Return to Emily McGregor, MarinTrust’s Fisheries Manager, attended the 9th World Fisheries Congress in Seattle from 3rd to 7th March 2024, and presented how Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) that are part of the MarinTrust programme offer a unique opportunity to build capacity in managing complex, multi-species fisheries. Capacity building is crucial for supporting improvements, including data collection, ecosystem modelling, and collaboration between stakeholders.
Other presentations during the conference reinforced the message that capacity building is a long process, and requires building trust and collaboration between different stakeholders. Importantly it needs to be tailored to the specific context and needs of those receiving training. FIPs can offer a good space to facilitate and focus capacity-building efforts and see that translate into real change in the fishery.
MarinTrust, in collaboration with experts, has developed criteria and assessment methodologies for evaluating such fisheries. Two FIPs have been established in Thailand and Vietnam to address these challenges and are pilot-testing MarinTrust’s multi-species assessment methodology.
MarinTrust intends to use the insights gained from the pilot projects in Thailand and Vietnam to further develop multi-species assessment criteria. The progress of FIPs can be tracked on the MarinTrust website.
Watch Emily's recorded presentation here: