OFFICIAL OUTCOMES OF THE 62 nd GULF OF CARIBBEAN FISHERIES INSTITUTE ANNUAL MEETING

Transcription

1 OFFICIAL OUTCOMES OF THE 62 nd GULF OF CARIBBEAN FISHERIES INSTITUTE ANNUAL MEETING 2 NOVEMBER NOVEMBER 2009 CUMANÁ, VENEZUELA HOSTED BY: Instituto Oceanografico de Venezuela - Universidad de Oriente Proceedings of the 62 nd Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute November 2-6, 2009 Cumana, Venezuela

2 As many of you know, this past November during the annual GCFI meeting we received the sad notice of the passing of one of the great supporters and past member of the Board of Directors of GCFI,. Dr. Bob Ditton, former professor in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University since 1988 and a faculty member in the Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Sciences there since Bob was an extraordinary educator, researcher, administrator, and leader, who touched all of our lives, and represented the best in our field. His career was dedicated to ensuring the success of Coastal Zone Management, recreational fisheries, and human dimensions of fishermen and fishing communities. In his memory and in recognition of his high spirit, GCFI dedicated the 62 nd Annual Meeting to Robert Ditton, Ph.D. Dr. D. Pauly Dr. A. Acosta Dr. M. Pyhälä Dr. F. Arocha INTRODUCTION From November 2-6, 2009, more than 250 fisheries biologists, students, scientists, marine protected area (MPA) researchers, managers, fishermen, and representatives from various government departments and conservation groups fromcaribbean countries met in Cumaná, Venezuela, to explore how they might build networks of people, institutions, and protected areas to further the conservation of marine resources, habitats and fisheries throughout the region.the 62nd Gulf Caribbean Fisheries Institute was held at the Nuevo Toledo Suite and Hotel in Cumaná, Venezuela and hosted by the Instituto Oceanografico de Venezuela- Universidad de Oriente. The annual meeting opened with a welcome from Dr. Alejandro Acosta, chairman of the program committee, and followed by the words of invited local and international dignitaries, such as: H.E. Dr. Mikko Pyhälä, Ambassador of Finland to Venezuela, concurrent in Barbados, Colombia,

3 Dominican Republic, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and the Plenipotentiary Representative Designate to CARICOM. The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Daniel Pauly, professor and former director of the Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia; Principal Investigator, Sea Around Us Project. This was a stimulating meeting hosting distinguished national and international presenters, giving the audience an update on the Future and Vision of Caribbean fisheries. A high point of the meeting was having Dr. Pauly challenge the audience with his visionary and conservationist presentation "If you didn t like overfishing, you sure won't like global warming. We were fortunate that he kindly remained for the whole week and many of the participants, especially students, had the opportunity to interact and exchange ideas with him. Seventy-five oral and 86 poster presentations were delivered during the five days of the meeting, covering a wide range of topics such as, Biology, Ecology, and Assessment of Reef Fishes, Biology, Ecology, and Assessment of Marine Invertebrate Fisheries, Fish Spawning Aggregations, Management and Socio-Economics of Marine Fisheries, Science and Management of Marine Protected Areas, Pelagic and Recreational Fisheries, Essential Fish Habitats, and Marine Aquaculture. Two special sessions and two concurrent workshops were hosted: Are Tropical Bottom Trawl Fisheries Sustainable? Implications and Alternatives ; Success Stories in Marine Conservation in the Wider Caribbean: applying Ecosystem-Based Management and Facing the Climate Change ; Marine Invasive Species: Invasive Lionfish Biology and Management in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico and Characterization and prediction of transient reef fish spawning aggregations in the Gulf and Caribbean Region.. In addition to the special session and the two concurrent workshops The Gladding Memorial Award Fishers Summit was conducted; the purpose of the Fishers Summit is to bring together past winners of the Gladding Memorial Award to participate in a facilitated workshop focusing on developing priorities for the long-term sustainability of the marine resources in the region from their perspective. The summit recognizes that sustainable use of marine resources in the region depends upon fishers being at the table during discussions on how best to achieve this goal. Are Tropical Bottom Trawl Fisheries Sustainable? Implications and Alternatives Session Moderator: JEREMY MENDOZA Tropical bottom trawl fisheries are an important economic activity in many countries in the world. However, this fishing method has been strongly criticized due to technical and biological conflicts with other fisheries, especially concern for the environmental impacts associated with gear effects on bottom habitats, and the high degree of removal of noncommercial marine organisms. Bottom trawling in tropical ecosystems represents a challenge to fishery agencies, fisheries managers, and technology specialists. This especial session evolved as a result of a permanent ban on bottom trawling initiated in Venezuela this year. The session took place during the afternoon of Monday 2 November. A total of 10 presentations focused on bottom trawl fisheries in Venezuela, Colombia and the French Guyana. The majority of the presentations focused on the following three problems: i) Overfishing in the case of Venezuela, ii) The description of research projects directed to reduce the capture of non-commercial species (bycatch), and iii) The effects of shrimp bottom trawling on the marine ecosystems (Venezuela, Colombia, and French Guyana). In the Venezuelan case, industrial bottom trawl fishing was prohibited in March It was apparent that this situation was created by the lack of suitable management measures, accompanied by direct and indirect economic stimuli,

4 as well as an over-estimation of the potential yield of the fisheries resources by using surplus production models. This resulted in excessive fishing capacity and over exploitation of the demersal resources by the decade ending in 1990 in practically all the areas fished At that time, some measures were implemented to limit and reduce the fishing effort and to avoid the incorporation of new fishing units However, in spite of a considerable reduction in the number of boats and in fishing effort from 1990 to 2008, the majority of the resources exploited in the different trawl fishing areas of the country still exhibited signs of overfishing at the time of the closing of the trawl fishery in Although an analysis of the temporal evolution of the Colombian shrimp trawl fisheries was not presented, the information provided by Colombian colleagues indicated that the trawl fishing fleet in the Colombian Caribbean Sea collapsed in 2004 due to the high price of fuel and to the low yield of the principle targeted species. This fishery used to consist of around 100 trawlers; currently the number of operating vessels does not exceed 10. Whereas in the case of the French Guyana, where the trawl fishery is the second most important economic activity related to fishing, the Colombian fishery is subject to strict regulations, and an agreement is now in place between the different user groups to look at the sustainability of this fisheries over time and in coexistence with the artisanal fishing sector. In the discussion subsequent to the presentations, questions arose related to the capacity of the artisanal fishery to supply fishery resources in the absence of an industrial trawl fishery and, also, divergent points of view were presented on the economic and environmental sustainability of trawl fishing. With reference to Venezuelan, it was suggested that the long-term availability of marine fishery products, would be possible with the development of a multipurpose commercial fleet based on the conversion of a portion of the trawl fleet, together with the development of an artificial reef program using the derelict trawlers, especially because of the reduced fishing pressure. However, there were doubts about the effectiveness of an artificial reef program, since the debate on the effect of these devices on the productivity of marine resources is still open. On the other hand, it was also indicated that the emptiness left by the commercial trawl fishery is being filled by artisanal shrimp trawlers which operate in coastal areas. It was also mentioned that the uncontrolled growth of this activity would carry serious environmental problems and conflicts with other artisanal fisheries. Some of the participants to the session considered the elimination of bottom trawl fishing in Venezuela was a highly positive outcome because of the well-known negative effects that trawl fishing has on marine biodiversity and the overall ecosystem. Others argued that the elimination of this fishery presented a good opportunity for the development of aquaculture. Nevertheless, these points of view were contested by others who considered that fisheries science today is capable of developing and applying new methods and technologies in order to mitigate the detrimental effects of trawl fishing on marine ecosystems. It was also mentioned that aquaculture, especially for top predators species (carnivorous species), is not without its own environmental problems. In reference to the main subject of the session: Are Tropical Bottom Trawl Fisheries Sustainable?, it is not possible to say that a general consensus was reached at the end of the session. On one hand, there were some who maintained that this type of fisheries has extremely negative effects on the ecosystems and that, therefore, they would have to be replaced by more selective fishing gear that creates a smaller impact on benthic communities. On the other hand, there were those who maintained that with suitable measures of management and modifications to the trawl gear, it is possible to diminish the negative impact of these fisheries and to assure its sustainability over time. These opposing points of view are not restricted to the tropics, and a good example of it was presented in the keynote address for the conference by Dr. Daniel Pauly, who pleaded for elimination of industrial fisheries at global levels and also argued for the design of a global network of marine protected areas as an essential element to assure the future of the fishing activity as a source of food and for the maintenance of biodiversity.

5 Naturally, the sustainability of any fishery will largely depend on the context in which it is developed. It is clear that in the case of trawl fishery in Venezuela, the managers of the fishery did not take the necessary measures to avoid the overexpansion of the fishery and the consequent overfishing of the resources. At the same time, it did not have the necessary resources to manage and monitor the fishery in order to effectively minimize the conflicts between the industrial trawl fishery and the artisanal fishery. In any case, the Venezuelan government and the scientific community now have the opportunity and the challenge to demonstrate the ecological and socioeconomic benefits that could be derived from the elimination of this trawl fishery. The other two cases presented, Colombia and French Guyana, are also very interesting from the point of view of the capacity of the fisheries managers to regulate these fisheries. In the case of Colombia, there was a collapse of the trawl fishery due to economic and biological reasons, and the actual size of the fishing fleet only represents around 10% maximum capacity of the fleet. In the case of a substantial increase of the levels of abundance of fisheries resources due to the decrease of the fishing effort, a new development cycle can be anticipated that would put a test to the capacity of the management agencies of that country to limit the fishing effort and to reduce the environmental impact of trawl fishing. Finally, French Guyana s trawl fishery appears as a mature fishery with strict controls and regulations with an emphasis in the reduction of fuel consumption and bycatch. Success Stories in Marine Resource Management and Conservation in the Wider Caribbean: Applying an Ecosystem-based Approach and Facing the Climate Change Session Moderator: GEORGINA BUSTAMANTE The special session Success Stories in Marine Resource Management and Conservation in the Wider Caribbean: Applying an Ecosystem-based Approach and Facing the Climate Change took place on the fourth day of the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI), with the attendance of ca. 25 fishers, more than 120 scientists, students, professors and marine resources managers from governmental and non-governmental organizations. The session, coordinated by CaMPAM (Caribbean Marine Protected Area Management Network and Forum) and GCFI, with the financial support of the United Nation s Caribbean Environment Programme, (UNEP-CEP), Buccoo Reef Trust, and the Embassies of Finland and Holland to Venezuela, was the Caribbean version of the scientific meetings that took place in many parts of the world to celebrate the successes and identify the challenges in marine ecosystem-based management. The 20 oral and poster presentations included case studies on the development of marine reserves (Sian Ka an, México; Gladden Spitt and Port of Honduras, Belize; Seaflower, Colombia; Soufriere, St. Lucia, and Tobago Cays, St. Vincent and the Grenadines), queen conch management, and regional fisher folks organizations and its influence in fisheries policy. The presentations and discussions showed the following common elements, namely: i) The areas are managed for environmental protection and socioeconomic benefits; ii) A combination of areas of regulated fishing with no-take areas; iii) The early participation of the local community in the establishment and enforcement of regulations; iv) Fishers and tour operators in cooperatives work better; v) Exclusive rights for local traditional users can limit access to resources; vi) An entrepreneurial approach of the managed area has helped to achieve financial sustainability; vii) Communication and network facilitates the exchange of experiences; viii) Training fishers on economic alternatives has facilitated the transit to non-extractive uses, and ix) Public education is critical for raising awareness and increase support. Challenges still exist, but there are clear changes in the awareness of those that depend on marine resources for their livelihood and a growing alliance with scientists that may allow a radical transformation of the mentality of everyone towards making responsible (sustainable) marine resources management practices a critical tool to build ecosystem resilience to local and global climate impacts.

6 Marine Invasive Species: Invasive Lionfish Biology and Management in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Session Moderators: LAD AKINS and STEPHANIE GREEN This Special Workshop targeted to managers, NGO's, and fisheries officials throughout the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The Workshop addressed relevant lionfish issues emphasizing a range of topics including: biology and ecology, status of the invasion, strategies for control and management, current treaties and agreements, and volunteer programs to monitor reef communities. This workshop was of special relevance due to the discovery of lionfish in Venezuelan waters last December. Spawning Aggregation Workshop: Characterization and Prediction of Transient Reef Fish Spawning Aggregations in the Gulf and Caribbean Region Session Moderators: WILL HEYMAN and RICK NEMETH Approximately 50 people attended the workshop and they included fishermen, scientists and managers from 20 countries. After seeing presentations from various locations in the region, workshop attendees supported a Historically known grouper and snapper spawning aggregations sites in the wider Caribbean growing consensus that transient reef fish spawning aggregations (FSA) appear to be located at geomorphologically distinct areas throughout the wider Caribbean. All multi-species FSA sites in Belize and the Cayman Islands occur at reef promontories with steep walls adjacent to deep water. This pattern was also observed at many multi-species FSA sites in the US Virgin Islands, Cuba, Bermuda, and Florida. This pattern does not hold for all sites or all species. At some sites fish aggregate in association with vertical bumps near shelf edges, rather than, or in addition to their proximity to reef promontories (e.g. Riley s Hump in Florida). Red hind spawning sites are generally found shallower than FSA sites for other groupers and snappers, on relatively flat areas, inshore from shelf edges. Workshop attendees advanced the hypothesis that reef geomorphology, particularly vertical and/or horizontal promontories, serves as proxies for the locations of multispecies FSA sites for transient spawning groupers and snappers in the wider Caribbean. Gladding Memorial Award Fishers Summit: Fishers Working for Sustainable Fisheries Session Moderators: WILL HEYMAN and ANDERSON KINCH In 2004, the Gulf Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other partners developed the Gladding Memorial Award (GMA), named in honor of patriarch fisherman Peter Gladding. The award annually recognizes fishers who demonstrate, through word and action, their commitment to sustainable use and conservation of marine resources in the Greater Caribbean region. To date, thirteen fishers have received the award (see list at Annex 1), representing 11 countries around the region. Visit the GCFI web site at PeterGladdingMemorialAward.html for more information on the award and the winners.

7 The GMA is a fundamental part of GCFI s Fisheries for Fishers Initiative which provides capacity and empowers fishers to participate in the regional marine resource governance process, which also includes successful Fishers Forums held at the 2007 and 2008 GCFI annual meetings (CERMES and CRFM 2007, CERMES 2009). The ethic of long-term sustainability endorsed by GMA recipients, in concert with their accomplishments and commitment to engage fishers and other stakeholders in the wise use and conservation of regional marine resources, attest to the success of the GMA program. Momentum has grown around the GMA, fueled by the fishers themselves, and the reality that there are no other initiatives in the region that are attempting to support fisher best practices at this scale. The GMA Committee and the GCFI Board of Directors has initiated a controlled expansion of the GMA initiative to utilize more of the award s growing potential. To actualize these opportunities, a GMA Summit, the Gladding Memorial Award Regional Fishers Summit, with the sub-title Fishers Working for Sustainable Fisheries was planned and implemented as a principal component of the 62nd Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) that took place in Cumaná, Venezuela from 2-6 November This year local GMA winner for 2009 was Ruben Penott, a local, fishermen from Mochima National Park a fishermen town located few miles east of Cumana. Ruben has been managing the marine station for the last 12 years and he is a leader among Mochima fishermen s. He was the organizer of the Fishers Field Trip to the biological station at the beautiful Mochima National Park and the town of Mochima. Over 30 fishers and other GCFI participants on this field trip visited the aquaculture project for rearing spadefish at the station. Peter Gladding Outputs (by year end) i) Priorities for Caribbean marine resource conservation action identified using a bottom-up, fisher-lead process. ii) Specific follow-up strategies and action plans for implementation developed following the priorities identified above. At a minimum, these will include: a) A sustainable fishery ambassador program b) An expanded fisher exchange program c) A media campaign to promote the priorities and actions identified during the Summit. Outcomes (within 3 years) i) Better involvement of leading fishers in local to regional scale decision-making on fisheries resources. ii) Evidence of improvement in the health of coastal and marine ecosystems and in the prosperity of the fishers that rely on them. The GCFI and its partner the Caribbean Marine Protected Areas Network and Management Forum (CaMPAM), with financial support from the Caribbean Environmental Program of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP-CEP) and other regional and national institutions (Buccoo Reef Trust, U.S. NOAA and other government and private institutions are providing technical assistance for fishers and marine managed area s (AMM) to accelerate this process of change. Among activities include the exchange between fishermen and AMM staff to better disseminate best practices, the production of film materials to disseminate the training, and the creation of economic alternatives and high quality and fishresponsibly fished products. CONCLUSIONS The GCFI expressed its sincere gratitude to Universidad de Oriente for organizing the Conference and to all the Governments, NGO s and private donors for their support to the Conference. The aim of the Gulf of Caribbean Fisheries around the region and by focusing in the challenges and opportunities presented in today s rapidly changing status of marine resources, with special emphasis on sustainability and conservation of marine resources.

8 Some of the key recommendations, statements and comments emerging from the conference special symposiums And presentations were as follows: i) The attendees valued the opportunity to have a forum to address and discuss their shared challenges and successes. Especially among fishermen, scientist, students and managers. ii) As part of networking, emphasis should be made to transfer essential skills, resources and capacity building to researchers, fishermen and management staff in less developed countries to help them obtain the data necessary to develop and effectively manage marine resources, MPAs and SPAGs aggregation sites. iii) The use of global databases covering environmental, oceanographic and marine species may assist progress in the identification of critical habitat (SPAGs) and implementation of MPAs. iv) The local participation on global databases covering invasive species threat such as Lion fish should be encouraged. Few weeks after the GCFI Lion fish symposium, Lion fish were spotted for the first time in Venezuelan waters. To further develop the fisher ambassadors program and expand the exchange program among fishermen. The conference concluded with the announcement of San Juan, Puerto Rico as the host city for the GCFI 2010 Annual Meeting Gulf Caribbean Fisheries Institute Summary 2009 was a great year for GCFI, this past year we exceed our own expectations in many fronts. The web page was redesign to make it more functional and friendly for our members. Thanks to Bob Glazer for his great job in maintaining and keeping the web page and the list server. From the Editorial Corner, we were able to publish the proceedings of the 61st institute before the 62nd meeting and we are proud to announce that all the proceedings for the GCFI meeting are now available for free at the GCFI web page. Members can download all the papers and abstracts from all the GCFI meetings. Last year, we launched the student exchange program placing thee students from Guadeloupe in internships here in the US. During last meeting, we met with representatives of French Antilles in order to work further cooperation agreements in this area. The Gladding Memorial Award continue to be one of GCFI strongest initiative. This year we recognized three fishermen from the Caribbean (Venezuela, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Island) with this award. In 2009 we hosted a planning fishing forum in Miami (May) to define the strategy and goals of the meeting Fishers Forum. Participation and results from both activities were very well received. Our partnership with UNEP and CAMPAM has grown to a new level. The Training for Trainers (ToT) program is becoming very popular among Caribbean countries and the Small Grant Funds program is growing and expanding the network of exchanges throughout the region. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We all know that this meeting was full of logistical surprises everyday, however, the meeting run very well and this was due to the diligence and help of many people. We would like to thank to all the moderators and special session coordinators to: Juan Posada, Denise Debrot, Fernando Morales, Emma Doyle, Fiona Wiltmot, Juan carlos Fernandez, Read Hedom; the staff and students of the Instituto Oceanografico, the staff of the Hotel Nueva Toledo, Jerry Corsaut as always was our go to person. Thank you to all the participants and all the sponsors who made the 62nd GCFI a success. Sincerely, Alejandro Acosta, Program Chair 62nd GCFI, Leroy Creswell., Executive secretary