Using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to promote equitable and sustainable small-scale fisheries (SSF)

The Abalobi initiative in South Africa, hosted an international workshop on ICT for Fisheries (ICT4Fisheries) in November 2016 in Cape Town, South Africa. Entitled ‘ICTs for equitable and sustainable small-scale fisheries: promoting international cross-learning’, the workshop was co-hosted by Abalobi, the University of Cape Town’s Centre for ICT4D and Blue VENTURES and made possible with funding from WIOMSA. The aims of this international workshop were to: bring together fisher groups, fisher leaders, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academics and other stakeholders with experience in the use of fisher-driven ICTs, to promote networking at international, national and regional level; to build an understanding of the contribution that ICTs can make towards empowering SSF communities, enabling them to secure their human rights, share local ecological knowledge and ensure the co-production of new knowledge towards enhanced sustainability of marine resources; to identify the right processes whereby fisher-driven mobile apps can contribute towards transparency, equity, sustainability and accountability; facilitate the sharing of knowledge on best practices in supporting the development of free or low-cost apps that can assist with the implementation of the VGSSF develop best practice guidelines for supporting the development of apps for fisher knowledge and data capture, data use, safety-at-sea, communication and market-related needs; find practical ways to pool strengths and experiences and thereby foster collaboration, with specific focus on the need for integration of various apps, their ease of use, sustainability and accessibility across the globe.