A Geographic and Analytic System for the Stock Assessment Program of National Fisheries Research and Development Institute

Abstract

The fisheries sector, with its immense contribution to national welfare in terms of economic benefits and food security, is beset by various problems such as excessive and destructive forms of fishing that push the resources and the industry to a critical state. In response, the National Stock Assessment Program (NSAP) was created as a regular program of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) that intends to generate reliable data as a basis for the formulation of policies for the management and conservation of the country’ capture fisheries resources in order to attain resource assessment and management. However, information on fish stocks recorded in NSAP is not publicly accessible. Thus, there is a need to develop a web-based system that can be openly explored by stakeholders, fisherfolk, and the populace for informative purposes and to raise awareness about the status of the Philippine fishery. A web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) with analytical and centralized system administration was developed to answer the limitation of the previous program. The research used the agile methodology as its development cycle and adopted ISO 25010 as its evaluation for software product quality standards. Based on the assessment of the end users, and IT experts, the system scored an excellent status with highly acceptable quality, which means that the study methodology was successfully implemented. Moreover, this research paper is important since it can be used as a reference for the continuation of development in relation to fishery management. The product result of the study is significant since the system can contribute to managing and monitoring the country’s fish stocks.