Known internationally as the ‘barefoot ecologist’ since proposing in 2001 that small-scale fisheries should follow the example of the Chinese barefoot doctor program and train community-based barefoot ecologists in basic stock monitoring, assessment and management – and equip them with a toolbox with simple assessment and communication tools – Dr Prince hoped that within a decade, a new simple cost-effective assessment tool might be developed for the toolbox.
In the event it was 2010 when Dr Prince, with his colleague Dr Adrian Hordyk (UBC), made the necessary breakthrough, combining and extending old fisheries concepts in new ways, they created a powerfully simple technique for assessing stocks using the size of fish being caught; a technique that can be taught to fishing communities to apply for themselves.
With the support of the David and Lucille Packard Foundation the new methodology, Length-Based Spawning Potential Surveys, has been theoretically established and published (Link to References here). Real world implementations with beach head communities are in progress across the Pacific and Indian Oceans (Links to Projects and Countries), and in collaboration with cChange of Fiji a stunning range of highly effective communication materials have been developed to support community-based Spawning Potential Surveys (Link to Toolbox: Communications) and courtesy of Dr Hordyk on-line access to the assessment software (Link to Toolbox: Software).
The elements of the Barefoot eEcologist’s Toolbox are coming together.
Packard Foundation funding requires this Barefoot Ecologist’s Toolbox be completed and freely available for use by 2020. Although not yet complete, the tools we are developing to support community based fisheries management can be found here. They are freely available for use and will be added to and improved over the next couple of years, or so, so keep watching this space. And please make great use of this tool box and let us know how you get on.