Consultation should be as wide as possible. However, a sector study is not unlimited and a line has to be drawn around this process. Ways of extending the range of consultation which are relatively economical in the time they require (and which are not mutually exclusive) include the following:
the organization of a seminar, or a series of seminars, around the various issues; for example, it might be relevant to invite some leading academic biologists to a seminar at which they can discuss the various biological topics; similarly, a group of environmental specialists may be encouraged to contribute their research findings in the context of seminar discussions;
meetings with key industry leaders and other representative persons; these can be valuable but participants have to be selected with care and meetings to be structured.
Increasingly, governments favour concluding a sector study with a national planning workshop, or seminar. Very often, governments use these meetings to sound out the opinion of the different parts of the sector and of other interested parties to the proposals in the draft sector study document. Sometimes, governments may decide to restrict participation in such a meeting to governmental and other public sector institutions. Whatever the participation decided upon by the government, a seminar or workshop gives the team leader the opportunity to present the document to a larger group than it may have been possible to talk with in the course of the study and subsequently to revise the document to take into account the views expressed.
One of the functions of a sector study is to identify gaps in relevant information. In many countries, the fisheries sector is relatively well served with factual information. However, data are sometimes lacking.
International trade data are usually available because they are a source of information for tax revenue but statistics may sometimes omit or underestimate any illegal cross-border trade.
Most countries have estimates of catches but statistical systems can sometimes underestimate or overestimate landings of artisanal boats and omit any illegal landings. The collection of statistics on the beaches is very often one of the areas where governments will seek to make financial economies.
Economic data-prices, incomes and opportunity costs are often harder to come by. Private company costs, earnings, profitability and balance sheet information are often difficult to obtain, although it is sometimes possible to infer commercial information from other information which becomes available.
The absence of biological data may sometimes present a problem. Most countries have invested human and financial resources-sometimes through technical cooperation agreements with donor agencies-in fish population research, and the task of the team may be one of bringing together the available information into a coherent single document. Even if the information available presents only a limited picture, it may often be sufficient on which to base sound options for development.
