[ad_1]
Bottom trawling Trawling (trawl the sea floor to catch fish and other aquatic species, especially tropical shrimp) is an important source of income for fishermen and fish workers around the world. Unfortunately, irresponsible tropical shrimp trawling often takes a huge toll on the environment and marine resources. Historically, shrimp trawling can take anywhere from 3 to 15 times as much bycatch (fish and other marine life not intended to be caught) as the actual shrimp caught, making it one of the fisheries with the highest rates of catch of non-target species. However, recent technological advances have begun to reverse this effect, and many shrimp trawling fisheries around the world have significantly reduced the amount of bycatch caught in their nets.
The Sustainable Management of Bycatch in Trawl Fisheries in Latin America and the Caribbean (REBYC-II LAC) project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), aims to reduce food losses and increase food availability by improving bycatch management and utilization and ensuring sustainable fisheries livelihoods. The six countries participating in the REBYC-II LAC project (Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago) share water and marine resources in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
Turning food losses into opportunities
Food security is more than just about producing more food. Increasingly, it means ensuring that the food produced is consumed or utilized, or in the case of fishing, that the fish caught are eaten. Bycatch, anything that fishers don’t intend to catch but still ends up in their nets or gear, is a perfect example of potential food and natural resource losses that can be turned into gains with the right practices and management.
FAO is implementing the REBYC-II LAC project in Latin America and the Caribbean with support from the Global Environment Facility. The project aims to 1) reduce food losses by improving the management and use of bycatch and minimizing discards; and 2) support sustainable livelihoods by transforming shrimp and bottom trawl fisheries into sustainable and responsible fisheries. The project seeks to safeguard human and environmental well-being by focusing on environmental and livelihood impacts.
Eliminate waste
If bycatch is managed and used effectively, it can contribute to food and nutrition security and become an important source of food and livelihoods for local people. However, if bycatch is discarded, it represents a significant loss of potential food and income.
Bycatch often includes juveniles of target species, small or low-value fish, or accidentally caught turtles, rays or sharks, some of which are endangered species. Anything not utilized is thrown back into the sea, dead or dying, and considered discard, another harmful practice for our species and the environment.
To minimize discards and bycatch of non-target or endangered species, the project is looking at improving shrimp trawl fisheries through more responsible management and the implementation of new technologies and better practices.
Across the region, the REBYC-II LAC project has been working with universities, research partners, governments and fishers to develop and introduce bycatch reduction devices for all bottom trawl fisheries. Fishers are actively engaging and testing these new technologies and are showing a strong commitment to changing the way they fish, as long as it ensures long-term sustainability.
Sustainable fishing leads to sustainable livelihoods
In Latin America and the Caribbean, shrimp is the second largest fishery export. Shrimp is also in great demand in national economies, providing food and income to local people, and a high-value product to international markets. However, poor practices, overfishing and unregulated fishing have taken their toll on the oceans and fishery livelihoods. Many fishers are finding it difficult to keep their operations profitable due to reduced catches and increased operating costs. This means lower incomes and a reduced supply of high-quality protein.
“The sharp rise in fuel prices, stable but low shrimp catches and widespread illegal fishing seriously jeopardize the future of the fishery,” acknowledged Cesar Ceballos, president of the Shrimp Production Systems Committee in the Mexican state of Campeche. This is true across much of the region.
Adopting sustainable approaches can help both the environment and livelihoods. “We often mistakenly believe that the opportunity cost of protecting and conserving biodiversity is the loss of livelihoods and increased food insecurity,” said Carlos Fuentevilla, FAO’s REBYC-II regional project coordinator for Latin America. “However… we have found that responsibly managed fisheries actually improve livelihoods and increase food security, both in the medium and long term, by increasing productivity and incomes. Healthy aquatic ecosystems with ecologically suitable genetic diversity provide more sources of food and livelihoods than degraded, overfished habitats.”
Policy is the basis for action
Helping countries implement better policies and guidelines can also help address issues related to unregulated, illegal and unreported fishing, which all contribute to the degradation of marine resources.
The REBYC-II LAC project works with countries to review existing legislation and governance and recommend amendments to engage the fisheries sector and promote sustainable management of fisheries.
This was achieved in part by implementing policy guidelines of international significance, e.g. Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, International guidelines on bycatch management and reduction of discardsthis Voluntary Guidelines for Ensuring Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries.
Making the necessary changes to reduce bycatch requires an enabling legal and institutional environment to help identify best practices and share them through regional fishery organizations. “We may have the best ideas in the world, but if they are not clearly articulated in national legislation and national policies, it will be difficult for fisheries management to institutionally include fishers in the decision-making process,” Fuentevilla stressed.
Involve fishermen
One of the project’s greatest successes has been engaging fishermen in discussions and having their voices heard when policy and legal changes that affect their fishing livelihoods are being considered.
In Costa Rica, Roy Carranza, president of the National Fishermen’s Association, describes how this approach can have a huge impact: “Over the past few years, the industry has shown what can be accomplished when it works together in an open dialogue. Through dialogue, we were able to agree on key aspects of the shrimp industry, including a marine spatial planning agreement that dictates when and where different people can fish, which is now part of national regulations… It has really changed the way different stakeholders interact and understand each other.”
Involving fishers and treating them equally means they are more engaged and buy-in to proposed actions. “We cannot expect communities to be responsible stewards of the environment if they are not fully informed and involved in the decisions we make about their livelihoods,” Fuentevilla concluded. “Frankly, if fishers are not effectively involved in the decision-making process and trust and transparency levels are low, there will be no sustainable fishing practices in Latin American bottom trawling fisheries. That’s the reality.”
A core aim of the project is to show that promoting sustainable fisheries does not have to come at the expense of livelihoods. Sustainable fisheries not only contribute to conservation, resource and ecosystem management, but also safeguard livelihoods and ensure that the world’s oceans can provide nutritious food for future generations.
[ad_2]
Source link
