New iPad app for tuna fishers

Yes, there's an app for that: it’s high-tech on the high seas.

 

Tuna fishermen have started using Apple’s iPad to record and disseminate information on the high-value fish using an application called FADTrack.

 

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation said it has started to distribute the tablet to fishermen and skippers of tuna vessels under its ProActive Vessel Register program, a newly launched database that is designed to help identify vessels adopting best-in-class, responsible tuna fishing practices.

 

Susan Jackson, ISSF president, said in a briefing at the 10th International Seafood Summit that the new mobile technology has so far generated a lot of data on tuna patterns and fish stocks in the sea.  She described it as a “whole new database never been seen in the industry.”  

 

According to the ISSF website, the Apple iPad comes loaded with an application that will help vessel captains and skippers track  the use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) and the bycatch. The electronic application also automatically records the location of each FADs.

 

“While we aggressively advocate for tuna vessels to improve their practices, it is vital that we support fishers with the tools necessary to meet the growing demands placed on their industry,” said Jackson in a statement.

 

“Today we’re delivering on our promise of working with the fishing community by using the latest in touch screen, portable technology to interact with an audience that spends so much time isolated at sea. We’re bringing the advancement to them.”

 

The data collected by FADTrack applications  will be sent  directly to fishery management organizations’ scientific teams. Data from the fishers will be used to craft sustainable FAD management plans.

 

The iPad  given to vessels also contains a Skipper Guidebook app, which is a virtual textbook of best practices for bycatch mitigation, FAD design, data collection, and monitoring, control and surveillance efforts.

 

Tuna is one of the world’s most exploited fish species for consumption and the ISSF hopes that better communication from the fishers would provide better information in managing healthy fish stocks.

 

In a recent report, ISSF said 52% of the stocks are at a healthy level of abundance, 39% are overfished and 9% are at an intermediate level.

 

In terms of exploitation, 35% of the stocks are experiencing a low fishing mortality rate, 17% are being over-exploited, and 48% have a high fishing mortality that is being managed adequately, the ISSF said.

 

In 2010, the catch of major commercial tunas was 4.34 million tonnes. Fifty-five percent of it was skipjack tuna, followed by yellowfin (27%), bigeye (9%) and albacore (8%). Bluefin tuna accounts for only 1% of the global catch, the ISSF report said. — TJD, GMA News