PeskAAS: A near-real-time, open-source monitoring and analytics system for small-scale fisheries

Abstract

Small-scale fisheries are responsible for half of the global fish catch, and fisheries-dependent data underpin scientific guidance of management and conservation, yet we have almost no data on their activities and production over time and space. We use open source software components including the Shiny R package to build peskAAS, an adaptable and scalable digital workflow to collate, classify, integrate, analyse and visualise small-scale fisheries data. The main features of peskAAS are: (i) it is fully open-source and free to deploy and use (ii) it is component-based to be flexible for integration of vessel tracking data and existing catch documentation elements; (iii) it provides spatial and temporal filtering of relative fishing productivity by fishing method and habitat (iv) it integrates FishBase open-source and regularly updated species-based growth parameters (v) the end user click-button dashboard is specifically co-designed for easy interpretation of fisheries production data. With limited training and code adaptation, the peskAAS workflow can be deployed for use by fisheries stakeholders, managers and scientists as a platform for high resolution, near-real-time production data from small-scale fisheries for the first time.