The evaluation team is responsible for planning, implementation and analysis. A person should be appointed to lead the evaluation team. The expertise required for the evaluation team will depend upon the indicators selected and the level of complexity of measuring and analysing each indicator. Building the capacity of the team members to conduct the evaluation should be done at least several months before the evaluation takes place. Depending on the purpose of the evaluation, its scope and the resources available, the evaluation may be conducted by a team made up of people working in the fisheries co-management system and/or people working outside of it (outside experts). Bringing in outside experts, who understand the co-management system and who are trusted and respected, can boost the capacity of the evaluation team. For example, there may be a need for a gender specialist. The evaluation team should agree on a set of rules, principles and approaches to guide the evaluation process. The responsibilities of each team member should be clearly defined according to their skills and experience. The evaluation team should be approved by the main user groups or rights holders in the fishery, fishing community members and the government. In some cases, particularly with large evaluation teams who are required to measure many indicators, it may be necessary to appoint a full-time logistical officer.

Identify a member of the evaluation team to be the “data manager”. This person will receive all the data collected for each selected indicator. In some cases, this may be the evaluation team leader, or perhaps the same person collecting the relevant information (e.g. the team socio-economist). In other cases, there may be a person who is responsible for receiving and handling information, such as a data analyst or a computer specialist.