Collaboration type:  Adoption of the BlueBRIDGE services

About SFP: FishSource is a publicly available online resource about the status of fisheries, fish stocks, and aquaculture. FishSource compiles and summarizes publicly available scientific and technical information and presents it in an easily interpretable form.

FishSource was created in 2007 by Sustainable Fisheries Partnership to provide major seafood buyers with up-to-date, impartial, and actionable information on the sustainability of fisheries and the improvements they need to make to become more sustainable. In 2018, information on aquaculture sources was added to the database to provide FishSource users with a more robust tool that covers all types of seafood production.

Although the primary intended audience of FishSource is seafood businesses, other audiences - such as academics, researchers, and non-profit organizations - have also become frequent and welcomed users of FishSource.

Short description of the collaboration & main achievements in the period:  The GRSF VRE was conceived to specifically address the needs of the community around the global assessment of stocks and fisheries. With FAO, FORTH and ENG, this VRE now provides a unified overview of RAM, SFP, and FAO information related to stocks and fisheries.  The entire process, from requirements analysis through development and community review has completed and the BleuBRIDGE data service including the VRE and public catalogues are now under review for uptake through the FAO FIRMS partnership under a co-funding arrangement for which the documentation has been prepared by FAO.

Plans for the future: The upcoming meeting of the FIRMS partnership Steering Committee meeting early 2019 will decide on the adoption of the GRSF business plan and exploitation model. It will include a funding paragraph where private sector and public entities will share the responsibilities for the upkeep of technical and secretarial activity.