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Coastal Fisheries Initiative - Challenge Fund
Global Knowledge Competition

Ganadores y Finalistas (i)


ImageCabo Verde 

Winner: PescaLocal (Local Catch) 

Coalition Members

 

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Associação de Defesa do Ambiente e Desenvolvimento (ADAD), Network of Professional Artisanal Fishing Organizations of Cabo Verde (ROPA-CV), Camara Municipal da Cidade Velha (CMCV), Hotel Pestana, Hotel Limeira and Hotel Vulcão, Cais de pesca da Praia, MiniMinistério do Mar, Escola de Hotelaria e Turismo de Cabo Verde (EHTCV), Associação dos Pescadores e Peixeiras de Cidade Velha (APPCV)
Solution SummaryCreate a basket of seafood sourced from artisanal fishers and female fish buyers in Santiago Island, Cabo Verde for sale at a premium to a network of sustainability-conscious restaurants and hotels. Aim to reduce pressure on overfished species in high demand locally by increasing consumer demand and sales of traditionally unpopular species to local restaurants and hotels. PescaLocal will create a more diverse and sustainable supply of fish species, with all fishers involved needing to comply with sustainable fishing rules and regulations (e.g., minimum catch size, closed seasons).   
Outstanding Characteristics 
  • Increase consumer awareness and demand and create a new sales platform for less popular and less overfished species, to reduce pressure on overfished popular species.  

  • Business model involving a network of restaurants and hotels to buy a local seafood basket with premiums that create potential to improve the livelihoods of local fishing communities. 

  • Strong representative coalition involving fisher organizations, hotels and restaurants, local and national government, and local and regional environmental non-government organizations. 

Potential Challenges and Risks
  • There is limited data on the status of coastal fisheries in Cabo Verde, and some less popular species to be included in the seafood basket could be at risk of being overfished, so increased data collection and stock assessments will be needed for sustainable management. 

  • Coordination of all fishers and enforcement of regulations is needed to recover depleted stocks of popular species and ensure the sustainable management of underutilized species to be sold in the seafood basket. 

  • Regular supply of quality fish to the local hotels and restaurants will be critical to ensure the financial viability of the solution.  

 

 

Runner-Up: Sustainable Fishing Promotion in São Vicente and Santiago Islands 

Coalition Members 

 

Renascença Africana-Associação das Mulheres da África Ocidental –Célula de Cabo Verde (RAMAO), Instituto do Mar, The University of Cape Verde, The National Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture (DNPA), Associação para o Ambiente e Desenvolvimento (ADAD) 

Solution Summary 

 

 

Engage key fisheries sector actors in São Vicente and Santiago islands, Cabo Verde to promote the sustainable management of mackerel and grouper fisheries and increase the value of fish products. Saleswomen and fishermen will be provided with tools and information to help them comply with legislation and measures for the management of fisheries resources. The initiative will increase capacity for conservation of fish stocks, processing of fish, and reduction of the losses after capture. Targeted entrepreneurship training and related efforts are aimed at promoting alternative livelihoods to fishing to improve the income of women and fishermen and reduce pressure on fisheries. 

Outstanding Characteristics 

 

 

  • Strong emphasis on improving the income of women and artisanal fishermen by increasing the value of fish products and increasing awareness and engagement of coastal communities in fisheries. management to reduce pressure on overfished stocks. 

  • Stock recovery plan for the overexploited mackerel and grouper fisheries through the implementation of closed seasons and minimum catch sizes for these species.  

  • Coalition has strong experience and knowledge about the socioeconomic conditions and challenges for fishermen and women in the target coastal communities.  

Potential Challenges and Risks  
  • There is limited public data on the health of the mackerel and grouper fisheries, though the coalition highlighted that both fisheries are under pressure due to overfishing, the catch of juveniles, and fishing during breeding season. 

  • Existing management measures, including closed seasons and minimum catch sizes, need to be effectively implemented and enforced to support the recovery of the overexploited fish stocks. 

  • Limited access to finance and credit in the target communities could limit the ability to invest in equipment and materials needed to reduce post-harvest loss and increase value of fish products.   

  • Alternative livelihood options are not yet identified. 

 

ImageEcuador 

Winner: Small Pelagic Sustainability Coalition

Coalition Members Camara Nacional de Pesqueria, Fortidex S.A. Negocios Industriales Real NIRSA S.A., HERCO, BORSEA, Productos Pesqueros S.A., Tadel, Multiproyectos S.A., Urisa, EXU, Ecuafeed S.A., Pesqueria DIMOLFIN, Comuna Jambeli – Santa Elen, Polar, Rosmei, SEIMAR S.A., INHARIPAC S.A., Likefish, Grupo Riveto, Skretting, Vitapro, BioMar, Cargill, Ministerio de Produccion Comercio Exterior, Inversiones y Pesca, Instituto Publico de Investigacion de Acuicultura y Pesca, Global Marine Commodities 

Solution Summary 

 

 

Establish a common responsible sourcing policy with standards where vessels supplying small pelagic product to the fishmeal industry in Ecuador must progressively comply with verifiable improvements in fishing practices, legal compliance, and transparency.  Led by the Small Pelagics Sustainability Initiative, with 22 industry organizations that represent more than 80% of fishmeal production in Ecuador, including major marine ingredients producers and traders, aquaculture feed companies, and the National Chamber of Fisheries. 
Outstanding Characteristics 
  • Addresses the sustainable management of the small pelagic fishery, which supports more than 24,000 jobs and exports of $235 million annually. 

  • Public registry of boats and factories increases transparency in the supply chain and discourages irregular or illegal fishing practices. 

  • Progressive improvement approach makes it easier for vessels to apply the responsible fishing practices incrementally, recognizing the cultural, economic, and other challenges to adopt new practices.  

  • Industry initiative, representing most of the small pelagic fishing and fishmeal industries, increases cooperation in the value chain and offers the potential to sustainably manage the fishery at scale.  

Potential Challenges and Risks 
  • Independent fishing vessel owners are not included in the initiative, and the coalition needs to implement outreach to ensure they are not marginalized and limit the impact of the common sourcing policy. 

  • Coalition needs to implement effective enforcement and monitoring of participating vessels and companies to ensure adoption of progress improvements and compliance with the common sourcing policy.   

Runner-Up: Monitoreo Participativo (Octopus Monitoring Coalition) 

Coalition Members Instituto Nazca de Investigacion Marina, Asosalan, Khen.uio  
Solution Summary Establish a long-term participatory monitoring program with communities in the artisanal octopus fishery based in Manabi province of Ecuador. Fishers will restrict catch to ensure quality of product and sustainability of stock. Restaurant in the coalition will purchase octopus directly at significant premium to market price. Approach will generate information on the status of the fish stock and implement sustainable management. The coalition aims to establish better awareness of sustainable fishing practices, including permitted catch areas, minimum catch size, and avoiding capture of egg-bearing females. It will establish educational campaigns and training programs with local fishers, explore product differentiation opportunities and assist further direct sales with restaurants in Quito and other key cities. It will establish a traceability system, improve packaging and transportation, and promote visibility of women who participate in and contribute to the value chain. 

Outstanding Characteristics 

 

 

  • Solution includes approaches to improve the management and health of artisanal octopus fisheries in two marine reserves through the implementation of a closed season, introduction of more selective gear use and establishment of minimum catch sizes. 

  • Piloting better packaging technologies and looking to identify improved transportation to increase the shelf life and value of fresh octopus to enable direct sales to cities.  

  • Establishing agreements with restaurants to purchase octopus at a premium, promoting responsible seafood products to consumers and increasing fisher incomes through direct sales of high-value products. 

Potential Challenges and Risks 

 

 

  • Absence of formal regulations to manage the fishery means the adoption and enforcement of measures will only be on a voluntary basis by the community. 

  • Alternative income and/or safety net programs for fishers will be required to ensure buy-in from the fishers and communities to implement closed seasons and other management measures.  

  • Proper and cost-effective cold storage transportation will be needed to maintain the quality and sell to larger cities at premium prices.  

  • Additional market research should be conducted to understand consumers’ willingness to pay more for responsibly sourced octopus. 

 

ImageIndonesia 

Winner: Fishery Area Access Network 

Coalition Members Rare, Kelompok Pengelolaan Akses Area Perikanan Pasi Kolaga, Kelompok Masyarakat Pengawas Pasi Kolaga, Kelompok Simpan Pinjam Pasi Kolaga 

 

Solution Summary

Facilitate and empower local community groups and governments to identify and map fishery resources and form a Fishery Area Access Management Network starting in Muna District in Southeast Sulawesi, and then replicate to other districts in the province. In the management area, community members work collaboratively with district and provincial governments to establish no-take zones to allow restoration of fish habitats and protect spawning grounds and manage and enforce exclusive access rights for local fishers. The coalition also works to formalize small and medium seafood enterprises, improve access to finance, build capacity to reduce post-catch losses and improve fish quality to increase incomes in the target communities.  
Outstanding Characteristics 
  • Addresses the tragedy of the commons by establishing Fishery Area Access Management Networks in close partnership between fishing communities and local governments, with development of marine spatial and management plans, allocation of access rights, establishment of no-take zones, and implementation of community enforcement mechanisms.  

  • Provincial government legally supports the establishment and operation of Fishery Area Access Management areas as regulated in Governor's Regulation Southeast Sulawesi No.36 2019. 

  • Includes a savings and loans group to support community members to save, provides emergency funds and allocate social funds, which will reduce vulnerability and guard against shocks. 

Potential Challenges and Risks 
  • Engaging buyers willing to purchase higher value fish products from communities involved in the coalition will require ensuring consistency in product quality and volume and addressing barriers to transportation from remote sites to larger cities with sufficient consumer demand.  

  • Establishing fishery area access management networks requires significant resources. The coalition is working to solidify public and private mechanisms to sustain and scale the solution.  

Runner-Up: Raja Ampat Sustainable Anchovy Coalition 

Coalition Members Universitas Kristen Papua UNIPA, Muhamadya University, Masyarkat Adat Papua, and Mathbat,Yellu, Fishery Office of Raja Ampat Regency, Marine and Fishery Affairs of West Papua Province, PT Citra Raja Ampat, BLUD of Raja Ampat Marine Park Authority, Koperasi Mina Mandiri, Tafelo, YKAN, Yayasan Misool Baseftin 
Solution Summary A coalition to co-manage anchovy fishery in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, a center of marine biodiversity with hard corals and fish distributed across the coastal areas of the Bird’s Head Seascape in West Papua. Limited management and enforcement have led to the depletion of fish stock resulting in the local community being crowded out of the fishery by larger, commercial fishing vessels. This solution seeks to engage a broad coalition of local and national fishers with other community partners in a multi-year effort to co-manage the fish stock and encourage local fishers who can supply bait fish to commercial pole and line fishing vessels. Over time it seeks to change fishing methods and create an ongoing monitoring function to allow anchovy stock to recover and improve local economic prospects. 
Outstanding Characteristics 
  • Coalition includes the main stakeholders in the anchovy fishery in South Misool to establish an effective co-management structure with the potential to implement an effective management plan, with key environmental and socio-economic strategies identified. 

  • Developing an anchovy cooperative to coordinate the marketing of bait fish and dried anchovy from local fishers. Engaging local financial institutions has the potential to increase local fishers’ income and maintain regular bait fish supply to the commercial pole and line industry. This incentivizes compliance by local fishers and commercial fishing vessels with sustainable fishing practices. 

Potential Challenges and Risks 
  • Additional monitoring, control and enforcement activities led by government and communities should be considered by the coalition to ensure that the management measures to restrict or limit the access of the commercial fishing vessels from the fishery are effective.  

  • Resistance by the commercial pole and line tuna industry to the solution will be major challenge as management measures will adversely impact bait fish supply in the short-term and may lead to the exclusion of commercial vessels from the fishery. More commercial pole and line industry actors should be engaged in the coalition.   

 

ImagePeru 

Winner: Direct Sales from Artisanal Fishers to Consumers in Lima 

Coalition Members 

 

Pesco Pescadería, Comunidad Pesquera de San Juan de Marcona, Instituto Humboldt, Consorcio Manglares de Tumbes, Osaka Restaurante, Hotel Ibero Star, Central Restaurante/Mater iniciativa, Gremio de pescadores Artesanales de la Caleta el Ñuro, CLS-Perú 
Solution Summary Coalition led by a social enterprise that connects artisanal fishers and cooperatives in Peru to sell responsible seafood products directly to customers in restaurants, supermarkets, and online in Lima.  By reducing the layers in the supply chain, artisanal fishers receive a higher price for their catch and a potential increase in income by 20-30 percent. The coalition seeks to increase transparency in the market through the adoption of traceability systems and encourage legal fishing practices by training artisanal fishers in responsible fishing techniques including adopting selective fishing gear, respecting seasonal restrictions, and complying with minimum catch sizes. Consumer awareness campaigns aim to increase demand for responsible fish products and provide financial incentives for artisanal fishers to adopt legal and sustainable fishing practices.  
Outstanding Characteristics
  • Innovative marketing approach to enable direct sales from artisanal fishers to consumers securing higher prices and improving fisher incomes, while addressing inefficient and non-transparent supply chains that dominate the seafood sector in Peru.  

  • Coalition includes key stakeholders from artisanal fisheries supply chains and it has already engaged with 2,500 customers and 15 restaurants in Lima.   

  • Use of traceability technology and a publicly accessible website for the coalition to report progress could increase the availability of data on artisanal fisheries to inform sustainable resource management. 

Potential Challenges and Risks 
  • Many artisanal fishers in Peru fish without official registration and fishing permits, thus are fishing illegally. The coalition must work with all fishers it engages to register and obtain permits to ensure seafood products sold as responsible do not come from illegal fishing.  

  • Non-involvement from the government in the coalition may limit the ability to address illegal fishing and support artisanal fishers to obtain official registration and fishing permits. 

  • Removing intermediaries from supply chains, as proposed in the solution, may be resisted by existing fish traders and the communities. The coalition needs to implement strategies including how to replace and/or redirect these existing intermediaries to other roles. 

Runner-Up: Protegiendo la Anchoveta (Anchoveta Protection Initiative) 

Coalition Members Facultad de Ingeniería Pesquera y de Alimentos (FIPA) de la Universidad Nacional San Luis Gonzaga de Ica, ONG LUMEN SAPIENTIAE 
Solution Summary Introduce selective fishing nets to address significant overfishing in Peruvian anchoveta fishery. Develop new canned supply chains with higher quality anchoveta sold to canneries. The Anchoveta Protection Initiative will address overfishing through enforcement of existing management measures, including seasonal closures during spawning periods and elimination of illegal sales of anchoveta to unreported fishmeal producers. It will increase fish quality and fishers’ incomes by introducing pair fishing, with the fishing boat working in tandem with a support boat that collects and transports fish. This method maintains effective cold storage from catch to landing improving fish quality. 
Outstanding Characteristics 
  • Peruvian anchoveta is one of the most important fisheries worldwide, and if the selective fishing gear and management measures are implemented at scale there could be significant stock recovery and benefits for local food security. 

  • Coalition includes key stakeholders in the artisanal anchoveta fishery in Peru, including the shipowner’s association that represents 360 artisanal fishing vessels with several of the highest volume vessels already interested in piloting the selective fishing gear.  

  • Several canneries have expressed interest to source anchoveta from artisanal fishers at a premium if the quality and volume can be increased through the initiative. 

Potential Challenges and Risks 
  • Fishmeal plants and the industrial anchoveta fishing industry are influential actors in Peru. Although the law requires anchoveta caught by artisanal vessels to be sold for human consumption the industry groups may resist enforcement of the measures as it will divert juvenile fish away from fishmeal plants. 

  • High market demand for juvenile anchoveta by the fishmeal industry may incentivize continued or increased illegal fishing, and without effective surveillance and enforcement introducing selective gear may have limited impact in addressing overfishing.  

  • Convincing fishers to participate in the initiative will require marketing and outreach to increase understanding on the benefit of adopting selective fishing gear and guaranteeing sufficient price premium for larger anchoveta sold to canneries to offset the cost of reduced catch from selective fishing.  

 

Image

Soluciones para la sobrepesca

El Concurso de Conocimiento Mundial de la Iniciativa de Pesquerías Costeras invita a las coaliciones u organizaciones individuales a desarrollar soluciones innovadoras para reducir la sobrepesca.


Contact Information
info@solutionstooverfishing.org