Title: Achieving%20Sustainable%20Fisheries
1Achieving Sustainable Fisheries
Community-Based Certification (CBC) of the Blue
Crab Fishery of the Northeastern Guimaras Strait,
Negros Occidental, Philippines Testing the Waters
Katrina Jayme, Filemon Romero, Jose
Ingles WWF-Philippines
2Iloilo
Victorias City
E.B. Magalona
Silay City
Talisay City
BACOLOD CITY
Negros Occidental
3Introduction
Certification An incentive scheme using market
forces to promote sustainable resource use.
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Certification A
certification scheme based on the MSC Principles
Criteria, using the Fish Forever eco-label to
distinguish certified products.
MSC Principles Criteria (MSC PC) 1 Status of
target stock 2 Status of ecosystem 3 Management
system, operational activities
4Introduction
- MSC Principles Criteria (PC) A sustainable
fishery... - can be continued indefinitely at a reasonable
level - maximizes the ecological health and abundance of
marine fish - maintains the diversity and structure of the
ecosystem - conforms to all laws and regulations
- maintains present and future economic
and social options and
benefits - is conducted in a socially and
economically fair manner
5Introduction
- MSC Certified Fisheries
- Alaskan Salmon
- Burry Inlet Cockles
- Loch Torridon
- New Zealand Hoki
- South West Mackerel Handline Fishery
- Thames Herring
- Western Australia Rock Lobster
6Introduction
- Fisheries Undergoing Assessment
- Alaska Pollock
- Alaska Halibut Sablefish
- British Columbia Salmon
- Chilean Hake
- Mexican Baja California Spiny Lobster
- North Sea Herring
- South African Hake
- South Georgia Toothfish
7Community-Based Certification
- Community-Based Certification (CBC) Approach
- Step 1 Site selection
- Step 2 Establishment of community relations
- Step 3 Biological assessment and market
analysis - Step 4 MSC Certification and marketing
8Community-Based Certification
- CBC Approach (1) Site Selection Assess the...
- Sustainability of the fishery
- Existing and potential markets
- Local capacity
- Controls and governance
9Community-Based Certification
- CBC Approach (2) Establishing Community
Relations - Strengthen community-based organizations
- Promote responsible management of the blue crab
fishery - Protect and conserve crab fish populations and
the marine environment on which they depend - Promote economic incentives toward managing the
precious resource
10Community-Based Certification
CBC Approach (2) Establishing Community
Relations
- Institutional-building
- Capacity-building
- IEC
- Advocacy
- Networking
- Promotion of effective law enforcement
11Community-Based Certification
CBC Approach (3) Biological Assessment ...
- Market Analysis
- Sources
- Sizes, volume, prices of crabs bought and
sold - Outlets destinations
- Selling practices
- Marketing costs
- Marketing practices problems
- Length frequency measurements
- Catch composition rates
- Fishery demographics
- Egg count/fecundity
12Community-Based Certification
CBC Approach (4) MSC Certification
- (1) Initial discussion
- (2) Preliminary assessment
- (3) Review outcomes of preliminary assessment
- (4) Final assessment
- (5) Peer review
- (6) Award certificate
- (7) Maintenance visit
- Chain of custody certification
13Community-Based Certification
CBC Approach (4) MSC Certification
14Community-Based Certification
- MSC Accredited Certifiers
- Moody Marine Ltd
- Scientific Certification Services
- SGS Product Process Certification
- Travel Certification Inc.
- TQCSI - MSC
- MacAlister Elliot Partners Limited
- Surefish
15Results Accomplishments
Step 1 Blue crab fishery selected as pilot site
for CBC
- Enforcing Factors
- Blue crab is countrys 6th most important export
Negros Occidental is in highest blue crab
producing region - Market sensitive to certification
- Existing transaction records
- Existing POs FARMCs
- Sympathetic LGUs
- Concerns
- Gaps in knowledge base
- Ecosystem links unexplored
- No management system
16Results Accomplishments
Step 2 Community readied for MSC certification
using CBCRM
- Communities actively participating in resource
management - FARMCs politically empowered
- Provincial-wide blue crab fishery ordinance
initiated - Gear conversion from gillnets to crab pots
- Community-based enforcement
- Certification introduced
17Results Accomplishments
Step 3 Biological study conducted market
analysis attempted more studies needed
- Biological and fishery stock assessment indicates
overfishing - Factors affecting the fishery e.g., fishing
pressure, exploitation of juvenile crabs,
wasteful fishing practices, ghost fishing - Recommended management strategies e.g., regulate
fishing efforts, minimum size, gear conversion - Population and genetic study initiated
- Market analysis not completed
- PCRA in 10 barangays
18Results Accomplishments
Market Profile
- Notes on Supply
- Harvested throughout year
- Peak season Jul. - Dec. 30-50 kilos/unit of
effort - Lean months Jan. - Apr. 5-15 kilos/unit of
effort
19Results Accomplishments
Market Profile
- Notes on Demand
- Demand is constant and unsaturated
- Peak season buyers buy as much as 20 boxes (400
to 1000 kilos/day) - Price is volatile to available supply
20Results Accomplishments
Market Profile
- Notes on Distribution
- Crab pots vs. gill nets
- Deliver/sorting at buyer station (usually by
women in family) - Storage transport
- Bad community-to-market roads
- No landing port
21Results Accomplishments
Market Profile
- Notes on Market Share
- No official data
- Guesstimate
- Phillips 50
- Stellar 25
- Others 25
- Retailers Wholesalers (Alni, Girter,
NGB/Gotel, Orient Marine, etc.)
22Results Accomplishments
Step 4 MSC Certification delayed
- MSC Certification not pursued assessment could
not proceed due to data gaps and lack of
management regime - Community-Based Certification ? Community-Based
Coastal Resource Management to prepare the
fishery for assessment against certification
23Results Accomplishments
CBCRM Food Security of the Northeastern
Guimaras Strait
- Institution-building capacity-building
- Enforcement policy
- CRM planning implementation
- Livelihood fishery technologies
- Sustainability IEC
24Lessons Learned
- MSC Certification may have better potential as a
reward vs. motivator for sustainable fishery
management - Insufficient data made it difficult to choose one
site over the other in terms of potential for
certification - Main challenge in CBC is community mobilization,
integration - Clamor for enforcement overshadowed certification
- Direct economic benefits from
certification uncertain
25Recommendations
- CBCRM as main strategy to prepare fishery for
assessment - Define role of the community
- Determine management body
- Collaborate with trade related institutions
- Investigate other consumer-oriented programs
- Investigate other assessment models
- Develop community-based MCS
26Thank You