Final Technical Report TRAINING ON INFORMATION SYSTEMS …acpfish2-eu.org/uploads/projects/id322/FTR_Training_Infosystems_GIS_SL.pdf · ACP FISH II – Training on information systems

ACP FISH II – Training on information systems for fisheries data and GIS in Sierra

Leone – Final Technical Report

Project funded by the European Union

“The content of this document does not necessarily reflect the views of the concerned government.”

“This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the Consultants and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.”

Final Technical Report

TRAINING ON INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR FISHERIES DATA AND GIS IN SIERRA LEONE

Reference: WA-3.1-B14

Region: West Africa

Country: Sierra Leone

03 June 2013

Project executed by



This project is funded by the European Union Project implemented by pg. 2

Table of contents List of abbreviations ....................................................................................................... 4

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................ 5

1. General Information ......................................................................................... 9

1.1 Beneficiary country .................................................................................................................... 9

1.2 Executing Agency ....................................................................................................................... 9

1.3 The fisheries sector in Sierra Leone and its monitoring aspects ......................................... 9

2. Mission approach .......................................................................................... 11

3. Observations on the terms of reference ...................................................... 12

4. Project implementation ................................................................................. 13

4.1 Project phases .......................................................................................................................... 13

4.2 Verification of tasks accomplished and activities carried out ............................................. 15

5. Training on stock assessment ..................................................................... 17

6. Recommendations ......................................................................................... 22

List of annexes ............................................................................................................ 25

Annex 1: Terms of Reference of the mission ....................................................... 26

Annex 2: Agenda of wrap-up meeting .................................................................. 40

Annex 3: Electronic banner of project .................................................................. 41

Annex 4: Certificates of attendance ...................................................................... 42

Annex 5: Technical documents produced ............................................................ 43

Annex 6: Detailed calendar of project activities .................................................. 45




Acknowledgements

COFAD Consultants wish to express their most sincere thanks to H.E. the Minister of Fisheries

and Marine Resources, his Deputy Minister and the Director of Fisheries for their continuing encouragement and support to the international consultants during their activities in the country. COFAD also expresses its gratitude to the focal person of the ACP FISH II programme, the EU Delegation in Freetown and the ACP FISH II Regional Facilitation Unit in Dakar, the Project Technical Group (PTG) and the WARFP project for their support and active participation in the project activities.

Thanks are extended to all national authorities, organizations and institutions for their hospitality, friendliness and contribution to the project activities. The national fisheries experts participating at the training courses have demonstrated high determination and willingness to assist the project to deliver its outputs and thus enable the country to upgrade its fisheries information, GIS, and statistics systems and exercise fisheries management and planning through effective, accurate and sustainable techniques and methods.




List of abbreviations ArtFish Approaches, Rules and Techniques for Fisheries Statistical Monitoring

CCRF Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries

COFAD Consultants for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Regional Development

CPUE Catch Per Unit Effort

CU Coordination Unit

EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone

ESRI Environmental Science Research Institute

EU European Union

FAO Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations

FIAS Fisheries Information and Analysis System

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GIS Geographic Information Systems

IFDaS Industrial Fisheries Database System

IMBO Institute of Marine Biology and Oceanography

ISFM Institutional Support for Fisheries Management

IUU Illegal, Unreported and Unauthorized fishing

MCS Monitoring, Control and Surveillance

MFMR Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources

PBA Probability Boat Active

RFU Regional Facilitation Unit

SLARI Sierra Leone Agriculture Research Institute.

WARFP West Africa Regional Fisheries Programme (World Bank)

WB World Bank




Executive Summary

Background

The fisheries sector in Sierra Leone is currently facing serious issues. The “Policy and Operational

Framework for the Fisheries of Sierra Leone”, developed in 2010, underlines that the coastal marine

fisheries resources are under intense fishing pressure by both mechanized trawling and artisanal

fisheries operators for a long time. The situation is exacerbated by inadequate fisheries and

environmental management regimes, as well as limited knowledge of the potential of the sector and the

level of exploitation.

The lack of knowledge on the sector is due, to a large extent, to the poor performance of the information

system used to monitor the fish stocks and their exploitation. The current Fisheries Information and

Analysis System (FIAS), aiming at providing information and data necessary for managing sector

programs and guiding fisheries policy, is relatively new and not yet fully operational. Until recently, the

system had shown a number of shortcomings that impeded its support to the management by means of

indicators on the status of stocks and the actual trends of the fisheries. This ACP FISH II project helped

MFMR to overcome most of the methodological constraints and to remedy the shortcomings affecting

the FIAS. The training provided by the present project aimed at strengthening human and technical

capacities to develop and maintain a performing and sustainable FIAS, including Geographic

Information Systems (GIS).

Project implementation

Implementation of the project involved the services of two international consultants, experts in fisheries

statistics and stock assessment and in GIS respectively. The main focus of the project activities was

theoretical and practical training, the former in the form of classroom lectures and the latter by means of

on-the-job training. In addition to training, the project reviewed the statistical, information and GIS

systems in use and made recommendations for their improvement. Also, several new computer utilities

and data processing and analyses tools were introduced with the view of upgrading the operational

capabilities of MFMR in the applications sectors of fishery information, statistics and GIS.

The field activities were initiated on 23 January 2013 and were concluded on 27 April 2013. There have

been two project phases: the first covering the period 23 January – 28 February, involving GIS and

ArtFish-IFDaS training, and the second during 10 - 27 April in which the main focus of training was on

stock assessment.

The COFAD consultants performed their duties in line with the TOR requirements and spent 55 working

days (Key Expert 1: Biostatisticion/Team Leader) and 25 working days (Key Expert 2, GIS-Expert) on

the project, of which more than 80% were spent in the country (KE 1: 45 of 55 days, KE 2: 24 of 25




days). Regarding training days, the COFAD mission delivered a total of 48.5 days against the set

requirement of 48 days.

A Project Technical Group (PTG) was set-up to assist the project activities. The Group met six times,

the last being the final debriefing meeting of 26 April.

The project prepared three official reports: A Project Inception Report (IR), a Project Intermediary

Technical Report (ITR) and a Final Technical Report (Draft – DFTR – and Final – FTR).

There have also been produced eleven technical documents, a list of which is given in Annex 5.

The Draft Final Technical Report was validated at the last debriefing meeting of 26 April (see bordered

paragraph at the end of current section). After taking into account changes and comments from the

RFU, CU and the focal point, the Final Technical Report is presented herewith.

Project conclusions and recommendations

The project recommendations (a full list is given in Section 6) concern:

The interruption of field operations for data collection on artisanal fisheries which constitutes a

chronic problem and threatens to jeopardize the significant investments so far made in capacity

building;

The temporary interruption of IFDaS computer operations that has created a large (although still

manageable) backlog.

The scarcity of most PCs that are a continuing source of frustration to the Statistics Unit.

The lack of practical skills in basic computer operations by members of the Statistics Unit.

The lack of licensed GIS software for use by MFMR technical staff.

In addition to these recommendations the project made a number of suggestions concerning the future

enhancement of the ongoing information systems. The suggestions concern: (a) methodological

improvements and, (b) improved operational modalities with the view of making ongoing systems easier

to streamline and monitor/supervise.

Project impact

The project was conceived as an instrument to upgrade the technical capacity of national experts,

introduce new tools in the sector of fisheries information and statistics (notably GIS and decentralized

ArtFish.Net) and assisting MFMR to streamline data collection operations in a sustainable and effective

manner.

It is therefore expected that the implementation of the project, through its training and technical support

activities, will have major positive impacts on the work programmes of MFMR and other national

fisheries institutions. These major impacts are:




1. The project provided intensive basic training on GIS techniques and methods. GIS applications have progressively gained reputation and popularity as convenient and effective tools used for computerized mapping and spatial analysis. GIS provides functionalities for the acquisition, storage, access, analysis and display of geographic information combined with information and data from specific application sectors such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries. With its conception as a primarily image-driven instrument, a GIS display makes a quicker and more effective impact than any other type of analytical output such as a table, chart or plot; it is thus expected that the use of GIS as a means of diffusing outputs will greatly promote the utility of current working systems such as IFDaS and ArtFish.Net.

2. The project upgraded the locally operated ArtFish with the decentralized ArtFish.Net. The new configuration will allow MFMR to avoid bottlenecks in the data input of samples on landings and effort, make data checking and editing more effective and accelerate the regular production of catch/effort estimates.

3. The project audited the overall data collection system for artisanal fisheries and formulated data collection protocols with a view to streamline data collection operations and achieve acceptable levels of accuracy in resulting outputs. Moreover, the statistical training offered at various operational levels (data operators, fisheries officers, managers/administrators) will assist national experts to better understand the underlying statistical concepts and thus make data collection and processing programmes more sustainable and reliable.

4. The project conducted basic training on common stock assessment techniques. Training focused on methods and techniques applied to ongoing working systems (such as IFDaS and ArtFish.Net) as well as to commonly used biological sampling. It is expected that the few but well-focused topics will assist fisheries officers in their future work and significantly increase the utility of ongoing statistical and information systems.

5. The project produced eleven technical documents (manuals, training material, formats etc.) as listed in Annex 5. The COFAD experts hope that these will serve as reference material in the future and thus help to make the benefits of the training more sustainable.

About this document

This document is the Final Technical Report (FTR) of the project and summarizes its rationale and

implementation, including verification criteria relating to results achieved and recommendations for its

follow-up by the beneficiary government.

In order to facilitate the use of this document and limit its volume by avoiding inclusion of large

attachments, the authors have thought of presenting the topics of major interest in tabular form (see

table below) containing also references to the appropriate sections of the project Inception Report (IR),

the project Intermediary Technical Report (ITR) and the project Final Technical Report (FTR – current

document) respectively.




Table of major topics and references to project’s three official reports.

IR = Inception Report , ITR=Intermediary Technical Report , FTR = Final Technical Report (current document)

No Topic Section(s) in IR Section(s) in ITR Section(s) in FTR

1 Full project description 1

2 Terms of reference of the COFAD

missions

Annex 1

3 Problems encountered at the start of

project activities

7

4 The Project Technical Group (PTG) 4 2

5 Detailed training curriculum Annex 4

6 GIS training 4.4 , 6

7 ArtFish.Net and IFDaS training 4.1 , 4.2 , 5

8 Training on stock assessment 5

9 Project recommendations 6

10 Computer utilities produced by the

project

7

11 Detailed calendar of project activities Annex 6

12 Tasks accomplished and verification

by wrap-up meeting of 26 April 2013

4

The last mission activity was the wrap-up meeting that was held at the MFMR premises on 26 April

2013. The agenda of the meeting is given in Annex 2. The opening ceremony was followed by a brief

presentation of the project by the COFAD Team Leader Dr. Constantine Stamatopoulos, after which

attendance certificates were handed out to the participants of the three training courses: IFDaS /

ArtFish.Net, GIS and Stock Assessment. After a break for refreshments the COFAD Team Leader

presented the Draft Final Technical Report of the project and the participants were invited to discuss

and verify its two key sections concerning tasks accomplished and recommendations for follow-up.

The two said sections were validated and with some revisions in its text the FTR was unanimously

endorsed at 12:30 hours. After a break for lunch the COFAD Team Leader continued with last-minute

consultations with the Statistics Unit staff concerning the continuation of ArtFish.Net and IFDaS

operations.




1. General Information

1.1 Beneficiary country

The direct beneficiary country of this project is Sierra Leone.

1.2 Executing Agency

ACP FISH II Coordination Unit (CU)

36/21 Avenue Tervuren

5ème étage

Brussels 1040

Tel: +32(02)7390060

Fax: +32(02)7390068

1.3 The fisheries sector in Sierra Leone and its monitoring aspects

The Sierra Leone territorial waters are richly endowed in biodiversity with an abundance of species

which is characteristic of marine tropical finfish, molluscs and crustaceans. Some 200 species of fish

have been identified in the country’s EEZ.

The fisheries sector is very important in Sierra Leone with regards to food security, employment

opportunities, economic activity and export earnings. The sector contributes about 9.4% to the country’s

GDP and provides about 80% of the animal protein intake by all Sierra Leoneans. Per capita fish

consumption is approximately 17 kg per annum. The fisheries sector provides direct employment to

some 100,000 persons and indirect employment to some 500,000 persons (almost 10% of the

population). More specifically, in coastal areas some 25% of the male population of working age is

reported to be involved in fishing at least part-time.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) has the statutory responsibility for the

exploitation and management of all aquatic resources, including fish stocks in Sierra Leone waters. The

Directorate of Fisheries is responsible for executing the mission of the MFMR in the field. The MFMR

collaborates with two research institutes: the Institute of Marine Biology and Oceanography (IMBO) and

also the Sierra Leone Agriculture Research Institute (SLARI).

The fisheries sector is currently facing serious issues. The “Policy and Operational Framework for the

Fisheries of Sierra Leone”, developed in 2010, underlines that the coastal marine fisheries resources

are under intense fishing pressure by both mechanized trawling and artisanal fisheries operators for a

long time. The situation is exacerbated by inadequate fisheries and environmental management

regimes, as well as limited knowledge of the potential of the sector and the level of exploitation.




The lack of knowledge on the sector is due, to a large extent, to the poor performance of the information

system used to monitor the fish stocks and their exploitation. The current Fisheries Information and

Analysis System (FIAS), aiming at providing information and data necessary for managing sector

programs and guiding fisheries policy, is relatively new and not yet fully operational. Under present

conditions it cannot adequately inform and support the management of the sector in the adoption of

measures based on a good knowledge of the status of stocks and the actual trends of the fisheries. A

preliminary assessment of the system revealed a number of shortcomings and constraints to be

overcome so that it plays its full role.

The present ACP FISH II project helped MFMR to overcome these constraints and correct the

shortcomings which affected the FIAS. The training provided by the present project aimed at

strengthening human and technical capacities to develop and maintain a performing and sustainable

FIAS.




2. Mission approach

The COFAD technical team, formed by Dr. Stamatopoulos (Team leader and Biostatistician),

Dr. Michele Marconi (GIS specialist) and Alpha Turay (database specialist), has considered it essential

that all proposals for system’s improvement to be formulated in close collaboration with the national

stakeholders and by taking into account the significant investment already made in staff and non-staff

resources.

This consideration has led to the following actions:

A rigorous analysis of all problems and shortcomings of the present statistical programme has been

prepared, presented and discussed, accompanied with realistic proposals for their resolution.

In view of the significant effort already made in the development of the system and in data

collection, continuity and sustainability of data collection and processing were the principal criteria in

proposing changes.

As far as training in statistics and GIS was concerned, the COFAD technical team operated along the

following concepts:

Emphasis on applicability aspects;

Use of classroom training tools (such as computer simulators, case studies, etc.) for more

immediate and effective presentation of topics;

Complete documentation of training topics. Preparation of manuals and operational guidelines (refer

also to Annex 5 – Documents produced).




3. Observations on the terms of reference

The Terms of Reference of the project were well conceived. It is a known fact that over the recent years

MFMR has been trying to introduce effective fisheries statistical programmes for the monitoring of

fishing activities; specifically for the artisanal sector which accounts for about 80% of fish production in

the country. Its attempts have been successful only partially due to, among other constraints, the lack of

systematic training in basic statistical approaches for data collection and in related software tools.

Training has mostly been achieved through self-teaching using outdated software and operational

guidelines that did not include methodological aspects. The present project offered the opportunity for

systematic and focused training on all topics involved in fisheries statistical monitoring, namely sampling

techniques, accuracy of estimates and cost efficiency and robust and decentralized database handling.

Furthermore, with the inclusion of GIS training, fisheries officers were given the opportunity to start with

the introduction of GIS techniques using data resulting from the Register, IFDaS and ArtFish and thus

obtaining a visible and practical means for effective interpretation of the produced statistics.

There are however three points for which the TORs of the project did not make sufficient provision.

The first concerns a critical evaluation of the ongoing statistical programme and the formulation of

proposals for methodological and operational improvements. Such an evaluation was considered of high

significance for the fisheries statistical programme to become self-sustaining and cost-effective. One of

the first major findings of the mission was that the limitations of the outdated ArtFish version were only a

part of the problems MFMR was facing; in fact most of the problems stemmed from the complexity of

the sector in terms of active boat-gear types (over 60) and their large number (over 11,000 canoes

scattered along over 500 km of coastline and involving no fewer than 750 landing sites and home ports).

The second point concerns the database of registered artisanal craft. The application is still ongoing

(data are being “cleaned” of inputting errors) but some first results that were produced in the first week

of February 2013 allowed the automatic structuring of the upgraded ArtFish (ArtFish.Net) in terms of

stratification and distribution of canoes. The mission set-up automatic linkages between the register and

the ArtFish system with the threefold purpose of: (i) speeding up the preparation of ArtFish referential

tables, (ii) setting-up data collection protocols and sampling accuracy limits on the basis of canoe

distribution and; (iii) performing a first statistical analysis on the vessel data which have so far been

unprocessed.

The third point is related to the GIS. The project had planned to train the MFMR staff in the use of ESRI

ArcGIS software; however no licences of such GIS software were available at the ministry. Training was

thus performed using a trial version valid for 60 days. In this respect the effectiveness of the delivered

training may weaken if this temporary constraint continues and no ArcGIS license is obtained in the near

future.




4. Project implementation

4.1 Project phases

The project was delivered in two phases and an intermediary period between the two phases during

which statistical production work on IFDaS and ArtFish.Net was carried out by MFMR. The activities of

the first phase (24 January – 27 February 2013) were carried out by the COFAD technical team during

the first mission and involved consultations and a parallel training on fisheries statistics and GIS. During

the intermediary phase (28 February – 9 April 2013) the MFMR project counterparts performed

production runs of ArtFish.Net for the months of May-November 2013, while IFDaS summary reports

were produced for the period January 2009 – July 2011 using the operational guidelines and upgraded

software set-up by the mission team. The second phase involved a second mission of the COFAD

Team Leader with the purpose of reviewing the work done in the intermediary period and delivering a

training course in selected topics of stock assessment.

A detailed calendar of the mission activities is given in Annex 6. The following table summarizes these

activities.

Table 4.1 – Project work plan and milestones.

Period Activities

First Project Phase: 23 January – 27 February 2013

23-24 Jan 2013 Arrival in Freetown and accommodation. Consultations with ACP FISH II focal

point. Initiation of document preparation for inception meeting.

25 Jan 2013

Meeting with H.E. the Minister, the Deputy Minister and the Director of

Fisheries. GIS tests and evaluation. Installation of ArtFish decentralized

software. Testing. Guidelines for effective geographical stratification.

26-28 Jan 2013 Preparation of GIS-related topics for inception meeting. Preparation of GIS

training module. Preparation of statistics-related topics for inception meeting.

Adaptation of ARTFISH screens for SL training. Meeting with RFU coordinator

and local focal point.

29 Jan 2013 Project inception meeting

30 Jan – 8 Feb

2013

Parallel training activities on GIS, ArtFish, IFDaS and fisheries statistics.

Drafting of the Project Inception Report.

9 Feb 2013 Finalization and submission of the Project Inception Report

10 – 20 Feb 2013 Parallel training activities on GIS, ArtFish, IFDaS and fisheries statistics.

Debriefing of MFMR on GIS issues.




Period Activities

21 Feb 2013 Departure of GIS expert. Training on ArtFish, IFDaS and statistics continues.

22 – 25 Feb 2013. Training on ArtFish, IFDaS and statistics continues. Initiation of the Project

Intermediary Technical Report.

26 Feb 2013 Debriefing of MFMR by the Team Leader.

27 Feb 2013 Finalization of the Project Intermediary Technical Report.

28 Feb 2013 Departure of the Team Leader.

Intermediary Project Phase: 1 March – 9 April 2013

1 Mar – 9 Apr 2013 Production runs of ArtFish, IFDaS and Register by MFMR

Second Project Phase: 10 – 27 April 2013

10 Apr 2013 Departure from Rome of Biostatistician/Team Leader.

11 Apr 2013 Arrival in Freetown. Accommodation. Contacts/consultations. Arrangements for

classroom training.

12 – 13 Apr 2013

Review with users of the work done on ArtFish and IFDaS during the interval of

the two missions. Corrective actions for problems encountered. Proposed

improvements. Preparations for classroom training on selected topics of stock

assessment.

14 – 19 Apr 2013 On-the-job training on IFDaS / ArtFish.Net operations

20 Apr 2013 Drafting of the Project Final Technical Report.

21 – 25 Apr 2013 Classroom training on stock assessment .

26 Apr 2013 Final debriefing (wrap up) meeting.

27 Apr 2013 Finalization of technical notes.

28 Apr 2013 Departure of Team Leader.




4.2 Verification of tasks accomplished and activities carried out

On the basis of the Terms of Reference (TORs) given in Annex 1 the following verification table was set-

up with the purpose of facilitating the validation process during the wrap-up meeting of 26 April 2013.

Table 4.1 – Verification of project tasks and activities

TOR element Results delivered and activities carried out Yes/No

PHASE 1

1 Briefing with the focal point, RFU and/or CU;

Consultations with ACP FISH II focal point. Initiation of document preparation for inception meeting. 23-24 Jan.

Meeting with H.E. the Minister, the Deputy Minister and the Director of Fisheries. 25 Jan.

Yes

2 Set up a technical team made up of 5 members in consultation with the Directorate of Fisheries.

A Project Technical Group (PTG) of five experts (MFMR, SLARI, WARFP, STATISTICS SL) was set-up on 29 January 2013. The Group met six times, the first being the Project Inception Meeting and the last the wrap-up meeting of 26 April 2013. Meeting reports are included in IR and ITR project documents.

Yes

3 Review structure, operation and management of the existing FIAS through consultative meetings with stakeholders involved or interested in documentary review.

The mission held several consultations with the Director of Fisheries and the ACP FISH II focal point as well as with staff of the Statistics Unit. System documentation was made available concerning design and operational aspects of IFDaS, ArtFish, GIS and Vessel Register1.

Yes

4 Audit existing software (ARTFISH and IFDAS);

Findings and conclusions on ArtFish and IFDaS as well as observations on earlier uses of GIS are included in the project’s Intermediary Report, Section 4, page 12.

Yes

5 Collect information for GIS training. IFDaS and ArtFish.Net data and other shapefiles were collected and used to draw preliminary mappings of industrial and artisanal fisheries (effort, catch and CPUE) using ESRI ArcGIS.

Yes

6 Develop computing solutions to improve the use of data bases (ArtFish and IFDAS);

A new upgraded version of ArtFish (ArtFish.Net) was installed, tested and released for production runs.

A program to convert old ArtFish data to the new ArtFish.Net database was developed by the mission team.

A program to integrate ArtFish data (ArtFish Synthesis) was developed by the mission team.

Yes

1 The use of the Vessel Register was not included in the TORs due to the fact that the system was still under development at

the time the TORs were composed. However, the mission assisted MFMR to obtain some first results from the database and use them for setting-up the new configuration of ArtFish.Net.




TOR element Results delivered and activities carried out Yes/No

A program to extract fleet data from the Vessel Register was prepared by the mission team.

A program to extract Excel-type records from IFDaS was prepared by the mission team.

A program to produce statistical summaries from the IFDaS database (IFDaS Synthesis) was prepared by the mission team.

7 Prepare two training modules: i) a training module on use of databases (ARTFISH system and IFDAS); ii) a training module on GIS applied to fisheries and aquaculture.

The full curriculum of the training programmes for IFDaS, ArtFish.Net, GIS and stock assessment is given in Annex 4 of the Intermediary Report.

Two ArtFish.Net operation manuals and two GIS guidelines were prepared by the mission experts (refer to Annex 5 for a full list of the eleven technical documents produced by the mission team).

Yes

PHASE 2

8 Organize, in consultation with the RFU and the technical team, a training course for 12 participants. This training will be held in Freetown in a room made available by the MFMR; the duration of the training is 48 days.

Training on ArtFish.Net and IFDaS took place at the MFMR premises. Training on GIS and stock assessment was conducted at the premises of WARFP project. Both training activities occurred during the first project phase.

The second project phase involved training on stock assessment and some additional training on ArtFish.Net and IFDaS.

Over 12 trainees attended the courses. The total number of training days amounted to 48.5.

Yes

9 At end of the missions assess the training modules.

Organization of wrap-up and validation meeting on 26 April 2013.

Yes




5. Training on stock assessment

Training on stock assessment was carried out during the second phase of the project in the period from 22 to 27 April 2013. The duration of the course was shortened because all seven participants had been away at their outposts during the first week of the consultant’s second visit. Consequently this short period was used to resume the training on ArtFish, IFDaS which greatly facilitated the work of the Statistics Unit during the two-day workshop on Fisheries Management.

The stock assessment training took place at the premises of the West Africa Regional Fisheries Programme (WARFP). Despite the shortening of its duration, the course did cover all intended topics included in List D of Annex 4 of project’s inception report.

Training topics were presented and discussed in a sequence that allowed participants to familiarize with the entire process of formulation of basic exploitation indicators from catch/effort statistical monitoring. The first sessions dealt with basic catch/effort statistics and analysis of effort, catch and CPUE datasets, including trends of average fish weight for certain important species. ArtFish.Net and IFDaS actual fisheries data proved very useful in this exercise.

The availability of data on average weight but not on average length pointed to the need of examining weight-length relationships. The topic was fully discussed and a weight-length model was set-up in class and operated by the participants.

The fact that average weights and/or lengths do not alone provide a full picture of the structure of the catch led to a discussion on length frequency analysis which was accompanied by practical exercises.

Finally, the fact that length frequencies have at some stage to be related to the age structure of the catch led to a full discussion on fish growth, during which participants made use of the Stamatopoulos-Caddy VONBIT analytical method and software (FAO, 1989, 2011). The course ended with discussions on seasonal growth which can produce outliers in normal (i.e. non-seasonal) growth plots. The participants were given guidance for recognizing if such deviations of points are due to seasonal growth rather than statistical “noise”.

The level of attendance was good and so was the effort made by the participants to keep up with the training subjects, some aspects of which were new to most of them.

The work of the participants was much facilitated by the production by the Statistics Unit of programmed Excel workbooks containing recently produced production and effort data resulted from the parallel application of ArtFish.Net and IFdAS.




Table 5.1 – List of participants

NO NAME TITLE E-MAIL ADDRESS PHONE NO.

1 Abibatu Conteh Fisheries Officer [email protected] 078373788

2 Sheka H.Kargbo Fisheries Officer [email protected] 076573099

3 Lahai D.Sesay Fisheries Officer [email protected] 076379778

4 Kadiatu Seaport Kamara Fisheries Officer [email protected] 078928713

5 Hindolo D.S.Momoh Fisheries Officer [email protected] 076392222

6 Victor H.Kargbo Fisheries Officer [email protected] 076576417

7 Moses Thekeka Conteh M & E Specialist [email protected] 078399883




Figure 5.1 – Setting-up a linear regression model for weight-length relationship

Figure 5.2 – Classroom exercises on weight-length relationship




Figure 5.3 – Classroom exercise on the von Bertalanffy growth model

Figure 5.4 – Classroom exercise on seasonal growth using the Stamatopoulos-Caddy method




TRAINING COURSE ON STOCK ASSESSMENT

EVALUATION BY THE PARTICIPANTS

(To be submitted to the focal person of ACP FISH II)

Dear Participant,

In order to know your opinion of the course you have attended, about both the scientific and the organizational aspects from the beginning to the end of the activity, please check the scoring boxes of the following questionnaire:

SCORE

Below

average

(1)

Fair

(2)

Good

(3)

Excellent

(4)

A. Organizational aspects

A.1 Class facilities

A.2 Training materials and documents

B. Lecturer

B.1 Knowledge of subject(s)

B.2 Ability to communicate

B.3 Interaction with participants

C. Contents

C.1 Relevant to short/medium term needs

C.2 Combination of theory and practice

C.3 Duration of training course

NAME AND SIGNATURE OF PARTICIPANT:...................................................................

Date: ....../....../2013




6. Recommendations

SHORT TERM

1. The Statistics and Data Processing Units of MFMR continue the use of the upgraded ArtFish.Net to computer-process catch/effort data for all remaining months of 2010 and for the entire year of 2011. For 2012 and 2013 there is no indication that data have been collected. Irrespective of the latter event, MFMR should start the soonest possible the collection and processing of 2013 data, else the gap in the artisanal fisheries primary data will become unmanageable.

2. IFDaS operations had lagged behind due to data logging bottlenecks caused by a number of

reasons such as scarce equipment, limited personnel, etc. The situation is now being improved upon. It is expected that the Statistics Unit will be upgraded by WARFP for making data entry and retrieval/reporting more effective.

3. Some members of the Statistics Unit have difficulties in basic computer operations. The mission

discussed the issue with senior national counterparts and recommended that in the short term a series of hands-on computer training sessions should be conducted internally by MFMR qualified staff for the benefit of data operators and users of the Data Processing and Statistics Units respectively.

4. Most of the computer equipment operated by the Statistics Unit is of low quality and/or was set-up inappropriately. This creates difficulties, delays and much frustration to data operators who have at present a heavy daily workload to deal with. As a first measure the mission recommends the acquisition of four laptop computers (of basic, inexpensive but robust configuration), to be used for local processing of ArtFish.Net records.

5. The project had planned to train the MFMR staff in the use of ESRI ArcGIS software; however

no licences of such GIS software were available at the ministry. Training was thus performed using a trial version valid for 60 days. In this respect the effectiveness of the delivered training may weaken if this temporary constraint continues and no ArcGIS license is obtained in the near future. MFMR would proceed to acquiring a regular license for a basic level ArcGIS Desktop 10.1 owned by ESRI. The purchased licence should be for Concurrent Use that allows multiple computers to operate concurrently through a shared pool of licenses administered by a central license manager. A desktop workstation should be dedicated for GIS licence administration. Such a workstation should also cater for backup services; therefore the workstation would need to be configured with multi hard drive disks (at least double). While the first hard drive will be used for daily operations the extra drives will be used to backup geographical datasets and other important data such as the IFDaS and ArtFish databases.




MEDIUM TERM

6. The utility of the IFDaS database is at present low, although a number of summarized outputs were programmed by the COFAD Team Leader (IFDaS Synthesis program). The mission team recommends that, once edited and completed, the database should become the subject of statistical analysis using standard functions of Excel and/or those of statistical packages (such as SAS, SPSS, Statistica, etc.). Selected data would also be used in GIS applications using the same or similar techniques to those worked out during the GIS training. Stepwise guidelines to import data from IFDaS output and produce maps (by species or by type of vessel/gear) are developed and released during the GIS expert mission.

7. The artisanal fisheries vessel register can be integrated with the coastal settlement shapefile,

and thus map with higher resolution the artisanal fisheries variables. During the GIS training these variables were mapped at district level only.

8. The utility of the Canoe Register database is at present limited. The mission extracted only

those data items needed for setting-up extrapolation factors for ArtFish.Net estimations of fishing effort. However the database contains a much valuable amount of information that could be used in a wide variety of fisheries applications and GIS. As the system stands at present there is no provision for basic statistical reports to highlight the major characteristics of the artisanal fleet. The mission recommends that once edited and completed the database should become the subject of statistical analysis using standard functions of Excel and/or those of statistical packages (such as SAS, SPSS, Statistica, etc.). Selected data would also be used in GIS applications using the same or similar techniques to those worked out during the GIS training.

9. The mission has prepared the technical document TD11 (see Annex 5) summarizing in tabular

form all the a priori accuracy indicators that ArtFish.Net calculates on the basis of the distribution of boats/gears along the coastline. It provides a quick guidance for survey planners and data supervisors with regards to: (i) number of sampling days in a month and, (ii) how many samples to be collected per day. This type of data collection protocol ought to be consulted by all members of the Statistics Unit and all fisheries officers supervising data collection on catch/effort. Ultimately, local consultations would take place involving the data collectors themselves. Compliance to the established data collection norms is a prerequisite for the artisanal fisheries statistics to be of acceptable quality. At present, data collection falls short of achieving this.

10. Fisheries officers should continue to upgrade their skills and expertise in analyzing catch/effort

data and in the use of simple and reputable stock assessment methods and tools.

11. The initial GIS outputs produced from ongoing databases are likely to be simple maps including fishing grounds, catch, effort and CPUE. More complex analysis (e.g. integrating fisheries and environmental data), will need skills and data that at present are not available. It should be noted here that effective implementation of GIS is a long process and can only be achieved when there is sufficient support from management, availability of human resources and supplementary training.




12. At present the guidelines for importing externally produced datasets are at district level. To increase mapping resolution (i.e. passing to village level), it would need accurate identification of homeports for all registered vessels. Since several villages have the same name, fisheries officers will have to uniquely determine the exact location from which a registered vessel operates. A shapefile of such locations settlement was set-up by the GIS expert. It should be checked and eventually implemented including missing locations. Finally it will be necessary to associate artisanal fisheries variables to locations in order to increase the present mapping resolution of fisheries variables.

13. At present MFMR has no full-time staff assigned to GIS. The MFMR’s fisheries department

would consider employing one local GIS expert jointly with other Departments or Ministries as such an expert would not be needed full time in fisheries department. A source of possible GIS local expertise could be the Institute of Marine Biology and Oceanography with its department of geography.

14. Finding appropriate data for GIS applications and bringing them together using different

sources can be complex process. For that reason future GIS data collection has to be assigned to local experts who could then:

a. Identify organizations and departments owning relevant GIS datasets. b. Visit organizations and participate in drafting Letters of Agreement between MFMR and

data owners. c. Prepare data catalogues highlighting available data and indicating which data need to

be collected for GIS purposes.




List of annexes

Annex 1. Terms of reference of the mission

Annex 2. Agenda of the wrap-up meeting of 26 April 2013

Annex 3. Electronic banner of project

Annex 4. Certificates of attendance

Annex 5. Technical documents produced

Annex 6. Detailed calendar of activities




Annex 1: Terms of Reference of the mission

TERMS OF REFERENCE

FOR

TRAINING ON INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR COLLECTING, COMPILING AND

ANALYSING FISHERIES DATA AND GIS (GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS)

(PROGRAMME ACTIVITY NO WA-3.1-B14) BACKGROUND

INFORMATION

1.1 Beneficiary country The direct beneficiary country for the implementation of this contract is Sierra Leone.

1.2 Contracting Authority

ACP FISH II Coordination Unit

36/21 Av. de Tervueren

5th Floor

Brussels 1040, Belgium

Tel.: +32 (0)2.7390060

Fax: +32 (0)2.7390068

1.3 Relevant country background Sierra Leone is located on the west coast of Africa at latitude 8◦ 30’N and longitude 11◦ 30’ W. It is

bordered on the West, North and Northeast by the Republic of Guinea and to the southeast by Liberia.

Sierra Leone covers a total area of about 71,740 km2 with a coastline of about 510 km. The

Government of Sierra Leone claimed a 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and a

continental shelf covering an area of about 157,000 km2 and 30,000 km2 respectively. The population

size of the country is approximately six million people (2006).

Sierra Leone is one of the last countries of the Human Development Index ranking elaborated by

UNDP in year 2009 (180/182). GDP in 2009 reached USD 1.88 billion or $ 310.8 per capita. 70% of

the population live in poverty and 26% in extreme poverty.

The exploitation of renewable natural resources (agriculture, forestry and fishing) accounts for 50% of

GDP, and the mineral resources (diamonds, rutile, gold, bauxite) from 10 to 15% of GDP. Sierra

Leone has reached the completion point under the HIPC (Highly indebted poor countries) initiative in

2006. The situation remains fragile as the stock of external debt has reached 764 M US dollars in 2009

or 34% of the GDP.




The signing of a major iron ore concession in the north of the country (presumably one of the largest

in the world) with the London Mining Company and African Minerals Ltd could help the country cope

with the alarming drop in revenues suffered from the global economic slowdown. The expansion of

the secondary sector is limited due to a large extent to poor access to electricity. The mobile phone

sector is fuelling the development of the tertiary sector.

Growth prospects in Sierra Leone have been prejudicially affected by the economic crisis: the real

GDP growth has thus slowed to 4% in 2009 against 5.5% in 2008. The year 2009 also saw a very

marked rebound of inflation which reached 9.5%. In 2010, growth should be at a level close to 5% due

to the depreciation of the local currency and the improvement of the international situation.

Unemployment of 800 000 young people, however, is jeopardizing the development and future of the

country.

After ten years of civil war, the parliamentary and presidential elections of 2002 were won by the

Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), party of former President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. The change of

government took place in September 2007 with the election of Ernest Bai Koroma, as President.

Political tensions are still high as illustrated by violent clashes between supporters of All Peoples

Congress (APC) party and Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) in March 2009 in Freetown and the

more recent political clashes in Congo in 2011.

1.4 Current state of affairs in the relevant sector The fisheries sector is very important in Sierra Leone, in regards to food security, employment

opportunities, as an economic activity and for export earnings. The sector contributes about

9.4 % to the country’s GDP and provides about 80% of animal protein intake by all Sierra Leoneans.

Per capita fish consumption in Sierra Leone is approximately 17 kg per annum. Over 80% of fish

produced in Sierra Leone is from the marine fisheries sub-sector. The fisheries sector provides direct

employment to some 100,000 persons and indirect employment to some 500,000 persons (almost 10

percent of the population). More specifically, in coastal areas some 25 % of the male population of

working age is reported to be involved in fishing at least part-time.

The Sierra Leone territorial waters are richly endowed in biodiversity with an abundance of species

which is characteristic of marine tropical finfish, molluscs and crustaceans. Some 200 species of fish

have been identified in the country’s EEZ. Surveys carried out in Sierra Leone by the Norwegian

fisheries research vessel, Dr Fridtjof Nannsen, in 2006 and 2007 estimated the standing stock of about

300,000mt, with pelagic constituting about 90% of the estimated biomass.

The fisheries of Sierra Leone are composed of three sub-sectors:

Artisanal fishery: it takes place in estuaries and coastal waters. Crafts used in this fishery

include a variety of dugout and planked canoes which employ diverse ranges of fishing

gears (cast nets, ring nets, driftnets, beach seines and hooks). This fishery contributes

significantly to the national fish production (about 90% of total production);

Industrial fishery: it takes place in deep waters and is characterized by multinational

fleets which include trawlers, shrimpers, long liners, canoe support vessels and carriers. It

is export-oriented;

Inland fishery and aquaculture: Inland fisheries take place in rivers, a few lakes

floodplains and swamps. Aquaculture is mostly practiced in inland valley swamps and

wetlands and has a great potential for development.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) has the statutory responsibility for the

development and management of all aquatic resources, including fish stocks in Sierra Leone water




bodies. The Directorate of Fisheries is responsible for executing the mission of the MFMR in the field.

The MFMR collaborates with two research institutes: the Institute of Marine Biology and

Oceanography (IMBO) principally and also the Sierra Leone Agriculture Research Institute (SLARI).

The fisheries sector is currently facing serious issues. The “Policy and Operational Framework for the

Fisheries of Sierra Leone” developed in 2010 underlines that the coastal marine fisheries resources are

under intense fishing pressure by both mechanized trawling and artisanal fisheries operators for a long

time. The situation is exacerbated by inadequate fisheries and environmental management regimes, as

well as limited knowledge of the potential of the sector and the level of exploitation.

The lack of knowledge on the sector is due to a large extent to the poor performance of the current

information system used to monitor the fish stocks and their exploitation. Under present conditions,

this system cannot adequately inform and support the management of the sector through the adoption

of measures based on a good knowledge of the status of stocks and the actual trends of the fisheries.

The Fisheries Information and Analysis System (FIAS) used to manage sector programs and guide

fisheries policy is relatively new and not yet fully operational. Assessment of this system revealed a

number of shortcomings and constraints to be overcome so that it plays its full role. Among these

constraints and shortcomings, the most important are:

a) A lack of qualified human resources: staff involved in the collection, compilation and analysis

of fisheries data and trained for this purpose is very limited (approximately ten people). In

addition, most of them have been appointed to other positions in the Ministry and perform

other tasks. At the central level only 2 people are entering data collected in the two databases

ARTFISH (artisanal) and IFDAS (Industrial Fisheries data base system). Considering the

number of industrial vessels licensed (47)2 to fish in Sierra Leone’s EEZ and the number of

fields to be informed in IFDAS, there is no doubt that the task of data entry far exceeds the

capabilities of a single agent. Moreover, it should be noted that no in-depth and meaningful

analysis and interpretation of fisheries data is conducted to inform the management process. In

particular, very few people are familiar with the process and methods of stock assessment,

based on the use of collected data. Recent departures have also affected the number of

qualified personnel available in the Ministry and highlighted the need for more capacity

building. One of the most alarming findings, however, resides in the fact that most of the

trained departmental officers will reach retirement age within two or three years.

b) A sub-optimal use of existing software (ARTFISH system and IFDAS) for data collection and

compilation. The reasons for this sub-optimal use are both technical and human. The MFMR

collects large amounts of fisheries catch and effort data. For the industrial sector, fisheries data

from all licensed fishing vessels are collected and recorded with information contained in

logbooks and observer reports. However, users of the database cannot export the data entered

on access towards Excel, or other software, for doing calculations or data processing. This

weakness generates a waste of time and potential errors when it comes to re-entering data in

Excel format for example. For the artisanal sector, fisheries data collection is sample based

and the ARTFISH system provided by FAO used to estimate artisanal catches. Current

fisheries records cover the year 2009. The Ministry has to update the ARTFISH system with

frame survey data collected in 2009 to provide up-to-date fisheries data for 2010. The update,

however, suffers from technical difficulties because the current software which is running on

Windows does not allow users to increase the data storage capacity. Therefore, the current

software cannot take into account the changes in the fisheries sector characterized by growing

2 source: Fisheries of Sierra Leone – Third edition 2008, MFMR




trends affecting several data (number of landing sites, fishermen, canoes, etc.). These technical

problems were exacerbated by the departures of two leading officers in the Statistics Unit.

These events have severely weakened the capacity of the Fisheries Department to update the

fisheries databases and the production of meaningful fisheries data for 2010.

c) Insufficient use of modern fisheries management tools such as GIS (Geographic Information

Systems). This powerful tool is now indispensable for researchers working in the area of

marine resources and also fisheries managers. In fact, GIS technology has proven to be a very

interesting tool for planning and management of fisheries and aquaculture. It provides a better

understanding of the fishery system where most items are subject to spatial variability. The

MFMR has acquired GIS software which is unfortunately unused due to lack of knowledge.

The implementation of the project will help to overcome the identified constraints and correct the

shortcomings which affect the FIAS. The training to be provided will aim at strengthening human and

technical capacities to develop and maintain a performing FIAS.

Related programmes and other donor activities

The project will consolidate the achievements of the European Union funded project “Institutional

Support for Fisheries Management” (ISFM) from 2006 to 2009 with a budget of 3 million Euros. The

specific objective of the project was to enable the Sierra Leone Ministry of Fisheries and Marine

Resources to establish a realistic picture of the status of fisheries resources, thus contributing to the

development of fisheries management measures in line with an approved strategic fisheries policy

statement. As part of this objective, two components related to the project have been implemented:

Assessment of fish stocks in Sierra Leone;

Capacity building and institutional strengthening for the MFMR.

Six surveys on coastal demersal fisheries and coastal pelagic fisheries have been carried out. Selected

officers of the MFMR received specific training in database systems management and in stock

assessment. The purpose of this project is to extend such training to other MFMR staff.

The project will complement activities undertaken by the “West Africa Regional Fisheries Program”

(WARFP) funded by the World Bank and the Global Environmental Facility Fund (GEF). The overall

goal of the program is to promote the sustainable use of the fisheries resources in West Africa. The

program operates through 3 components:

Component 1: Good Governance and Sustainable Management of the Fisheries (US$ 5 M

GEF);

Component 2: Reduction of Illegal Fishing (US$ 8 M, International Development

Association (IDA));

Component 3: Increasing the Contribution of the Marine Fish Resources to the Local

Economies (US$ 5 M IDA).

In Sierra Leone, two major activities planned under component 1 will benefit from the achievements

of the project:

Assessment of the Status of Key Fish Stocks

Preparation and Implementation of Management Plans that set Levels of Sustainable

Exploitation for Targeted Fisheries, and Create Rights and Allocation Mechanisms for

those Fisheries

All these activities will benefit from operational databases and trained officers.




OBJECTIVE, PURPOSE AND EXPECTED RESULTS

2.1 Overall objective

The overall objective of the ACP Fish II Programme is to contribute to the sustainable and equitable

management of fisheries in ACP regions, thus leading to poverty alleviation and improving food

security in ACP States.

2.2 Purpose The purpose of this contract is to assist the MFMR in strengthening the human and technical capacities

of the Statistics Unit to develop and maintain an effective FIAS.

2.3 Results to be achieved by the Consultant The Consultants will achieve the following results as part of this assignment:

ARTFISH database is updated and operational on the available computers in the Statistics Unit;

IFDAS’ functions are extended to enable data export from Access to Excel or other data analysis

software;

Training course to ensure effective use of ARTFISH and IFDAS is carried out;

Training in process and methods of stock assessment is provided, making use of collected data;

Basic knowledge on using GIS has been acquired;

ASSUMPTIONS AND RISKS

3.1 Assumptions underlying project intervention

From 12 to 16 September 2011, officials of the ACP FISH II Program conducted a mission in Sierra

Leone whose main purpose was to fine-tune the nature of the technical assistance to be provided to

this country. To this end, they met with the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resource and several

officials of the Fisheries administration. The Minister and other officials reiterated the need to build

capacity of MFMR staff in collecting and analysing fisheries data. Therefore, it is expected that the

host institution will take all necessary measures to facilitate the implementation of project activities.

3.2 Risk The risks are limited given the commitment of the fisheries administration to support the

implementation of this project. Particular attention should be paid to the selection of trainees that

should be the result of consultation between the MFMR and the consultant. Priority should be given to

the junior staff to ensure lasting results.

SCOPE OF THE WORK

4.1 General Training of MFMR officers will assist in ensuring that the fisheries information system is functional.




4.1.1 Project description

To better inform policymakers and strengthen fisheries management, the MFMR needs to improve the

quality of its information through an effective FIAS capable of generating reliable data about the state

of the resources and their exploitation. The assessment of the existing FIAS showed gaps and

weaknesses, particularly in terms of human skills at using computer and software to manage

information. The purpose of the mission is to provide technical assistance with a view to strengthening

the human and technical capacities needed to develop and maintain an effective FIAS.

The implementation of this project will indirectly benefit development partners who support MFMR in

fisheries management including the EU, FAO, the World Bank etc.The technical assistance will

consist of two key experts:

A biostatistician, as team leader; and

A GIS specialist

The project will be implemented in two phases:

Phase 1:

At the start of the project, the Directorate of Fisheries (DF) will facilitate the setting up of a technical

team made up of 5 members including officers from MFMR (2), representatives of projects or

agencies interested in information systems (2), and a specialist of fisheries information systems (1).

The technical team will be involved in the follow up of activities in particular: selecting people to be

trained, validation of the methodology proposed by the consultant, the chronogram of activities as

planned by the consultant for the implementation of the project, as well as the intermediary reports to

be submitted by the consultant before the final report.

In phase 1 the consultant will: (1) assess and analyze the existing situation (sectoral policy context

and current FIAS; (2) operationalize and improve existing software; and (3) draft two training

modules: i) one designed to teach selected staff on the use of the two databases (ARTFISH system and

IFDAS) ; this module includes an initiation to standard principles of data collection, compilation and

analysis as well as an initiation to stock assessment by using data collected and treated; ii) another on

GIS applied to fisheries and aquaculture.

The consultant will review the structure and functioning of the current FIAS and prepare a synthetic

assessment of human resources, computer resources available, and methods of collecting, compiling

and analyzing data. In particular, he will carry out an audit of ARTFISH and IFDAS in order to

develop technical solutions to solve identified problems and make improvements in the use of

databases. The consultant will consult with the MFMR about the selection of officers to be trained,

taking into account qualifications and requirements of the staff responsible for implementing the

FIAS. The consultant will also collect from the MFMR, research institutes (SLARI and IMBO in

particular) or other relevant structures, documentation, aerial photos or satellite images that could help

for GIS training.

Phase 2:

In phase 2, it is planned to train 12 officers of MFMR (including 7 junior officers). The training will

be spread over a 48-day period as follows:




Training module on ARTFISH and IFDAS: 33 days (initiation to standard principles of

collection, compilation and analysis of data: 3 days; training on ARTFISH and IFDAS:

20 days; training on data analysis and stock assessment: 10 days)

Training Module on GIS applied to fisheries and aquaculture: 15 days

4.1.2 Geographical area to be covered

The project covers Sierra Leone’s territory and the waters under its jurisdiction

4.1.3 Target groups

The target groups for this project are officers form the MFMR Statistics Unit and other selected

officers involved in the operation and management of the FIAS.

4.2 Specific activities

4.2.1 Specific activities

The consultant will undertake the following activities:

Phase One.

1. Briefing with the focal point, RFU and/or CU;

2. Set up a technical team made up of 5 members (cf. section 4.1.1), in consultation with the

Directorate of Fisheries;

3. Review structure, operation and management of the existing FIAS through consultative meetings

with stakeholders involved or interested in documentary review

4. Audit existing software (ARTFISH and IFDAS);

5. Collect information for GIS training;

6. Develop computing solutions to operationalize and improve the use of data bases (ARTFISH

Program and IFDAS);

7. Prepare two training modules: i) a training module on use of databases (ARTFISH system and

IFDAS); ii) a training module on GIS applied to fisheries and aquaculture.

Phase Two.

8. Organize, in consultation with the RFU and the technical team, a training course for 12

participants. This training will be held in Freetown in a room made available by the MFMR; the

duration of the training is 48 days (cf. section 4.1.1),.

9. At end of the workshop, assess the training module.




4.2.2 Communication and project visibility

a) ACP FISH II projects should follow the EU requirements and guidelines for communication

and visibility available on the Programme website at http://acpfish2-

eu.org/index.php?page=templates&hl=en. The CU will provide ACP FISH II templates for

various communication products.

b) The consultant will provide photographic record of the workshop activities.

4.3 Project management

4.3.1 Responsible body

The Coordination Unit (CU) of the ACP Fish II Programme, based in Brussels, on behalf of the ACP

Secretariat is responsible for managing the implementation of this assignment.

4.3.2 Management structure

The ACP Fish II Programme is implemented through the CU in Brussels and six Regional Facilitation

Units (RFUs) across the ACP States. The RFU in Dakar, Senegal, covering ACP Member states in

West Africa will closely supervise the implementation of this intervention equally monitor its

execution pursuant to these Terms of Reference. For the purposes of this assignment, the ACP Fish II

Programme Coordinator will act as the Project Manager.

All contractual communications including requests for contract modifications or changes to the Terms

of Reference during the execution period of the contract must be addressed with a formal request to

the CU and copied to the RFU. Beneficiaries’ support for these changes is required.

4.3.3 Facilities to be provided by the Contracting Authority and/or other parties

Not applicable

LOGISTICS AND TIMING

5.1 Location The normal place of posting for the key experts will be Freetown, Sierra Leone. Their principal place

of work will be the offices of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources in Freetown.

5.2 Commencement date and period of implementation The intended commencement date of this assignment is

11

th June 2012 and the period of

implementation of the activities will be 4 months from the date of signature of the contract. Please

refer to Articles 4 and 5 of the Special Conditions for the actual commencement date and period of

implementation.

http://acpfish2-eu.org/index.php?page=templates&hl=en





REQUIREMENTS

6.1 Personnel

6.1.1 Key experts

All experts who have a crucial role in implementing this assignment are referred to as key experts.

Their profiles are described as follows:

Key expert 1: Team Leader – Biostatistician

Qualifications and skills

A post graduate university degree or equivalent in marine biology, fisheries science,

statistics, economy or a directly related field;

The expert should have a high level of proficiency in spoken and written English;

Proven team leading skills

General professional experience

Minimum of 10 years experience in the fisheries sector with particular experience in

fisheries information systems;

Proven report-writing, project management and facilitation skills;

Specific professional experience

Experience in developing and monitoring programs for collecting, compiling and

analysing production and fishing effort data (minimum of 5 years);

Good knowledge of the ARTFISH system;

Experience in developing and conducting training courses (minimum 3 assignments);

Related experience in West Africa is an advantage;

There will be no missions outside the normal place of posting requiring overnights for this expert.

There will be in-country field visits outside the normal place of posting not requiring overnights for

this expert.

Key expert 2: GIS specialist


A university degree or equivalent in geography, computer science, biology, fisheries

science, or a directly related field; a specialization in GIS is an advantage;

The expert should have a high level of proficiency in spoken and written English;


Minimum 5 years of experience in the management and use of GIS;

Proven communication and facilitation skills;





Experience in the management and use of GIS in the field of fisheries and/or aquaculture

(minimum of 3 years)

Experience in developing training courses and conducting training workshops in GIS

(minimum 2 assignments);

Related experience in West Africa is an advantage;

Experience in carrying out consultancy assignments for the EU or other equivalent

international development partners (minimum of 2 assignments);

There will be no missions outside the normal place of posting requiring overnights for this expert.

There will be in-country field visits outside the normal place of posting not requiring overnights for

this expert.

Indicative number of working days by expert and task

No. Indicative Task Key Expert 1 (Days) Key Expert 2 (Days)

1 Phase 1

1.1 Briefing with RFU/CU and Focal point

1 1

1.2 Establish and meet with the Technical Team 1 1

1.3 Review structure, operation and management of

existing FIAS

3 0

1.4 Audit existing software (ARTFISH system, IFDAS) 2 0

1.5 Collect information and documentation for GIS

training

0 3

1.6 Update and upgrade software 4 0

1.7 Prepare training modules / ITR preparation 8 3

2 Phase 2

2.1 Prepare training course 1 1

2.2 Training Course 33 15

2.3 FTR preparation 2 1

Total 55 25

Additional information

a) Key Experts are expected to spend at least 80% of the total indicative number of working days in

Sierra Leone.

b) Note that civil servants and other staff of the public administration of the beneficiary country

cannot be recruited as experts, unless prior written approval has been obtained from the European

Commission.

c) The Consultant must complete a timesheet using the ACP Fish II template provided by the CU at

the start of the implementation period. The Consultant is entitled to work a maximum of 6 days per

week. Mobilisation and demobilisation days will not be considered as working days.




6.1.2 Other experts

The consultant will recruit, for a period of 4 days, a database specialist who will assist the team leader

(Biostatistician) in developing computing solutions. The profile required is as follows:


A degree or equivalent in computer science, management information systems, or a

directly related field;

A good level of proficiency in spoken and written English;


Minimum 5 years of experience in administration and management of databases;


Experience in administration and management of fisheries databases (minimum 2 years)

A good knowledge of the software “ARTFISH system” is an advantage;

A good knowledge of Sierra Leone is also an advantage.

CVs for experts other than the key experts are not examined prior to the signature of the contract. They

should not have been included in tenders.

The Consultant shall select and hire other experts as required according to the profiles identified in the

Organisation & Methodology and these Terms of Reference. They must indicate clearly which profile

they have so it is clear which fee rate in the budget breakdown will apply. All experts must be

independent and free from conflicts of interest in the responsibilities accorded to them.

The selection procedures used by the Consultant to select these other experts shall be transparent, and

shall be based on pre-defined criteria, including professional qualifications, language skills and work

experience. The findings of the selection panel shall be recorded. The selected experts shall be subject

to approval by the Contracting Authority.

Note that civil servants and other staff of the public administration of the beneficiary country cannot

be recruited as experts, unless prior written approval has been obtained from the European

Commission.

6.1.3 Support staff and backstopping

Backstopping and support staff costs must be included in the fee rates of the experts.

6.2 Office accommodation

Office accommodation of a reasonable standard and of approximately 10 square metres for each expert

working on the assignment is to be provided by the MFMR.




6.3 Facilities to be provided by the Consultant The Consultant shall ensure that experts are adequately supported and equipped. In particular it shall

ensure that there is sufficient administrative, secretarial and interpreting provision to enable experts to

concentrate on their primary responsibilities. It must also transfer funds as necessary to support its

activities under the contract and to ensure that its employees are paid regularly and in a timely fashion.

If the Consultant is a consortium, the arrangements should allow for the maximum flexibility in

project implementation. Arrangements offering each consortium member a fixed percentage of the

work to be undertaken under the contract should be avoided.

6.4 Equipment

No equipment is to be purchased on behalf of the Contracting Authority or beneficiary country as part

of this service contract or transferred to the Contracting Authority or beneficiary country at the end of

the contract. Any equipment related to this contract which is to be acquired by the beneficiary country

must be purchased by means of a separate supply tender procedure.

6.5 Incidental expenditure The Provision for incidental expenditure covers the ancillary and exceptional eligible expenditure

incurred under this contract. It cannot be used for costs which should be covered by the Consultant as

part of its fee rates, as specified above. Its use is governed by the provisions in the General Conditions

and the notes in Annex V of the contract. It covers:

a) KEY EXPERTS

Travel costs for field visits for the Key Experts (car or boat rental, fuel and domestic flights or

other appropriate means of transport).

b) OTHER

The cost of producing communication and visibility items.

Any subsistence allowances to be paid for missions undertaken as part of this contract must not exceed

the per diem rates published on the European Union (EU) website at:

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/per_diems/index_en.htm

The Provision for incidental expenditure for this contract is 1850 EUR. This amount must be included

without modification in the Budget breakdown.

6.6 Expenditure verification

The Provision for expenditure verification relates to the fees of the auditor who has been charged with

the expenditure verification of this contract in order to proceed with the payment of further pre-

financing instalments if any and/or interim payments if any.

The Provision for expenditure verification for this contract is 1500 EUR. This amount must be

included without modification in the Budget breakdown.

This provision cannot be decreased but can be increased during the execution of the contract.




REPORTS

7.1 Reporting requirements

Please refer to Article 26 of the General Conditions. There must be a final report, a final invoice and

the financial report accompanied by an expenditure verification report at the end of the period of

implementation of the tasks. The approved Final Technical Report (FTR) must be annexed to the Final

Report (FR). The final report must be submitted to the CU after receiving the approval of the Final

Technical Report (FTR).

The Final Report (FR) shall consist of a narrative section and a financial section. The financial section

must contain details of the time inputs of the experts, of the incidental expenditure and of the provision

for expenditure verification.

To summarise, in addition to the documents, reports and output which could be specified under the

duties and responsibilities of each key expert above the Consultant shall provide the following reports:

Name of report Content Time of submission

Inception Report (IR) Preliminary assessment of

existing situation and work plan

No later than 7 days after the

first expert arriving in the place

of posting for the first time.

Intermediary Technical

Report (ITR)

Assessment report of the current

FIAS, Description of computing

solutions to operationalize and

improve the use of data bases

(ARTFISH system and IFDAS),

the two training modules

No later than 15 days after the

end of phase 1

Draft Final Technical Report

(DFTR)

In addition to ITR content:

Description of achievements,

problems encountered,

recommendations and technical

proposals suggested by the

consultant

Within 7 days of the experts

leaving the country on

conclusion of the assignment

Final Technical Report In addition to ITR content:

Description of achievements,

problems encountered,

recommendations and technical

proposals suggested by the

consultant, taking into account

changes and comments from the

RFU, CU and the focal point

No later than 10 days from

receiving comments on the

Draft Final Technical Report

(DFTR)

Final Report Short description of

achievements including problems

encountered and

recommendations and

suggestions; together with the

Final Technical Report and a

final invoice and the financial

report accompanied by the

expenditure verification report.

After receiving the approval of

the Final Technical Report

(FTR).




The formats of technical reports are available on the ACP FISH II web site at http://acpfish2-

eu.org/index.php?page=templates&hl=en.

7.2 Submission and approval of reports One electronic copy of the reports referred to above must be submitted to the Project Manager

identified in the contract.

Two hard copies of the approved Final Technical Report (FTR) must be submitted to the Project

Manager identified in the contract (CU), one copy to the RFU and two copies to the Department of

Fisheries. The original and a hard copy of the Final Report (FR) must be submitted to the CU together

with its annexes and supporting documents. All reports must be written in English. The Project

Manager is responsible for approving this report. The cost of producing such materials is included in

the fees.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION

8.1 Definition of indicators The results to be achieved by the consultant are included in section 2.3 above. Progress to achieving

these results will be measured through the following indicators:

1. Quality of consultants fielded and speed of mobilisation will indicate a positive start to the

assignment;

2. Data entry in the database ARTFISH system is no longer limited;

3. Reported involvement of stakeholders in drafting of the training module;

4. Data entered in IFDAS ARTFISH can be exported to a data analysis software;

5. Trainees are entering and compiling data and are able to analyze them;

6. Trainees have acquired sufficient knowledge on the use of GIS;

7. Compliance with project milestone with respect to time schedule and report delivery.

The Consultant may suggest additional monitoring tools for the contract duration.

8.2 Special requirements

Not applicable.






Annex 2: Agenda of wrap-up meeting




Annex 3: Electronic banner of project

This is




Annex 4: Certificates of attendance




Annex 5: Technical documents produced

No. Title Application and brief description

No. of pages

1 ArtFish Operations Manual for Administrators

ArtFish – done and submitted.

Computer operations manual for ArtFish.Net administrator(s). It contains a full description of the system functions, from installation instructions to the preparation of meta-data files for information diffusion.

50

2 ArtFish Operations Manual for Data Operators

ArtFish – done and submitted.

Computer operations manual for ArtFish.Net data operators. It contains a description of the system functions that are relevant to decentralized inputting, preparation of “local” estimates and transfer of locally processed data to the Administrator’s workstation.

30

3 Statistical Aspects – Basic Theory Fisheries statistics, ArtFish – done and submitted.

Basic sampling theory supplement with case studies using computer simulators.

50

4 Statistical Aspects – Applications Fisheries statistics, ArtFish – done and submitted.

Specific ArtFish.Net statistical aspects with emphasis on data collection scenarios for fishing effort.

15

5 Accuracy Aspects (PowerPoint) Fisheries statistics, ArtFish – done and submitted.

A PowerPoint presentation that focuses on sampling accuracy and its properties in specific fisheries populations.

(Slides) 40




No. Title Application and brief description

No. of pages

6 VONBIT method in non seasonal fish growth

Stock assessment - done and submitted.

Theory and application of VONBIT, a methodological approach prepared by C. Stamatopoulos and J. Caddy (FAO). The document is accompanied with a programmed Excel workbook to process experimental age-length data.

(Slides) 36

7 VONBIT method in seasonal fish growth Stock assessment - done and submitted.

12

8 GIS guidelines for Sierra Leone’s fisheries GIS – done and submitted. 87

9 Collection of PowerPoint documents for GIS

GIS – done and submitted.

Three presentations introducing main geographic issues and an overview of the ArcGIS and Quantum GIS interfaces.

(Slides) 133

10 IFDaS new utilities for data reporting IFDaS – done and submitted.

It illustrates the process of extracting data from the IFDaS database and their integration into the IFDaS Synthesis program.

12

11 Data collection protocols ArtFish – done and submitted.

Guidelines for field operations. Sampling norms for achieving desired accuracy levels.

25




Annex 6: Detailed calendar of project activities

Training indicators are marked as follows: (OJ) = On-the-job training, (CR) = Classroom training

Date Training day

Working day

GIS activities Statistical, ArtFish and IFDaS activities

Training day

Working day

23/01/2013 0.0 0.0

Departure of consultants

from Rome

Departure of consultants

from Rome 0.0 0.0

24/01/2013 0.0 1.0

Arrival in Freetown and

accommodation.

Preparation of GIS

training module.

Arrival in Freetown and

accommodation.

Consultations with ACP Fish

II focal person. Initiation of

document preparation for

inception meeting. 0.0 1.0

25/01/2013 0.5 1.0

Meeting with H.E. the

Minister, the Deputy

Minister and the Director

of Fisheries. GIS tests

and evaluation (OJ)

Installation of ArtFish

decentralized software.

Testing. Guidelines for

effective geographical

stratification. (OJ) 0.5 1.0

26/01/2013 0.5 1.0

Preparation of GIS-

related topics for

inception meeting.

Preparation of GIS

training module.

Preparation of statistics-

related topics for inception

meeting. 0.0 1.0

27/01/2013 0.0 0.0

28/01/2013 0.5 1.0

Preparation of training

module, meeting with

RFU coordinator and

local focal point. (OJ).

Adaptation of ARTFISH

screens for SL training. (OJ). 0.5 1.0

29/01/2013 0.5 1.0

Inception meeting.

Installing GIS software

and evaluation link with

ArtFish and IFDaS. (OJ)

Inception meeting. Training

on ARTFISH functions. (OJ) 0.5 1.0

30/01/2013 0.0 1.0

Data collection at IMBO,

SLARI and Statistic office

of Sierra Leone

Set-up ARTFISH tables

(species, boat-gears). (OJ) 1.0 1.0

31/01/2013 1.0 1.0

Introduction to GIS

software. (CR).

Set-up ARTFISH tables

(sites) (OJ) 1.0 1.0

FEBRUARY 2013




Date Training day

Working day


Training day

Working day

01/02/2013 1.0 1.0

Meeting with attaché at

EU delegation.

Comparison between

ArcGIS and Quantum

GIS. (OJ).

Meeting with attaché at EU

delegation. Grouping

method for simplifying

ARTFISH fleet data. (OJ). 1.0 1.0

02/02/2013 0.5 1.0

Data collection and

preparation from IMBO,

SLARI and Statistic

Office. (OJ).

Finalization of ARTFISH

manual for ADMIN. (OJ). 0.5 1.0

03/02/2013 0.0 0.0

04/02/2013 1.0 1.0

GIS data models. Basic

geographical and

cartographic background

knowledge. ArcGIS data

management tools (first

part) (CR).

ARTFISH generic formula.

(CR). 1.0 1.0

05/02/2013 1.0 1.0

ArcGIS data

management tools

(second part) (CR).

ARTFISH multiple gear

considerations. (CR). 1.0 1.0

06/02/2013 1.0 1.0

Preparation of pre-

programme project in

order to use ARTFISH

and IFDaS data. (OJ).

ARTFISH secondary

variables. (CR). 1.0 1.0

07/02/2013 1.0 1.0

ArcGIS data analysis

tools (first part) (CR).

ARTFISH scenarios for

landings (CR). 1.0 1.0

08/02/2013 1.0 1.0

ArcGIS data analysis

tools (second part).

Visualization and layout

(CR).

ARTFISH scenarios for

fishing effort (CR). 1.0 1.0

09/02/2013 0.0 1.0

Finalization of Inception

Report

Finalization/submission of

Inception Report 0.0 1.0

10/02/2013 0.0 0.0

11/02/2013 0.5 1.0

Data collection and

preparation from

ARTFISH and IFDaS.

GIS problem solving

methodology: open

discussion with local

staff. (OJ).

Fundamental concepts of

Sampling Theory. (CR).

2nd Meeting of the Technical

Group 1.0 1.0

12/02/2013 1.0 1.0

Import IFDaS output in a

GIS system: mapping

main fishing variables,

parameters and

indicators. (OJ).

Fisheries populations and

their distributions. (CR). 1.0 1.0




Date Training day

Working day


Training day

Working day

13/02/2013 1.0 1.0

GIS for fisheries

management of all or

specific boat-gear

categories. (OJ).

Sampling Accuracy and

other variability indicators.

(CR). 1.0 1.0

14/02/2013 1.0 1.0

GIS -based protocol for

the collection and use of

local knowledge in

fisheries management

and planning. (OJ).

Accuracy issues in ARTFISH

operations. (CR). 1.0 1.0

15/02/2013 1.0 1.0

Mapping effort and catch

for artisanal fisheries

using ArtFish data:

options and tools. (OJ).

Examples from ARTFISH.

(CR). 1.0 1.0

16/02/2013 0.0 1.0

Working on the

Intermediary Report.

Working on the Intermediary

Report. 0.0 1.0

17/02/2013 0.0 0.0

18/02/2013 1.0 1.0

Habitat mapping and

marine fisheries

management. Integration

of environmental and

fisheries data. (OJ).

ARTFISH Data Analysis

(CR). 1.0 1.0

19/02/2013 1.0 1.0

Applications of GIS for

spatial decision support

in aquaculture. (OJ).

ARTFISH Data Analysis

(continued) (CR). 1.0 1.0

20/02/2013 0.5 1.0

Mari-culture site

suitability for commercial

species. (OJ). Debriefing

MMFR.

Linkages of ARTFISH with

IFDAS) (OJ). 1.0 1.0

21/02/2013

Departure from Freetown

of GIS expert.

Linkages of ARTFISH with

Vessel Register (OJ). 1.0 1.0

22/02/2013

ARTFISH data diffusion via

web (OJ). 1.0 1.0

23/02/2013

Working on the Intermediary

Report. 0.0 1.0

24/02/2013 0.0

25/02/2013 IFDaS Data Analysis (OJ) 1.0 1.0

26/02/2013

IFDaS Data Analysis

(continued) (OJ). Debriefing

MMFR. 1.0 1.0

27/02/2013 0.0 0.5 Finalization of Intermediary Report

Finalization of Intermediary Report 0.0 1.0




Date Training day

Working day


Training day

Working day

28/02/2013

Departure from Freetown of

Biostatistician/Team Leader. 0.0 0.0

APRIL 2013

Second mission of Biostatistician/Team Leader

10/04/2013

Departure from Rome of

Biostatistician/Team Leader. 0.0 0.0

11/04/2013

Arrival in Freetown.

Accommodation.

Contacts/consultations.

Arrangements for classroom

training. (CR). 0.5 1.0

12/04/2013

Review with users the work

done on ARTFISH and

IFDaS. Suggest corrective

actions for eventual

problems. Propose

improvements. (OJ). 1.0 1.0

13/04/2013

Preparations for classroom

training. (CR). 0.5 1.0

14/04/2013 0.0

15/04/2013

Integration of ArtFish data

(OJ). 1.0 1.0

16/04/2013

Use of IFDaS data for Group

2 at Fisheries Management

Workshop (OJ). 1.0 1.0

17/04/2013

Use of ArtFish.Net data for

Group 2 at Fisheries

Management Workshop

(OJ). 1.0 1.0

18/04/2013

Integration of IFDaS data for

use by the stock assessment

training. (OJ). 1.0 1.0

19/01/1900 1.0 1.0

20/04/2013 0.0 0.5 Drafting of Final Technical Report

Drafting of Draft Final Technical Report 0.0 1.0

21/04/2013 0.0

22/04/2013

Comparative catch/effort

exercises from IFDaS. (CR). 1.0 1.0

23/04/2013

Comparative catch/effort

exercises from ArtFish (CR). 1.0 1.0




Date Training day

Working day


Training day

Working day

24/04/2013

Special considerations in

biological sampling. (CR).

Length-weight relationships.

(CR). 1.0 1.0

25/04/2013

Length frequency analysis.

Growth models (CR). 1.0 1.0

26/04/2013 WRAP-UP MEETING 0.0 1.0

27/04/2013

Working on the Final

Technical Report 0 1.0

28/04/2013

Departure from Freetown of

Biostatistician/Team Leader. 0 0.0

Total 16.5 25.0 33.0 45.0

NOTE: The above calendar of project activities refers only to the presence of key experts in Sierra Leone. The indicated total amount of 45 working days in the field of Statistical, ArtFish and IFDaS activities thus corresponds to the working days of Key Expert I (Biostatistician/Team Leader) in the country. In addition, this expert spent 10 home-based working days on report finalization, preparation of technical documents and adaptation of stock assessment software. The total amount of working days is therefore 55, of which 81.8% were spent in Sierra Leone.