region.
Limitations relevant to this report
The information collated and presented in this report is only as accurate as the sources upon which it relies. The method surveyed a large amount of both peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed literature and current experts working in and with fisheries digitalisation. It is, however, entirely possible that there are additional data sources, case studies and solutions to the challenges facing fisheries that were not highlighted using the methods herein. Certain regions and countries within regions were difficult to find published literature for. This is likely due to a combination of the primary language of publication (e.g., many Asian countries publish primarily in their national languages rather than English) and the development of fisheries research and technology (some less developed nations in Africa had very little published information to draw from). Although such potential missing data/information is clearly acknowledged, we believe that this report is comprehensive in that it discusses all four elements (the three pillars and the base, discussed above) of digitalisation for each Commonwealth region and also discusses the importance of understanding where information/data is missing and what such deficiencies mean for digitalisation moving forward.
Pillar 2:
Data Infrastructure
The state of fisheries data infrastructure consists of “quality content” derived from reliable maps, weather data and market data etc. and “digital identity” covering data on users such as fisherfolks, traders, consumers, research networks, financial institutions, and cooperatives, etc.
Pillar 3:
Business Development
The state of business development includes the nature of financiers such as donors, governments, private sector; the business ecosystem; business models of the digital solutions; and payment for the products and services to ensure future continuous adoption, scale, and sustainability.
The base:
Enabling Environment
The state of the enabling environments for digitalisation which assesses the “rules of the game” include digital/non-digital factors; and fisheries/non-fisheries factors like infrastructure and access, policies and strategies, knowledge and networking, literacy and skills, etc.
Footnotes
[1] The Commonwealth. The Commonwealth. https://thecommonwealth.org/about-us
[2] The Commonwealth. ‘Fisheries and the Fishing Industry in Commonwealth Countries’. Commonwealth of Nations. https://www.commonwealthofnations.org/?sectors=business/fisheries
[3] Sumaila, R. (2012) ‘Seas, Oceans and Fisheries: A Challenge for Good Governance’. The Round Table 101, 157–166.
[4] Funge-Smith, S. and A. Bennett (2019) ‘A fresh look at Inland Fisheries and Their Role in Food Security and Livelihoods’. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/faf.12403
[5] FAO (2015). Fish Trade in Africa: An Update | GLOBEFISH | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/in-action/globefish/market-reports/resource-detail/en/c/338418/
[6] The Commonwealth. ‘Fisheries and the Fishing Industry in Commonwealth Countries’. Commonwealth of Nations. https://www.commonwealthofnations.org/?sectors=business/fisheries
[7] Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (2015).
[8] FAO. ‘A Research Agenda for Small-Scale Fisheries’. http://www.fao.org/3/ae534e/ae534e02.htm
[9] Smith, H. and X. Basurto (2019) ‘Defining Small-Scale Fisheries and Examining the Role of Science in Shaping Perceptions of Who and What Counts: A Systematic Review’. Frontiers in Marine Science 6, 236.
[10] FAO. ‘A Research Agenda for Small-Scale Fisheries’. http://www.fao.org/3/ae534e/ae534e02.htm
[11] Fisheries & Aquaculture | Food Loss and Waste in Fish Value Chains | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/flw-in-fish-value-chains/overview/fisheries-aquaculture/en/
[12] Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (2015).
[13] Gartner. ‘Definition of Digitalization – Gartner Information Technology Glossary’. Gartner. https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/digitalization
[14] Fujita, R., C. Cusack, R. Karasik, H. Takade-Heumacher and C. Baker (2018) ‘Technologies for Improving Fisheries Monitoring’. 71.
https://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/oceans/Technologies_for_Improving_Fisheries_Monitoring.pdf