Transition to timely and accurate reporting: An evaluation of monitoring programs for China’s first Total Allowable Catch (TAC) pilot fishery

Abstract Fisheries monitoring is instrumental to effective fisheries management. Stimulated by technology development and management objective evolution, fisheries monitoring faces a transition into a more timely and accurate data reporting scheme. This transition features the replacement of traditional paper logbooks with electronic logbooks (e-logbooks). In 2017, China launched its first total allowable catch (TAC) pilot in Zhejiang Province, with an aim to develop and implement an e-logbook scheme in fisheries monitoring and management. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of e-logbook-based monitoring system against traditional paper logbooks and summarized the important lessons learned from the pilot. We compared the data reported by paper and e-logbooks, examined the role of observers and transshipment vessels in fisheries monitoring, and interviewed stakeholders for their reflections. We found that e-logbooks could improve data quality and report timeliness. However, significant differences were observed between data reported from paper and e-logbooks. These findings matched with the mixed opinions from different users. Fishermen rated e-logbooks poorly due to difficulties in use and frequent malfunctions, while managers, observers and scientists preferred e-logbooks to paper logbooks. Based on quantitative and qualitative analysis, we identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for future implementation of e-logbooks. We also noted that inadequate legislations, fishermen’s low literacy, high training and running cost, and unregulated transshipment could hinder the implementation of e-logbooks. The refined lessons fill the gaps of the evaluation of TAC pilots in China and can contribute to the future application of e-logbooks in China and elsewhere.