Anguilla 
Antigua and Barbuda 
Grenada 
Bahamas 
Barbados 
Belize 
Dominica 
Guyana 
Haiti 
Jamaica 
Montserrat 
St. Kitts and Nevis 
St. Lucia 
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 
Suriname 
Trinidad and Tobago 
Turks and Caicos 
Digitizing the Vessel Inspection Process in Barbados
Adriel Jackman1, Shelly-Ann Cox1, Derrick Theophille2, Khyle Pooler1, and Seymour Nurse1
Fisheries Division, Bridgetown, Barbados1
Fisheries Division, Roseau, Dominica2
Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ABSTRACT
Barbados is known the world over for unique vessel designs that promote a rich fishing culture. In 2022, the registered fishing fleet was estimated at 1,156 vessels which range from small open rowboats (less than 6m) that fish at nearshore reefs, to well-equipped inboard-engine powered longliners (over 22m) that target tunas and swordfish as far as 200 miles offshore and beyond. The vessel inspectorate maintains a vessel registry and conducts inspections to determine compliance with prescribed safety standards and guidelines. In recent years, an average of 150 inspections are completed every quarter using hard copy forms that provide a checklist to ensure that vessels are seaworthy and outfitted with the required machinery and equipment. The inspection form includes several data fields that require a tedious data entry process and manual reporting. Ultimately, this gives an opportunity to review the inspection process and create an electronic form to support a new era of digital transformation. A recent collaboration with the Fisheries Division of Dominica supported the digitization and improvement of the vessel inspection form using KoboToolbox. This platform supports powerful and intuitive data collection tools to support an expedited process of inspection. The e-form integrates pick lists to support efficient data collection, validation to ensure that the data collected is appropriate, and skip logic which enables the inspector to focus on the requirements for that specific scenario. In addition, it allows for many types of information to be captured, including photos and videos which are automatically linked to the traditional text and numeric data. The time between data collection and data availability for review, analysis and reporting is significantly reduced. Further developments include testing the interoperability with the vessel registry and the creation of R statistical programming scripts to support efficient and standardised data analysis and the automation of reports.
HOW TO CITE: Jackman, A., S-A. Cox, D. Theophille, K. Pooler and S. Nurse, 2026. Digitizing the Vessel Inspection Process in Barbados. Contribution 3.10, p203-210 IN CRFM, 2026. Volume I: Technical Papers. Presented at the CRFM 20th Anniversary Scientific Conference, 28-31 August 2023. CRFM Special Publication No. 37, CRFM Secretariat https://www.crfm.int/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=915
POWERPOINT
VIDEO PRESENTATION
FULL SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATION
Download CRFM Special Publication No. 37:
Proceedings of the CRFM 20th Anniversary Scientific Conference
KEY LINKS
Scientific Conference Home Page
Scientific Conference Proceedings Page
Explore all 20th Anniversary Scientific Papers
NOTE
If you have challenges accessing or downloading documents in this series, please email us at 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. , or call us at +501-223-4443. Some browsers do not properly load Google Drive documents, so if you have challenges accessing the PowerPoint slides or the full special publication, try switching to another browser such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
