Two-week training course on the assessment of fish stock status to be held in Zanzibar | Photo: Paul Tuda, ZMT

27/01/2020 | From March 2 to 14, 2020, the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the National Institute of Aquatic Resources in Denmark (DTU Aqua) and the Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) in Zanzibar will be holding a two-week training course on the assessment of fish stock status. This topic will be combined with an estimation of the Sustainable Development Goal 14.4.1 Indicator, which refers to the proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels.

The workshop will take place at the Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) in Zanzibar and is a joint effort of the FIDEA project supported by the MeerWissen (GIZ, Germany) initiative and the FAO to conduct a targeted training of 20 fisheries experts from the national fisheries institutions in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) Region on fisheries stock assessment.

This course aims at improving the capacity of the individual countries in the WIO region to assess the state of their fishery resources and to report at the national level on the percentage of stocks that are within and outside biologically sustainable levels. The training will focus on both the purpose and theoretical basis of stock assessments and hands-on application of how to choose and apply appropriate tools for assessment.

The workshop is open for national fisheries research and management institutions with an initial focus on nationals of countries in the Western Indian Ocean region. To be eligible for the program, candidates must:

  • be nationals of countries in the Western Indian Ocean region;
  • work for a national fisheries research or management institution (for at least one year);
  • be directly involved in the collection and analysis of fisheries data;
  • be fluent in English;
  • have a basic understanding of fisheries assessment tools and approaches;
  • female participants are particularly encouraged to apply.

Application Process

Please send (as a combined pdf file) a letter of motivation to participate in the course and your cv outlining your experiences and skills to the email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. copied to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Travel and accommodation funds are available through the FIDEA project and the FAO for a limited number of participants. Application deadline is February 7th, 2020.