The Department of Agriculture-National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (DA-NFRDI), through the Capture Fisheries Research Division (CFRDD), conducted a refresher training on stock assessment methodology for the Technical Data Enumerators under the project “Fish Resources Assessment of Manila Bay” on April 25-27, 2023 at the NFRDI Conference Room, Quezon City.

The three-day training aimed to review the stock assessment methodology; conduct hands-on activity on species identification, fishing gear familiarization, and filling up of data forms; and discuss other issues and concerns related to the data collection and the project.

Dr. Maria Teresa Mutia, OIC chief of CFRDD, welcomed the participants and officially opened the program with a brief inspirational message emphasizing the significance of the workshop and the knowledge that participants would gain to improve the project’s data collection.

Meanwhile, Grace Lopez, chief of the Coastal Fisheries Section and Manila Bay project leader, provided an overview and status update on the Manila Bay project. She highlighted the reason and purpose of the refresher training.

Participating in the training were nine technical data enumerators assigned to different fish landing sites in Metro Manila, Bataan, and Cavite; and two participants from NFRDI’s Inland Fisheries Section.

The CFRDD staff delivered presentations on a range of topics including data collection, sampling methodology, species identification, and fishing gear classification. In addition, the Data Analysts also discussed some of the issues that they encountered while encoding and validating data reports.

During the hands-on activities, the participants were grouped and provided with fish samples for them to identify and familiarize the distinct morphological characteristics of the species. This helped them become more familiar with the techniques of species identification. To assess the training participants, both written and practical exams were given especially on species identification and sampling methodology. ### (Rita dela Cruz)