1. Towards a data sharing policy for survey and monitoring data collected and/or stored by the SPC Coastal Fisheries Programme on behalf of member countries
Working Paper 14

2. SPC Coastal Fisheries as data custodian
Data collected by SPC staff in country
Data collected by countries that we help analyzing
Data provided to SPC for backup
Data provided by private sector, other organizations, NGOs,…
Databases & systems developed and maintained by SPC

3. Some data sharing benefits
Raises the profile of coastal fisheries
Data transparency reinforces credibility of results
Allows for combining data series and comparison of sites
Fosters collaboration between partners

4. Data sensitivity
Some data must be protected but not everything is confidential
Sensitivity usually depends on
Nature of data
Level of aggregation
Date of survey

5. Data sharing policy Regional or on a country by country basis
Classification of data
Confidential - Restricted - Public
Procedures for data requests and authorization
Terms of use

6. Data sharing policy Yes No
Is there a need for some regionally agreed rules and procedures that SPC could apply for coastal fisheries and aquaculture data collected in country by SPC staff - or shared with SPC staff by governmental services? 
Yes No

7. Procedure
In the absence of a data policy, should SPC continue to assume that all data requests require country authorization and redirect requestors to country government services for approval and terms of use?
Yes No

8. Publication of metadata
Should SPC publish the list and description of existing datasets for surveys conducted by SPC staff and country counterparts?
Yes No

9. Publication of metadata
Should SPC publish the list and description of existing datasets for other types of surveys and long term monitoring conducted independently by countries?
Yes No

10. Publication of metadata
Should SPC provide a regional central data repository so that countries can publish their own lists and descriptions of datasets?
Yes No

11. Should SPC provide an archival service for country datasets?
Backup service
Should SPC provide an archival service for country datasets?
Yes No

12. Data classification Yes No
Should SPC provide an online system where that government services can decide by themselves the level of “sharing” they feel comfortable with for each data type and aggregation level?
Yes No

13. Old resource survey data
For resource surveys (e.g., species, size, number, of fish, sea cucumber, other invertebrates counted on a given transect at a given site) conducted by SPC staff with country counterparts, can validated raw data become open access 5 years after the survey?
Yes No

14. Old socio-economic data
For socio-economic surveys (e.g. household and fisher interviews) conducted by SPC staff with country counterparts, can validated raw data become open access 5 years after the survey as long as it is not possible to identify specific households and individuals from the data?
Yes No