Outputs
Products and services delivered — scientific papers, manuals, training events, technical assistance missions, data systems and infrastructure. The countable, attributable deliverables of FAME's work.
MERL Framework
Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning Framework
FAME's MERL framework guides how we track delivery, measure outcomes, and learn from our work across all 22 Pacific Community member countries and territories.
Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning at FAME
FAME's Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Framework guides how the Division tracks delivery, measures outcomes, and learns from its work across all 22 Pacific Community member countries and territories. It supports adaptive management, transparent reporting to members and donors, and continuous improvement.
The framework is anchored in the FAME Business Plan and its seven strategic objectives. It captures evidence at multiple levels — outputs delivered, changes in knowledge, changes in practice, changes in attitude, and longer-term impacts — across 450 results documented from 2018 to 2025.
What we measure
Change in knowledge
Evidence that participants gained understanding from FAME activities. Captured through post-training surveys; in 2025, 98% of 764 surveyed participants reported gaining new knowledge.
Change in practice
Evidence that members are applying new knowledge in their work — new policies, regulations adopted, data tools in routine use, management plans implemented. Tracked through six-month follow-up tracer studies.
Change in attitude
Evidence of shifts in priority, engagement, or commitment among partners and stakeholders — increasingly recognised as climate change moves up the regional agenda and as community-based management approaches scale.
Impact
Longer-term sustainability outcomes — for example, the WCPFC declaration that all four main WCPO tuna stocks (skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye, South Pacific albacore) are biologically healthy and not subject to overfishing.
How we measure
Annual results reporting
All 450 documented results are reviewed annually and aligned to: FAME Business Plan objectives (7), SPC Key Focus Areas (KFAs, 7), and UN Sustainable Development Goals (17). Annual results are published in the FAME Annual Results report.
View annual resultsSix-month follow-up tracer studies
FAME surveys training participants six months after their training to capture whether they have actually applied what they learnt. In 2025, 96% of 290 surveyed participants reported gaining new knowledge and 93% had applied it in their work.
View training dashboardIndependent evaluations
External, independent reviews of major FAME programmes. In 2025, FAME undertook 4 independent reviews including a tracer study of the CSEPTA programme and evaluations of MFAT-funded SCoFA and the Pacific Fisheries Leadership Programme (PFLP).
Baseline assessments and mid-term reviews
Each major programme establishes a baseline at inception and a mid-term review around its midpoint to support adaptive management. Examples include the Business Plan 2022–2023 baseline, NZ-funded coastal fisheries and aquaculture project baseline, and Benefish Study 4.
How we report and learn
To members
Annual reporting cycle culminating in the Heads of Fisheries (HoF) meeting, where FAME's Director presents on programme delivery and members provide feedback on priorities. Outcome statements steer the year ahead.
To donors
FAME reports against agreed indicators and deliverables to all funding partners. 100% of donors confirmed FAME met its reporting deadlines in 2022 and standards have been sustained since. The FAME portfolio in 2025 covered 47 grants across 43 projects.
Internal team reflections
In 2024, FAME hosted 8 internal team reflections engaging 52 staff to consolidate learning across the Division. Reflections inform programme adjustments and feed into the next planning cycle.