Free Tools—Not So “Free”? The Evolution, Risks and Costs of Fishery Stock Assessment Tools

Abstract

In fisheries stock assessment, free software tools have proliferated in recent years. These tools provide standardised and, in many cases, well‐tested and efficient ways to conduct and support stock assessments, making cutting edge expertise globally accessible. However, they come with considerable ongoing costs, beyond their conceptual development and coding. We seek to understand and analyse the process by which fisheries stock assessment tools have evolved and identify the risks and challenges associated with their development, general use, and ongoing maintenance. We postulate on the development process and risk points for the endurance of fisheries science software tools, using theory related to volunteering. To confront our expectations with empirical evidence, we undertook a survey of stock assessment tool developers. Overwhelmingly, despite moderate institutional support, developers work beyond regular hours, especially when upscaling a tool to wider use, providing updates to the tool, and conducting maintenance activities. Notably, our expectation that tools with limited employer/institutional support do not survive was only partially supported—we found many tools persist despite limited support, primarily through substantial voluntary effort from developers. Future efforts for tool development should focus on (i) better integrating tool development and maintenance into institutional frameworks; (ii) better appreciating the motivation of and need for free tools; (iii) as such, advocating for their development and, particularly, ongoing maintenance; and (iv) for these activities to become internalised and owned in an ongoing manner as part of core business.

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