Summary

This paper provides a summary of the 6th International Fisheries Observer and Monitoring Conference and how this conference series has evolved over the past 11 years. It illustrates where observer and monitoring work fits into fisheries science, its empirical basis and how it has become a crucial part of successful fisheries management. By holding this conference every two years, this series has documented, discussed and summarised how the field of fisheries observer and monitoring work has expanded and grown throughout the world. At this 6th conference, we saw these expansions to a greater extent than at previous conferences, in terms of the number of countries involved, the number and diversity of fisheries involved (from some of the world’s richest to some of the poorest) and the sophistication of the programs occurring. At this conference we harnessed the talents of scientists, managers, fishermen, compliance officers, lawyers, ENGOs and, of course, the key to the entire field - the observers themselves. As in previous conferences, we had a major focus on safety - again contributing to the future well-being of observers. We also had significant sessions on how one uses the information obtained from observer programs - from quantifying bycatches and discards, to its uses in stock assessments and compliance. We heard a lot about the latest technological developments in observer and monitoring programs, including new work on self-reporting by fishermen and electronic monitoring as a mainstream tool.

The past 11 years and 6 conferences have shown a progressive increase in the number, diversity, quality, sophistication and safety features of observer programs throughout the world. It is clear that this conference series has, in itself, contributed significantly to these improvements by adhering to a very sound, well-designed model. The paper concludes by encouraging everyone to keep attending these conferences and, by doing so, continue to improve our world’s fisheries and the way they are monitored and managed.