This photo story gives some insight into the small-scale fisheries of coastal Kenya and highlights some key issues that the AABS project is hoping to tackle....
World Fisheries Day: Celebrating the people behind the numbers
I have always been decidedly nonchalant about ‘international days of…’. I find it trite, and overused, and too often for things that are not causes for celebration. Birthdays and anniversaries are celebrations of people and unions. People and the planet are worth celebrating, but a hashtag is worth nothing. But today is a chance to reflect on where our food is coming from, and whose work is behind it. Fishers, in contrast to fisheries, that is something I can get behind, because these are the faces behind the numbers....
From little things, big things grow: Scaling Peskas in East Africa
Last week I stood in front of 250 fishers, fisheries officers, managers, and NGOs at a beach hotel in Mombasa, Kenya. I was there to introduce a new project that aims to harmonise fisheries data in East Africa and transform it into knowledge for sustainable fisheries and improved livelihoods. But I wasn’t there to give them technology and tell them how to use it - because that rarely (never?) works. I was there to tell them that we will build it together, and that this huge collaborative meeting of different fisheries stakeholders, was the best possible start I could imagine....
Nutritional Insights in Fisheries: The Peskas Evolution
Harnessing the Power of Data to Enhance Nutritional Insights in Small-Scale Fisheries Through Peskas. In a world that witnesses a continual blending of technology and traditional sectors, Peskas stands as a pioneer, enhancing how small-scale fisheries in Timor-Leste are monitored and managed. Since its inception in 2016, this open-source web portal, initiated in collaboration with the Timor-Leste Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, has been serving as a low-cost, open-access window into the dynamic world of fisheries, presenting real-time trends and insights....
New Peskas paper out now in PLoS One
A new paper is now out in PLoS One which details the design and piloting of Peskas in East Timor. Read and download it at the journal’s website. Unreported doesn’t mean illegal. Global coverage of ocean issues typically links IUU with overfishing without emphasizing that much of this not necessarily Illegal, but may merely be Unreported. This is true for many small-scale fisheries worldwide as they are often remote and informal and tough to track....
Peskas: scalable, resilient, secure
In Peskas we are moving from a monolith towards a domain-based data-architecture. We want to enable the sustainable growth of the platform. Peskas is a monitoring and analytics system for small-scale fisheries. Currently, Peskas is used in Timor-Leste, where it provides previously-invisible data and insights to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The downstream consequences are multiple: better reporting, better management, and better community empowerment. But the promise of Peskas goes beyond Timor-Leste....