Lack of information on fish stocks, inadequate and unreliable data have been a major concern in the management of marine resources in Kenya. A need to improve methodology in data collected and stock assessment has been recognized. Data collected by the Fisheries Program at Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute from Lamu and Vanga areas was used to demonstrate various analyses. Mapping of catch distribution in the two areas, CPUE calculation, species composition, length distribution, length-weight relationships for selected species were performed. The estimated b values for the length-weight relationships for three species ranged from 1.954 to 2.326. No deductions can be made due to the limited data, however, recommendations on improvement of data to be collected and type of analyses to be performed in future when adequate data is available have been suggested.

To make small-scale fisheries in Kenya more sustainable, fishers need to invest in responsible fishing operations and technologies, reduce overfishing, contribute to fisheries management, and implement climate change adaptation measures. Small-scale fishers often do not have access to financial services to innovate and to make the necessary transition to sustainable fishing operations. Access to financial services will help them to innovate and adopt measures that will provide social, economic and environmental returns, the desired triple bottom line. The African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA) and FAO, in collaboration with the State Department for Fisheries, Aquaculture and the Blue Economy in Kenya, implemented a project to analyse and improve the access of small-scale fishers to financial services in Kenya. The project identified the key finance- and fisheries sector stakeholders, carried out surveys and interviews, and conducted a techno-economic performance analysis of some small-scale fishing fleets, to investigate the potential innovations for investment. A two-day stakeholder workshop was held in 2021, in which the participants agreed to constitute a CAFI-SSF Network Kenyan Chapter. AFRACA developed and tested training materials on lending to the fisheries sector for financial service providers. This circular provides a summary of the project achievements.

The Working Party received national reports of each of the countries and examined the status of fisheries catch and effort data and statistics. It discussed minimum data requirements for effective fisheries management in five generic fisheries types: industrial shrimp, artisanal shrimp, trap fisheries, demersal line and beach seine fisheries.

Quantitative methods and mathematical modelling are of critical importance to fishery science and management but, until now, there has been no book that offers the sharp focus, methodological detail, and practical examples needed by non-specialist fishery scientists and managers, and ecologists. Modelling and Quantitative Methods in Fisheries fills that void. To date, methodology books in fisheries science have been limited to cookbook approach to problems; simple compilations; or expositions in which either too much theory or insufficient methodological detail is given. The text is organized into three sections: an introduction to modelling in fisheries and ecology, a straight methodology section covering a range of methods, and a section focusing on specific fields in fisheries science. This book is timely as it addresses a topic of recent debate in fisheries and ecology, describing and comparing the uses of Least Squares, Maximum Likelihood, and Bayesian quantitative methods. Designed as stand-alone units, each chapter provides examples from both classic and recent literature and comes with dedicated Excel spreadsheets that permit you to delve into every detail of the analysis. All of these spreadsheets serve as active examples, which can easily be modified and customized and can be used as templates for analyzing your own data. The spreadsheets permit you to learn at your own speed and cover the simplest linear regression to the more complex non-linear modelling using maximum likelihood. Data analysis and modelling are best learned by doing and not just by reading. This book illustrates, step by step, the analyses it covers. More detailed in terms of introductory quantitative methods and modelling as applied to fisheries than any other book available, Modelling and Quantitative Methods in Fisheries gives you the advantage by supplying the full details of the analysis so that understanding the material is a matter of following the book.

Legislating for the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) is complex, due to the holistic nature of the EAF involving multiple factors that underpin the social, economic, environmental, and institutional aspects of fisheries sustainability. These factors include ecosystems integration, risks, inter-sectoral collaboration, research, participatory processes, monitoring, control, surveillance, and enforcement, among others. To assess how the EAF is being implemented through national policy and legal frameworks, FAO developed A diagnostic tool for implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries through national policy and legal frameworks. The present legal report on the EAF used the diagnostic tool to assess the alignment of selected policy and legal instruments of Kenya with the EAF. This assessment analysed the extent to which 82 EAF legal requirements, which are considered the minimum standards in legislating for the EAF, are reflected in Kenya's policies and legislation relevant to the fisheries sector of the country and other relevant sectors (such as environment, wildlife, ecosystems, and maritime affairs). Based on this preliminary diagnosis, gaps were identified in the assessed instruments, and recommendations were made for improving the implementation of the EAF. This report was elaborated following a participatory approach with the involvement of the national competent authorities of Kenya. Drafted in July 2021, the report was submitted to the national authorities of Kenya in November 2021. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives, Kenya, endorsed this EAF Legal Report in June 2022.