A National Plan of Action to prevent, deter, and eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Marine Fishing.Photo: Khmer Times

EU, FAO partner to strengthen fisheries management

CAMBODIA
Wednesday, May 22, 2024, 06:50 (GMT + 9)

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), with funding from the European Union (EU), is supporting Cambodia’s Fisheries Administration (FiA) by implementing the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) to improve fisheries law enforcement.

FAO’s support complements the Cambodia Programme for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in the Fisheries Sector (CAPFISH-Capture) project, enhancing FiA’s capacity to use the SMART tool.

This platform, which includes various software and analysis tools, helps officials manage and protect fisheries resources. To date, 500 officials from the fisheries administration and cantonment have been trained in all aspects of SMART implementation.

The tool allows for the collection, storage, analysis, and evaluation of data on patrol efforts, outcomes, threat levels, and other enforcement activities.

The EU-funded CAPFISH-Capture project aims to improve compliance with regulations protecting Cambodia’s fisheries resources. FAO’s technical assistance, in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), has supported FiA in developing SMART patrolling for fisheries in Cambodia to strengthen fisheries law enforcement.

During a two-day workshop from May 16-17, the background and achievements of SMART implementation in Cambodia were presented, along with future enforcement strategies using SMART to ensure sustainable fishing practices.

Song Hong, Deputy Director General of the Fisheries Administration, stated that “SMART patrolling for fisheries in Cambodia has been in place since 2021, with over 45,000 inland and over 2,500 marine SMART inspections logged each year.”

He added that marine and freshwater data models for SMART have been developed, a Khmer language interface for the latest version of the SMART software has been implemented for computers and phones, and a core SMART team within the FiA has been established.

This team provides technical support to field staff, manages data, conducts analyses, and updates data models.

“SMART is used worldwide in more than 1,000 conservation areas across 100 countries and has been adopted by over 25 governments as a standard for data and information management. In Cambodia, it has been deployed as a law enforcement monitoring tool at various terrestrial, freshwater, and marine sites since 2013,” said Theodorus Visser, Technical Specialist (Freshwater Fisheries Management and Information), FAO Cambodia.

SMART is developed by a partnership that includes the WCS and seven other leading conservation agencies.

It is a free, open-source tool designed to measure, evaluate, and improve the effectiveness of law enforcement patrols and site-based conservation activities.

The lessons learned from SMART implementation in Cambodia will guide its application in other ASEAN countries and worldwide, contributing to effective marine and freshwater fisheries law enforcement and sustainable fisheries.

CAPFISH-Capture is one of the largest EU-supported fisheries programs globally. It aims to improve fisheries conservation, management, and compliance with fisheries laws and regulations, including the National Plan of Action to prevent, deter, and eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Marine Fishing.

Ben Sokhean / Khmer Times

[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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