The management of fisheries data is multifaceted with contributions from fisheries management agencies, fishers and the fishing industry, retailers, traceability providers, environmental groups and wider government. In particular, ongoing regulatory requirements coupled with an increased drive for fishers to participate in traceability schemes mean a new data architecture is required to enable access to data that currently sits in a multitude of disparate data sets. While single integrated box solutions initially appear an attractive solution for solving this problem, they limit the ability to adapt quickly to changing needs and reduce long term market competition. There is a need to develop a data architecture that allows for future adaptation and provides industry flexibility to choose equipment they employ on their boats. The key aspect is linking a wide range of data, collected from different sources to a single event and sharing this data quickly across different platforms and for different purposes.

The e-fish investment is an integrated data capture and sharing initiative aimed at designing a data architecture that:

• allows for the linkage or integration of currently disparate data

• allows for multiple methods of data transfer

• is adaptable to changing needs allowing for future expansion and changes to data sets and collection methodology

• supports sharing of data with third parties in real time.