FAO Virtual global expert workshop on the fisheries co-management evaluation guidebook
7 - 11 and 17 September 2020
FAO Virtual global expert workshop on the fisheries co-management evaluation guidebook
The FAO Virtual global expert workshop on the fisheries co-management evaluation guidebook was held from 7 to 11 and 17 September 2020 using the Zoom platform to produce a new draft of the guidebook contributing to evaluating the effectiveness of fisheries co-management systems.
The workshop was attended by 42 participants, of which 25 experts, 5 FAO observers and 12 FAO core team members. The workshop was organized into both plenary and break-out sessions taking into consideration the participants’ time zones (i.e. A ‘Americas and the Caribbean’, B ‘Africa and Europe’ and C ‘Asia and the Pacific’).
At the first plenary session, the guidebook’s structure was presented. During break-out sessions, the experts discussed how to develop an efficient methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of fisheries co-management systems by addressing each section of the guidebook. The break-out sessions’ outcomes were reported at the second plenary session for further discussion.
Based on this, an updated outline of the guidebook has been developed and discussed during the final plenary session. Suitable topics for case studies proposed by the experts have been also discussed. The updated outline contains important elements to be included in the Guidebook. Inter alia: the analysis scale should encompass all fisheries; the scope of the analysis should refer to existing fishery co-management system at fishery, community, and sector levels; indicators to evaluate the co-management systems process, operation and function, and co-management plans achievements (i.e. output and outcome indicators grouped into social, economic, ecological and governance) should be included; co-management good practices should be described; co-management design, development and implementation process should be modeled with flowcharts; definitions should be provided or improved (e.g. co-management plan, fisheries management plan, and management effectiveness).