- Observers have a handbook that sets out conservation and management measures and other resolutions of the WCPFC. It is updated every year.
- There are minimum standards for all aspects of the Regional Observer Programme. They are supplemented by guidelines that show how observers can achieve the minimum standards.
- The Oceanic Fisheries Programme of the Pacific Community (SPC) offers support for national monitoring of the tuna fishery. SPC’s Fisheries Monitoring Section has been closely involved in the development of the Pacific Islands Regional Fisheries Observer (PIRFO) standards, in collaboration with SPC members, the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the Secretariat of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.
- In 2015, the Association for Professional Observers published best-practice guidelines for observer programmes. It contains a bill of rights on the health and safety of observers. It also covers codes of conduct, and welfare, professionalism, terms of employment, health, safety, wages, professional development, and the responsibilities of observers and stakeholders.
- The International Fisheries Observer and Monitoring Conference is held specifically to address problems observers face in their work. The ninth conference, in 2018, addressed the use of new technology to support monitoring, and improvements in data analysis, as well as aspects of observer training.
- Data collected by observers is crucial to improving knowledge about the impact of longline fishing on the accidental catch of seabirds, according to a 2016 paper. The authors discuss what data is needed from observer programmes.
- In 2018, the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) published minimum standards needed to collect good data using electronic monitoring in purse seine fishing for tropical tuna. The standards are intended to be audited so that programmes can demonstrate best practice.
- ISSF has also published a guidebook in English on the training for observers on purse seine vessels. (It is also available in Spanish and French.) The guide describes the suggested best practices related to the work of the purse seine observer.
