Marine species biological data collection manual

The purpose of this manual is to provide fishery observers, and in general fishery data collectors, with a detailed description of the procedures required to collect biological data from the most important fishery groups that can be encountered while at sea. It is intended as a complement to the standard observer manuals issued by States and/or Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and Arrangements (RFMO/As) and takes into account the additional requirements regarding vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) included in the FAO International Guidelines for the Management of Deep-sea Fisheries in the High Seas. The Guidelines provide states and RFMO/As with management guidance ranging from an appropriate regulatory framework to the components of a good data collection programme, and towards a sustainable use of marine living resources exploited by deep-sea fisheries as well as the protection of the affected habitats. States and RFMO/As are asked to develop and implement data collection programmes that include the deployment of on–board fishery observers. These are often faced with the difficult task of having to identify not only target species, but also non–target species, including vulnerable ones such as cold water corals, sponges and cartilaginous fishes. The identification of the latter species can be problematic due to a scarce knowledge regarding their occurrence and distribution for many regions and a lack of identification guides specifically designed for use by non–experts at sea. This tool enables non-specialists to collect samples and take proper photographs, which can be then examined by taxonomic experts on shore and potentially improve the taxonomic resolution of the species in the catch. This manual was prepared under the “FAO Deep–sea Fisheries Programme” with the support of the Governments of Japan and Norway through the projects “Fisheries management and marine conservation within a changing ecosystem context” and “Support to the implementation of the International Guidelines on the Management of Deep-Sea Fisheries in the High Seas”.