The Nature Conservancy has created an iPad App called eCatch, allowing California fishermen to share data on their catch and fish stocks in real time.
The Nature Conservancy has been partnering with California fishermen to switch to gear that is better for the environment and allows them to catch higher quality fish. The organisation claims that this work has improved the environmental and economic performances of the local fishery.
The organisation believes that when a group of fishermen teams up and shares what they caught when and where, they build a powerful database of fishing information that helps them all make money and ensure there will be fish to catch tomorrow.
With the new iPad App, the fishermen have a way as an industry to manage their fishery sustainably themselves. The Nature Conservancy says that results are impressive so far - fishermen with iPads are sharing where overfished species are with their counterparts, they are taking advantage of each others’ experience at sea by avoiding areas where someone caught overfished species and learning where the more abundant species are, and they are looking at overall trends to see if their fishing grounds are staying healthy and abundant.
