The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems. It supports human life, provides food, and sustains countless ecosystem services. As highlighted by the sixth principle of Ocean Literacy, our existence is inextricably interconnected with the ocean, and fisheries are a prime example of this relationship. Providing millions of jobs and sustenance to communities worldwide, fisheries have been identified as a core element for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 2, "Zero Hunger". FAO is the official custodian of and SDG14 - "Life below water" to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. Progress towards each target is being measured with one indicator each, and D4Science is the platform for FAO training on SDG14.4.1 - Fish stocks sustainability: “Proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels”.
In addition to the training activity, in the Blue Cloud fisheries demonstrator, other activities are ongoing to support the sustainable use of our marine living resources.
Collecting and disseminating quality data in this sector is fundamental to enable researchers and professionals to perform research across disciplines and countries, combining for example biodiversity and fisheries monitoring data. The Blue-Cloud demonstrator Fish, a matter of scales, is delivering a scalable and robust open data portal for fisheries data in EU waters and beyond, with a focus on a Fisheries Atlas and a Global Record of Stocks and Fisheries (GRSF). This demonstrator is developed by the Institute of Computer Science at FORTH, the Information and knowledge management Team (NFISI) of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development IRD. In this article we will focus on the Global Record of Stocks and Fisheries (GRSF).