Please join us on 03 May 2019 (Friday), from 03:00 AM to 04:00 AM (UTC) at the Tilapia & Chambo Meeting Rooms, Block J, WorldFish HQ for a Food For Thought seminar. The presentation will be given by Dr. Melissa Garren on ‘Using sunlight and cellular networks to bring new management tools to small-scale fisheries’. The session will also be streamed live via Skype for Business for audiences participating remotely at the following hyperlink: https://meet.lync.com/cgiar/t.khoo/DBGTDSLW

Traditionally, the efforts of small scale fisheries have not been easily measured or managed. That means that the activities of the vast majority (~90%) of fishing vessels in the world have remained unquantified and largely opaque. With newly developed technology that harnesses solar power and cost-effective cellular networks to transmit data, it is becoming possible to provide vessel tracking systems on a large scale for vessels of all sizes. Furthermore, capitalizing on the relatively inexpensive cellular networks to transfer the data enables data of much higher granularity to be captured. By recording a vessel’s position every few seconds, instead of minutes to hours as is typical of most satellite-based systems, we are able to resolve a diverse array of behaviors happening at sea including when and where fishing occurred and what type of fishing gear was used. Dr. Garren's presentation will talk about how this information is integrated with other data streams, such as landings records, powerful tools become accessible to management bodies, the research community and individual fishers to support robust data-based decision making.

Dr. Melissa Garren is a marine biologist with expertise at the intersection of technology and marine conservation. She has extensive experience working with local communities and diverse groups of stakeholders to effect positive change on issues of fishery sustainability and nearshore water quality. As the COO & Chief Scientific Officer at Pelagic Data Systems, an innovative technology company enabling transparency at sea for small-scale fisheries, she is responsible for running the daily operations, providing scientific leadership, and aligning the company's technology development programs with the needs of both the ecosystems and the communities dependent on them. She holds a B.S. in Molecular Biology from Yale University, M.S. and Ph.D. in Marine Biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and completed postdoctoral work in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT in the application of cutting-edge technologies to marine conservation solutions.

Please come along to what promises to be a stimulating and interesting talk. Hope to see you there!