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TrawlBase is the name commonly used for a powerful data management tool properly called the Fisheries Resource Information System and Tools or FiRST.
Many countries in the Asian region have been collecting fisheries data from trawling in their territorial waters since the 1920s. Individual countries have lacked the capacity to store, analyze and interpret these data at the regional level. To address this need, the WorldFish Center, in partnership with eight developing Asian countries, led the development of a regional repository for marine resource survey data. The data management system FiRST is used to organize, store, retrieve and exchange data. The aim is to ensure long-term availability of the data and to facilitate national and regional level analyses relevant to marine resource management.
WorldFish is now the custodian of the database, which currently contains species abundance data from over 21,000 locations (335,980 records) in the coastal waters of South and Southeast Asia. FiRST also houses social and economic data on the 10 million people involved in the fishing industry in the eight countries.
The eight countries involved in this project are: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.
The regional database containing the resource surveys was developed with funding from the Asian Development Bank.
Key results from the analyses
Extensive overfishing and industrial pollution are putting unsustainable pressure on coastal fisheries in Asia. Fish stocks have fallen by as much as 30 per cent. Overfishing is likely to become more severe, with demand fast outstripping supply and with prices expected to rise.
There have also been significant changes in the composition of the fish caught. The proportion of trash fish – smaller fish lower down in the food chain – has increased, while that of larger, more valuable species has declined. Recent studies show that trash fish is now 60 per cent of the catch in the Gulf of Thailand; 30 to 80 per cent in Vietnam; and 50 per cent in Peninsular Malaysia.
Key publications include:
Status and Management of Tropical Coastal Fisheries in AsiaEdited by: G. Silvestre and D. Pauly. ICLARM Conference Proceedings 53, 208p. (1997)
Assessment, Management and Future Directions for Coastal Fisheries in Asian Countries
Edited by: G. T. Silvestre, L. R. Garces, I. Stobutzki, M. Ahmed, R. A. Valmonte-Santos, C. Z. Luna, L. Lachica-Aliño, V. Christensen, D. Pauly and P. Munro. WorldFish Center Conference Proceedings 67. (2003)
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