Core characteristics of the FiTI

Fisheries management

The FiTI focuses on public access to information for 12 thematic areas of marine capture fisheries, such as fishing licenses, vessel registry, catch data, subsidies and beneficial ownership.

Collective action

Transparency needs trust! This is why the FiTI is implemented through National Multi-Stakeholder Groups, equally represented by government, companies and civil society.

Visibility & Usability

Transparency requires a two-sided approach: making data available in the public domain, and ensuring that stakeholders can draw reliable conclusions from it.

Progressive improvement

Countries are not expected to have complete data for every thematic area from the beginning. Instead, public authorities must disclose the information they have, and where important gaps exist, demonstrate improvements over time.

Quality at source

The FiTI does not replace or duplicate existing government systems. Instead, the need for national authorities to develop and strengthen their own systems for collecting and publishing information online is emphasised.

Robust assurance

The FiTI International Board undertakes regular evaluations to verify compliance of all participating countries against the FiTI Standard. This covers the provision of FiTI Reports, the meaningful involvement of stakeholders, as well as the impact of the FiTI in the country.

FiTI Standard: Defining for the first time what information on fisheries management should be published online by governments!


The FiTI Standard is an internationally recognised framework that sets clear requirements on what is expected from countries regarding transparency in marine fisheries.
It was developed in a 2-year global consultation process with government representatives from fishing nations, industrial and artisanal fishing entities, civil society and intergovernmental organisations.

News, Updates, Blogs

Ghana not data deficient, but shows significant transparency deficits for its marine fisheries sector, new assessment shows

26 April 2023. In its latest TAKING STOCK transparency assessment, the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) evaluated the amount of fisheries information that national authorities in Ghana make publicly available via government websites. Based on the requirements of the FiTI Standard, this assessment reviewed transparency across 12 thematic areas of marine fisheries management, evaluating whether government […]

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FiTI International Board sees ‘meaningful progress’ of FiTI implementation in Mauritania

14 April 2023. As part of the country’s first validation, the FiTI International Board determined that Mauritania has made ‘meaningful progress’ in implementing the FiTI Standard during December 2018 until March 2022. The Board congratulates Mauritania for this achievement, which demonstrates that significant aspects of the validation requirements have been fulfilled.

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Fisheries transparency on the agenda of SWIO countries as regional workshop gathers governments, businesses and civil society in Seychelles

29-30 March 2023. Fisheries practitioners from the South-West Indian Ocean (SWIO) Region gathered in Seychelles to attend a two-day regional workshop aimed at enhancing awareness of the importance of transparency for sustainable fisheries management. The workshop, entitled ‘Promoting Transparency for Sustainable Marine Fisheries through Collective Actions in the South-West Indian Ocean (SWIO) Region’, was held […]

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National workshop focuses on utilising fisheries transparency to support participatory governance

28 March. Fisheries stakeholders in Seychelles gathered today for a national workshop aimed at identifying mechanisms to move the Indian Ocean archipelago from increased public availability of fisheries information towards greater participatory governance of the sector. The workshop was split into a morning session focused on large-scale fisheries and an afternoon session focused on artisanal/semi-industrial […]

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FiTI advocates for greater transparency in fisheries management at Our Ocean 2023

The Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) was invited to participate in the Our Ocean 2023 Conference, hosted by the Panamanian government. The FiTI Chair, Dr Valeria Merino, noted that throughout the event, speakers and participants from all sectors agreed that collecting, using, and sharing data is indispensable to ensure the future sustainability of marine fisheries.

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Testimonials

FiTI in numbers:

8

Governments committed to implement the FiTI Standard

6

Annual FiTI Reports published by National Multi-Stakeholder Groups

72

Stakeholders engaged in National Multi-Stakeholder Groups

2

FiTI implementing countries validated for compliance against FiTI Standard

7

transparency briefings (short 'tBriefs') published in English, French, Spanish

10

Country transparency assessments conducted