The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has shipped its new application to help tuna fishing vessels begin building a network of continuing education, information sharing and compliance monitoring.
The recipients are the first vessels to register for listing on ISSF’s ProActive Vessel Register (PVR), a database designed to help identify vessels adopting responsible, best-in-class tuna fishing practices.
The new applications are loaded on Apple iPads, which are provided to each vessel that registers for listing on the PVR. The recently designed FADTrack app was developed to address the lack of data and management tools available for keeping tabs on the use of fish aggregating devices (FADs). The electronic application can be used to record data each time a vessel deploys, visits or fishes in tandem with a FAD. GPS technology automatically records the location of each FAD, while the vessel’s skipper plugs in information such as catch, occurrence of bycatch and other variables often missing in the data for individual FADs.
The data collected by FADTrack applications will be submitted directly to fishery management organisations’ scientific teams. The goal is for the information to be used by fishery managers to create and implement FAD management plans.
Another feature delivered to vessels on each iPad is the Skipper Guidebook app; a virtual textbook of best practices for bycatch mitigation, FAD design, data collection, and monitoring, control and surveillance efforts.
