Who we are
Global Fishing Watch is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing ocean governance through increased transparency of human activity at sea. By creating and publicly sharing map visualizations, data and analysis tools, we aim to enable scientific research and transform the way our ocean is managed. We believe human activity at sea should be public knowledge in order to safeguard the global ocean for the common good of all.
Project background
According to the United Nations, good governance has eight major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making.
As ocean resources can be shared across jurisdictions and are often out of sight, ocean governance presents particular challenges to decision makers. Currently, multiple disconnected regulations set different rules based on geographies, species, fishing gear types and seasons. This patchwork system allows unscrupulous fishing vessel operators to take advantage of loopholes, undermining our collective efforts to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.
All ocean governance decision makers – the policy-maker developing legislation, the body authorizing a fishing vessel to operate, the manager implementing marine protections, the scientist calculating blue carbon sink analyses, the inspector boarding a vessel to assess compliance and the judge issuing a penalty for non-compliance – need to know who a vessel is, what it is authorized to do and where it has been operating. Transparency, that is the making of actions and decisions taken as well as the specific ocean and vessel data that underlies them available and accessible, offers a modern, cost-effective and scalable approach. Greater transparency of human activity at sea will inform dynamic, data-driven decisions and provide a level of accountability that can be enforced.
Assignment Description
This assessment will scrutinize all policies relating to industrial and small-scale fisheries and marine biodiversity, in line with Global Fishing Watch’s goal to empower institutions and people in 30 countries by 2030 to:
- Reduce illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and destructive fishing practices
- Better enforce and protect the rights of 1 million small-scale fishers
- Improve effective designation and management of marine protected areas (MPAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs).
The assignment aims to scope how open, transparent data are being used to inform and implement ocean governance policies in Madagascar, as well as gaps where open data could be used in future if policies were updated. The assignment will identify best practice legislation and use cases across fisheries, maritime, defense, security, foreign affairs, legal and any other relevant agencies in a number of pilot countries, to be identified. It will also map out opportunities to advance transparency in ocean governance policies across various themes of fisheries and biodiversity. The Consultant will propose a plan of work that may include desk studies, interviews and field visits.
It is our hope that through collaboration with relevant stakeholders, we can advance policy around the world to ensure it is using and requiring greater transparency. The assignment will be conducted in collaboration with Global Fishing Watch and will include the following outputs:
Desk research report: A landscape analysis will be conducted to generate a summary report that outlines:
TRANSPARENCY
- Understand the broader context of Transparency for Good Governance in existing frameworks and policies of the country, this includes
- mapping existing laws, policies or the constitution that allow and encourage use and access to data and information by the public like Freedom of Information bills;
- mapping recent country interest in key partnerships like Open Government Partnerships that promote transparency and open data;
- Identifying other sectors beyond environment and agriculture/ fisheries that have policies that use and encourage transparency principles for governance;
- Provide analysis of how transparency is currently contributing to the following governance objectives;
- accountability (eg holding governments to account)
- participation in decision - making (eg ensuring a multistakeholder approach to policy making)
- equity in terms of access to data and resource (eg how accessible are laws and the data used to develop those to broader constituents and public)
- Mapping of existing data privacy, ethics, standards, and governance mechanisms of the country and its relevant application to fisheries, maritime and marine biodiversity.
- Existing national fisheries/ maritime/ marine biodiversity policy (legislation, regulations, administrative acts) that requires transparency of information and decision making, specifying the actual language and provision associated with transparency and the basis for the language (other policies that may sit outside of the environment that have used transparency eg freedom of information bills), and the dates when those were incorporated/ passed/ developed;Existing fisheries/ maritime/ marine biodiversity policy (legislation, regulation, administrative acts) that is implemented through the analysis of public data, specifying the actual language and provision associated with public data and if possible the basis for the language and the dates when those were incorporated/ passed/ developed.
- Existing fisheries/ maritime/ marine biodiversity bilateral and regional agreements that require transparency of information and decision making, specifying the actual language and provision associated with transparency of information and decision making and if possible the basis for the language, and the dates when those were incorporated
- Existing fisheries/ maritime/ marine biodiversity regional agreements that are implemented through the analysis of public data specifying the actual language and provision associated with public data and if possible the basis for the language, and the dates when those were incorporated.
- Analysis of the gaps and opportunities of these policies as it relates to transparency.
- Environmental non-governmental organizations, networks, coalitions, and regional bodies that have transparency of information and use of public data as part of key objectives.
FISHERIES, BIODIVERSITY AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
- Overview of the constitutional territory, maritime zones, boundaries, and existing claims
- Summary and policy review of all provisions regarding conservation (national targets and policies around MPAs) and international commitments
- Comprehensive mapping of fisheries policies and regulations including understanding of governance mechanisms like implementing and relevant authorities, classifications and definitions of industrial and small- scale fisheries, regulations and laws, processes and cycles related to licensing, enforcement and penalties and administrative charges; as well as treaties and agreements that the government has ratified and committed to. This should include a consolidation of all relevant legal instruments as well as targets and priorities of the Department/ Ministry as it relates to IUU fishing, destructive fishing practices, and management of small- scale fisheries.
- Comprehensive mapping of marine biodiversity policies and regulations, including the implementing and relevant authorities, governance mechanisms and structures in place (eg centralized or decentralized), existing MPAs and the policies, management plans, and monitoring process around them (eg tools used and the process and methodology to measure effectiveness), processes around designations of new ones and review of existing ones, This should include a consolidation of all relevant legal instruments as well as targets and priorities of the Department/ Ministry as it relates to MPAs, OECMs and other marine biodiversity outcomes.
- Stakeholder interview report: Outreach will be conducted to generate a summary report that considers:
- Identification of key stakeholders, such as inspectors, managers, prosecutors and policy-makers that use open data to inform their decisions.
- Stakeholder input, through processes such as interviews or surveys.
- Identification of pathways to incorporate and advance transparency in international, regional, and national fisheries/ maritime/ marine biodiversity related policies based on expert and stakeholder inputs; as well as identifying the application and contribution of open data for better management and well- informed policies.
- Findings and recommendations roadmap - Insights from reports one and two will be summarized and fed into a strategic document that:
- Defines best practice transparency policy and evidences how it can be used to govern resources.
- Identifies opportunities for strengthening existing legal framework with recommendations on draft policy text and language that can be used as reference when incorporated in policy instruments will be provided.
The outputs will be shared and a series of briefings will be provided to key Global Fishing Watch staff.
Interested parties are invited to submit a proposed plan of work (Word document) and associated budget (Excel file) to Dame Mboup (dame@globalfishingwatch.org) and Courtney Farthing courtney@globalfishingwatch.org.
The main competencies we are looking for include a strong understanding of national fisheries/ maritime/ marine biodiversity related policies in Madagascar, advanced project management, a high level of organization, written and verbal communication skills and comfort and experience in interviewing people in a respectful way from a variety of backgrounds and cultures.
Please refer to the National Policy Assessment Framework via this [link]. Potential consultants should review this document as part of their application process.
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Last updated on Aug 14, 2024