Marine Fishing Vessel Database and Annual Gear Licensing
A fishing census was conducted by FiA in 2018 with budget support from the EU, resulting in the first ever marine vessel list, including 7552 fishing vessels. Based on the data collected, a vessel database was developed under FAO CAPFISH Capture technical support, to serve as the record of all marine fishing vessels for Cambodia. During 2020 and early 2021, FAO CAPFISH project supported FiA to create the foundational database, based on existing incomplete server-based databases, partial certified clean and correct MS Excel records and original paper survey forms, the existing FiA data sets were assessed, cleaned and consolidated into a MySQL database. A draft interface was developed, which was subsequently transformed into an on-line database. This allows to find, filter records and to view, export, print and edit vessel records.
The purpose of the database is to act as a foundational baseline of the 2018 vessel census data, as a record of fishing vessels, while also allowing fisheries staff at national and provincial level access to the data for updating on a regular basis and linking it to other data sets for use during data collection and analysis, including the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) for inspections and the Fisheries Catch Monitoring Assessment Survey (FCMAS). The current database can generate reports on the fishing vessels that were recorded in the census. Staff at FiA, FiAC, and the General Department of Waterway and Maritime Transport, and Ports (GDWMTP) have been granted rights to access to the database and to validate and update existing records or add new records. FiA and FiAC staff have been trained on using the database to update vessel records. The Vessel database also is expected to be used as the basis for registration of all fishing vessels in Cambodia, by GDWMTP, which is one of the targets under the EU support under the CAPFISH Programme.
The Vessel database also includes data on annual fish licensing, which is included as a separate data set by year.