Presentation 3: Implementation of Fisheries Management: Requirements, Options and Obstacles

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Presentation 3 Implementation of Fisheries
Management Requirements, Options and Obstacles

• Kevern Cochrane
• Director Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources Use
  and Conservation Division

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Structure of the Presentation

• Introduction
• What is fisheries management?
• The elements of fisheries management in practice
• Steps in the process
• Management measures
• Impacts of capacity and scales on management
• Small and large scale fisheries and implications
  of the precautionary approach
• Management at different spatial scales
• Evaluating the effectiveness of management
• Criteria for evaluating adequacy of management
• Progress in fisheries management around the world
• Indicators of progress in fisheries management
  around the world
• Technical assistance

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What is Fisheries Management

• The integrated process of information gathering,
  analysis, planning, consultation, decision-
  making, allocation of resources and formulation
  and implementation, with enforcement as
  necessary, of regulations or rules which govern
  fisheries activities in order to ensure the
  continued productivity of the resources and the
  accomplishment of other fisheries objectives.
• (FAO Guidelines on Fisheries Management, 1997)

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The Elements of Fisheries Management
FAO Guidelines on EAF. 2003
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The Primary Management Measures
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The Impact of Capacity onManagement Ability
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Scientific Advice and Input(Cochrane, Andrew and
Parma, 2010)
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The Precautionary Approach and the Value of
Knowledge
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Taking Scale into Account
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Scaling-up from local to Stock and Ecosystem
(Fanning, Mahon and McConney. Coastal Management,
2009)
The Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem includes 26
countries and 19 territories
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Caribbean Spiny Lobster local or regional? (from
Cochrane and Chakalall, 2001)
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Managing at Multiple Scales for Shared and
Straddling Stocks(Fanning et al. Coastal
Management, 2009)
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Sustainability Criteria Lessons from the
Eco-labelling Guidelines
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• MINIMUM SUBSTANTIVE REQUIREMENTS AND CRITERIA FOR
  ECOLABELS
• 26. The requirements and criteria are to be based
  on and interpreted in accordance with the current
  suite of agreed international instruments, in
  particular the 1982 UNCLOS, the 1995 UN Fish
  Stocks Agreement and the 1995 Code of Conduct for
  Responsible Fisheries, as well as related
  documentation including the 2001 Reykjavik
  Declaration on Responsible Fisheries in the
  Marine Ecosystem.
• 27. Requirements are specified for three areas
  the management systems, the fishery and
  associated stock under consideration for which
  certification is being sought, and serious
  impacts of the fishery on the ecosystem.

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Requirement 28. The fishery is conducted under a
management system ..

• ...which is based upon good practice and meets
  the requirements and criteria described in
  Paragraph 29.
• operates in compliance with the requirements of
  local, national and international law and
  regulations
• 28.1 For the stock under consideration there
  are documented management approaches with a well
  based expectation that management will be
  successful taking into account uncertainty and
  imprecision.
• 28.2 There are objectives, and as necessary,
  management measures to address pertinent aspects
  of the ecosystem effects of fishing as per
  paragraph 31.

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Criteria for Management Systems(para 29)

• The following criteria will apply to management
  systems for any fisheries, but it must be
  recognized that special consideration needs to be
  given to small-scale fisheries with respect to
  the availability of data and... that management
  systems can differ substantially for different
  types and scales of fisheries.
• adequate data and/or information are collected,
  maintained and assessed
• the best scientific evidence available is taken
  into account as well as consideration of relevant
  (and validated) traditional fisher or community
  knowledge
• Management targets are consistent with achieving
  maximum sustainable yield (MSY) (or a suitable
  proxy) on average, or a lesser fishing mortality
  if that is optimal
• appropriate measures for conservation and
  sustainable use implemented
• an effective legal and administrative framework
  and compliance is ensured
• the precautionary approach is being implemented

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Stocks under Considerationpara 30

• The stock under consideration is not overfished
  if it is above the associated limit reference
  point (or its proxy).
• If fishing mortality (or its proxy) is above the
  associated limit reference point for F, actions
  should be taken to decrease it below that limit.
• The structure and composition of the stock which
  contribute to its resilience are taken into
  account (e.g. size composition, spatial
  distribution).
• In the absence of specific information on the
  stock generic evidence based on similar stocks
  can be used for fisheries taking into account
  the impact on quality of information to risk to
  the stock

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Ecosystem Considerations(para 31)

• Non target catches, including discards, of stocks
  other than the stock under consideration are
  monitored and should not be threatened with
  serious risk of extinction
• The role of the stock under consideration in
  the foodweb is considered
• There is knowledge of the essential habitats for
  the stock under consideration impacts on
  essential habitats and on habitats that are
  highly vulnerable to damage by the fishery are
  minimized or mitigated the full spatial range of
  the relevant habitat should be considered,
• In the absence of specific information on the
  ecosystem impacts of fishing, generic evidence
  based on similar fishery situations can be used,
  taking into account the impact on quality of
  information to risk to the stock

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Addressing the Methodological Diversity

• There are many ways in which state and trends in
  stocks may be evaluated, that fall short of the
  highly quantitative and data-demanding approaches
  Use of less elaborate methods ..should not
  preclude fisheries from possible certification
  for ecolabelling.NBmore precautionary
  approaches to managing such resources will be
  required There is a variety of management
  measures commonly used in small scale or low
  value fisheries that nonetheless can achieve
  quite adequate levels of protection for stocks in
  the face of uncertainty about the state of the
  resource. (para 32)

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Indicators of Effectiveness Status of Marine
Fisheries Stocks
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Indicators of Effectiveness Sunken Billions1

• Economic losses in marine fisheries add up to
  US50 billion per year
• Resulting from poor management, inefficiencies,
  and overfishing
• Arises from too many vessels, increasingly
  powerful fishing technologies, and increasing
  pollution and habitat loss have depleted fish
  stocks worldwide
• 1. http//siteresources.worldbank.org

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Problems being experienced by countries in
achieving sustainability

• Biological and ecological uncertainty
• Conflict between short-term economic and social
  objectives and the longer-term sustainability
  objectives
• Poorly or loosely defined management objectives
  reactive management
• Institutional weaknesses
• the absence, or weak or inappropriate systems, of
  user rights and
• predominance of top-down and centralised
  management approaches
• Weak and frequently inadequate capacity in
  fisheries administrations
• Inadequate monitoring, control and surveillance
  systems (MCS) leading to high levels of IUU
  fishing
• from Cochrane and Doulman (2005)

Cochrane Doulman 2005
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Examples of Institutional needs and problems
identified in the BCLME countries (Cochrane et
al., 2009)

• Need to improve stakeholder consultation and
  involvement
• Issues related to access rights still affecting
  management in all three countries
• No formal, active management plans in place in
  Angola and Namibia
• Problems being experienced with data capture and
  storage in three countries
• Problems in attracting and retaining research
  staff, particularly in Namibia and South Africa
• Problems in effective monitoring, control and
  surveillance being experienced in three countries

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FAO Assistance to Sustainable Management

• The Fisheries and Aquaculture Department has a
  staff of 147 individuals (83 professional staff)
  with an annual budget of approximately US70
  million (in both cases combining Regular
  Programme and project resources)
• Assistance in implementation of the Code of
  Conduct, encompassing EAF (and EAA), is primary
  goal of FAO
• Bulk of our personnel and financial resources
  (regular programme and extra-budgetary) is
  directed to this end and active throughout world,
  focused on developing countries
• Requests and needs for assistance far outweigh
  our ability to meet them, notwithstanding
  complimentary action from a wide range of other
  organizations and agencies.

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Conclusions

• All countries are struggling to meet their
  commitments and needs for achieving sustainable
  use of fishery resources.
• Developing countries and small-scale fisheries in
  particular face many constraints and will
  frequently find it more challenging to
  demonstrate that they are achieving
  sustainability.
• Widespread technical support from FAO and others
  is available but there are enormous challenges,
  including in developed countries.

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