A system benefiting fishers and managers alike

An electronic reporting system for fishers will replace the hybrid digital and paper approach from next year. The system allows fishers to concentrate on fishing rather than paperwork, while fisheries managers will be better able to analyse the data.

From 2024, Estonia wants to switch completely to electronic data submission for all commercial shing activities in Estonian waters. Until now a hybrid system had been used for submitting data related to commercial shing in Estonia, where part of the data was received in electronic form and part on paper. e new system will make the electronic transmission of data mandatory.

Faster delivery of more uniform data

e main goal of the new arrangement is to make the receipt of data more operative, relevant, and up-to-date, and would enable faster, more uniform, and more compact presentation, processing, and analysis of data. Electronic data presentation has been used for many years by shing vessels, where shing activity messages are sent to the commercial shing register through the ship‘s Electronic Reporting System (ERS). Similar to shing vessels, from 2024, Estonian professional shers would go shing with a smart device—smartphone or tablet— and record a shing trip in the PERK (a digital declaration system developed by the Estonian sheries) application and submit all the required data regarding shing activities during the shing trip.

Presenting data on paper, which has been used so far, is an outof-date solution in a digitizing world. It does not allow targeted monitoring nor an operational overview of the use of sh stocks as a natural resource. Since Estonia has continuously developed PERK which, since 2018, has been necessary for the submission of coastal shing data, the entire professional shing community will soon be directed to use it. PERK can be used with any web browser, and in case of uctuating or non-existent internet coverage, PERK stores the data provided in a bu er and sends it when the coverage improves. In this way, shers can focus on their daily work and business— shing—and do not have to worry about possible reporting problems. rough PERK the data reaches the register of commercial shing, where it is processed and analysed.

Data-based analysis will help the individual fisher too

e advantage of using PERK is that the data can be provided immediately when the shing activity takes place, and the sher does not have to worry about it later. Fishers can also submit data simultaneously to multiple agencies that collect or monitor commercial shing data. In addition, the state can also o er advantages to the shing community based on the electronic data received: for example, to provide statistics and an overview of the sher‘s economic activities—where and when the best catches have been, where there are shing resources in the area, etc. ere is a lot of potential to develop this further and the shers have also made several suggestions about what and how they would like information. e state o ers support to shers to purchase the rst smart device necessary for the electronic submission of shing data. e sher chooses the device and the state pays a proportion of the cost. e transition to electronic data submission is one part of the overall digitization of the eld of commercial shing, the larger goal of which is to make the services o ered by the state towards the shing community digital and to the greatest extent possible self-managed by the commercial shing community through the customer gateway portal.

Kristi Ilves, Eduard Koitmaa, Ministry of Regional A airs and Agriculture of the Republic of Estonia