Fisheries observers can serve a multitude of different purposes but mainly fall into one of two disciplines; scientific or enforcement based. Scientific observers are fisheries and wildlife biologists who undertake tasks such as tag and release studies, recording biometric data, and collecting otolith samples. Enforcement based observers are mainly concerned with mitigation; they provide an unbiased and independent witness of how vessels conform to fishing regulations. Occasionally fisheries observers are required to undertake a proportion of each discipline.

Our consultants have a broad range of experience in both scientific and enforcement based fisheries observation.