Title: NAFO Scientific Council Workshop on Precautionary Aproach to Fisheries Management
1OCEANOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FOR FISHERIES IN
SMALL CARIBBEAN STATES
Robin Mahon
Coastal and Marine Management Program (CaMMP) of
Caribbean Conservation Association and Fisheries
and Environmental Consulting Barbados
2SMALL DEVELOPING STATES IN THE CARIBBEAN
CARICOM RELATED STATES
SMALL STATES ASSOCIATED WITH LARGER STATES
3In this presentation
- About the oceanographic information needs
- About institutional arrangements for meeting
those needs
4Fisheries in small Caribbean states
- Predominantly small-scale, artisanal,
low-technology
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6GILLNETTERS -- SURINAME
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8Fisheries in small Caribbean states
- Predominantly at small, dispersed, undeveloped
landing sites
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11JAMAICA FISHING BEACHES
12Fisheries in small Caribbean states
- A small proportion of large-scale commercial
industrial activity
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16TAIWANESE LONGLINER ST. MAARTEN
17Fisheries in small Caribbean states gradually
transforming towards
- More commercially oriented operations
- Run in a business-like fashion,
- Operating from modern facilities
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21LITTLE TOKYO ST. VINCENT
22CASTRIES FISHERIES COMPLEX ST. LUCIA
23NEW AMSTERDAM CENTER SURINAME
24 Types of fishery resources
25CONCH -- NEVIS
26SEA URCHINS -- GRENADA
27 Types of fishery resources
28DOLPHINFISH ST. VINCENT
29YELLOWFIN TUNA -- GRENADA
30 Types of fishery resources
- Continental shelf
- Shrimps
- Demersals
- Slopes of island continental shelves
- Snappers
31Status of resources
OVER
FULLY
UNDER
32Fishery management record is poor
- Conventional management has either not been
implemented or has failed
- Small states have blindly following large country
management approaches
- Focus on the resource, not on its environment
33Pressure for change in fisheries governance is
growing
- Some internal national/regional level
- Increased civil society involvement by fishers
and industry
- Increased pressure from non-fishery stakeholders
34- Mainly external/ international
HIGHLY MIGRATORY STRADDLING FISH STOCKS
AGREEMENT
35Time of transition for small-scale fisheries
governance
- Stakeholder participation
- Commonsense management by agreement less
conventional model-based
- Ecologically-based precautionary measures
36The oceanographic information needs
- Oceanographic information has played virtually no
role in fisheries management and conservation in
small developing states
- Identify issues and questions not solutions
- These are derived from recollections of
interaction with fisheries managers not from the
literature or scientists
37Most shelf organisms have planktonic ELH stages
- Does dispersal affect interdependence of shelf
areas and need for collaboration in management?
- Can info on dispersal be used to locate MPAs or
even design a regional system of MPAs?
38Larval transport
39Other transport related questions
- Dispersal of pathogens the 1999 fish kill
- Early life history stages of pelagics dispersed
or retained?
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41Productivity questions
- Does ocean production affect distribution and or
migration of adult pelagics?
- Other causes of spatial patterns?
- Location of spawning and nursery areas?
- Could this be relevant to ICCAT quota allocations?
42AMAZON INFLUENCE
ORINOCO INFLUENCE
43Variability questions
Marked seasonality of offshore pelagics
- Relationship to migratory pathways and sharing of
stocks
- Rational deployment of effort
44Variability questions
Characteristic high inter-annual variability
- Availability or abundance
45What institutional arrangements will allow
fisheries in small developing countries to
benefit from oceanographic information?
- Before we set out to acquire new or different
data we need to formulate questions properly for
fisheries Less ad hoc
- IOCARIBE LME project (Block B) expects to address
some of these issues needs close collaboration
with GOOS
46National level constraints
- Limited funds for acquisition
- Limited national capacity to interpret and apply
- Small fisheries departments with generalists
- Small, new environment departments
- No oceanography departments or oceanographers in
meteorology departments
- Low priority on ocean science issues
- Often in the domain of foreign affairs
- Poor coordination across Government departments
47Are there regional level options?
- Capacity problems often addressed at regional
level
- But, new institutions are difficult to establish
and fund
- What about existing institutions?
- And, what do we want that institution to do?
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49In conclusion
- Oceanographic information will continue to play
little or no role in fisheries management and
conservation in small developing states without
institutional capacity at the regional level
including
- A component that increases the priority of ocean
related issues at the national level
50THE END. . .
THANK YOU!