Digital Transformation of Regional Fishery Statistics and Enhanced Utilization of Fishery Statistics and Information in Southeast Asia

Duration: 2025–2029
Donor: Japanese Trust Fund 7
Lead Department: Secretariat

Background

Recognizing the importance of fishery statistics and information to support policy planning and management of fisheries as well as other usages by researchers, academes, etc., the compilation of fishery statistics in Southeast Asia had been undertaken by SEAFDEC from 1978 to 2007 in the form of the “Fishery Statistical Bulletin for the South China Sea Area.” Starting in 2004, SEAFDEC revised the statistics framework and came up with the “Regional Framework for Fishery Statistics of Southeast Asia.” However, with the subsequent changes in global frameworks and standards related to fishery statistics as well as a need for the inclusion of additional statistics to enhance the usability of the Fishery Statistics Bulletin of Southeast Asia, SEAFDEC through the project supported by the Japanese Trust Fund 6 Phase II (JTF 6-2) updated Regional Framework for Fishery Statistics and came up with the revised Regional Framework (2024 Edition). The revised Regional Framework (2024 Edition) was approved by the SEAFDEC Council during its 56^th Meeting in 2024, and subsequently endorsed by the 32^nd Meeting of the ASEAN Sectoral Working Group on Fisheries.

This JTF-7 Project therefore aims to build upon the achievement of the JTF-6 -2 Project by improving accessibility to fishery statistics data compiled by SEAFDEC through the development of a Statistical Database based on the new Statistics Frameworks (2024). In addition, the fourth issue publication “Southeast Asian State of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SEASOFIA) 2027,” will be produced making use of the available statistics, other data, and information to provide better understanding of the status and trends of fisheries and aquaculture as well as relevant issues/challenges of the region; while the production of Special Publication. “Fish for the People” would also be sustained under this project. These materials are well recognized to reflect the fisheries situation, issues/challenges, initiatives, and policies to promote sustainable development of fisheries of the region, and would be accessible through the SEAFDEC Institutional Repository.

The Project supports the Resolution and Plan of Action on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security for the ASEAN Region Towards 2030, #6 “Enhance regional fishery information systems and mechanisms to facilitate sharing, exchange and compilation of statistics and information required at the sub-regional and regional level, and apply where appropriate, regionally standardized definitions and classifications for statistical data to facilitate regional compilation, analysis, and data exchange.”

Goal

Policy planning and management of fisheries in the Southeast Asian region improved and supported by fishery statistics and information

Objectives/Outcomes

Better usage by AMSs, other countries, organizations, etc. of fishery statistics and information to support policy planning and management of fishery as well as for other purposes

Outputs and Activities