Unit 4Strategies for data collection

in a data poor, budget and manpower limited situation

ByPeter Manning (FAO)

Coastal Fisheries Policy and Planning Course, 28/01/08 – 8/02/08, Apia, Samoa

Secretariat of the Pacific Community

Key strategic elements

1. Identify minimum information requirements

2. Internal or external sources3. Characteristics of the sector4. Active (you measure) or passive (they

report)5. Orthodox or alternative approach (proxy

indicators)

Key strategic elements

6. Achieve cooperative mind of fishers and others

7. Complete enumeration or sampling

Strategy 1: Identify minimum information requirements.

• Review current use of fishery information - who are using info for what purpose

• If some data is not used, re-consider whether to collect them – keep “need to know” info, eliminate “nice to know” info.

• Redefine information requirements with stakeholders (users of information)

Strategy 2 (external sources): Does information already exist outside of fisheries

department

• Look for other data collecting institutions including non-fishery institutions

• Establish communication with them • Ask for cooperation

Strategy 3 (Characteristics of the sub-sector): 5 W 1H

• Who are in the sub-sector?

• What they are doing?

• Where are they located?

• Where do they operate?

• When do they operate?

• How do they operate?

Strategy 4 : Carefully choose the method - active or passive data

collection

• Whether you measure or ask them to report

Process- ing

Local H/H Consumption

Discards

Fishers' own Consumption

Oth

ers

Export

Catch

Retail market

Imp

ort

Hotels/Rest's

Give

-away

Auction/wholesale

Landing

Subsistence productionCommercial production

Processing

Local Consumption

Discards

Own consumptionGive-away

Non-human consumption

Auction/

Wholesale

Export

Catch

Retail/Market

Landing

Import

Hotels/Restaurants

- Catch report/logbook- Observer report

- Landing Report - Creel survey

- Consumption survey

- Auction invoice- Wholesalers Report

- Report from plants- Sales record

- Sales record - Market surveys

- Custom declaration- Export documents

- Consumption survey- Purchase record

Production flow and data collection

How can we trace this production path?

• Middlemen/women– Purchase from who and sell to whom– Purchase at where and sell where

• Surveys/reporting– Include the same questions as above in; • landing survey/ creel survey• Fish market survey/report• Consumption survey

How can we trace this production path? (cont’d)

• Registration and license– Business license (hotels/restaurants/exporters)– Fish processing establishment registration– Trade permission

• Invoice/Record– Purchase record (retailers & hotels/restaurants)– Auction/Market invoice

Strategy 5 (Orthodox or alternative): Be creative and flexible in considering viable

options

• Think of best combination of intensive data collection to provide benchmarks and less intensive methods

• Use proxy indicators

• Use local knowledge.

Proxy indicators

Population census H/H income & expenditure survey

• Fishing H/H- subsistence• Fishing H/H- commercial• Fishing H/H - bothIdentify

• Production of fish for own consumption

• Income from sales of fish• Place to sell fish

Market surveys

Level of subsistence productionLevel of artisanal commercial

production

Monitor the trend of commercial production

Routine

Strategy 6 (attain fishers’ cooperation ): Incentives and trust are the key

• Community or Co-management (data provider =information users)

• Catch report as collateral for bank loan

7. Complete enumeration or sampling: A model of inshore fisheries monitoring

Comprehensive

benchmark survey

Comprehensive

benchmark survey

0 5 10 (year)

Estimation based on benchmark information but maintain minimum efforts to monitor the trends

Donor support