This manual contains guidance on data collection methods for developing socio-economic indicators, and it can be used to facilitate and simplify reporting under international conventions and agreements on matters relating to the sustainable fisheries development. The methodologies can be applied to fisheries at many different levels, from individual fisheries and coastal management units to a global level, and it aims to encourage consistent use of statistical methods in data collection.

This document provides tested and standardized tools to collect the data needed for a socio-economic assessment of a fishery, including sampling design, quality checks and how to transform inputs into statistics.

This handbook summarises the experience gained over recent years in fishery statistical development by the Fishery Information, Data and Statistics Unit of the FAO, and provides guidance for developing and implementing cost-effective and sustainable fishery surveys. The methodological and operational concepts discussed apply equally to marine and inland capture fisheries. The emphasis is placed on the understanding and interpretation of the statistics, rather than on the computations producing them.

This manual deals with the practical implementation of a routine data collection programme. The data collection programme is developed through a top-down approach, from the identification of the objectives down to the practical recording and management of data obtained from the fishery. The issues are dealth with both through detailed discussion and by using simple examples. The examples are mostly based on situations in tropical fisheries, and in particular, experience has been drawn from developing a data collection programme in Viet Nam. The main questions addressed i n the manual are which fisheries data to collect, where and when to collect them. Only data from commercial marine capture fisheries are considered. The methodologies used are mainly appropriate for a tropical, developing county, with many small (artisanal) vessels and a few large (industrial) vessels. The methodology is the "sample-based approach". The data collection methodology presented attempts to utilize whatever information can be obtained in practice in a developing country.