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Applying the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries in the Shrimp Fisheries Management Plan in Brazil

GEF/FAO REBYC-II LAC Shrimp By-catch

By IW:LEARN

October 30^th, 2019

The GEF/FAO project on sustainable management of bycatch in Latin America and Caribbean bottom trawl fisheries (REBYC-II LAC) and its partners are reducing food waste and supporting livelihoods in fishing communities by improving the management and sustainable use of the bycatch in bottom-trawl shrimp fisheries. In Brazil, the project and its partners are developing the first fisheries management plan following an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF).

This is the first time in Brazilian history that the development of a fisheries management plan includes ample participation of all stakeholders, while also highlighting principles of social participation, good governance and adaptive management. Following key EAF principles fostered by REBYC-II LAC, the development process of the management plan is highly participatory, starting with the traditional knowledge of local fishing communities and ending in the core scientific responsibility of the scientific sub-committee of the National Standing Committee for the Management of the Shrimp Fishery.

Prior to the participatory process, project partners first had to establish the state of the fishery in Brazil. This included studies on the state of shrimp fisheries in the country, an evaluation of the existing regulatory framework, a census of boats and gears in the fishery, bycatch composition studies in four local fisheries, socioeconomic studies in two regions and a working document that outlined the core elements of a proposed management plan. With this information, the FAO led the two projects: 1) the CLME+ Shrimp and Groundfish project, and 2) REBYC-II LAC.

National EAF Workshop Brazil. Credit: REBYC-II LAC project

The Secretary of Aquaculture and Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (SAP/ MAPA) sponsored a national EAF capacity building workshop for thirty-five participants representing government agencies, artisanal fishing communities, fishing industry, seafood processing industry, union representatives and academia. The EAF training workshop was an instant success. Each trained multiplier/facilitator created a network of partners in their respective state. This led to an explosion in the number of partners involved with REBYC-II LAC, which went from 4 pilot sites to 15 out of the 17 coastal states:

Pará
Maranhão
Piauí
Rio Grande do Norte
Paraíba
Pernambuco
Alagoas
Sergipe
Bahia
Espírito Santo
Rio de Janeiro
São Paulo
Paraná
Santa Catarina
Rio Grande do Sul

With the network firmly in place in each of these fifteen coastal states, a state focal point that was trained to apply the EAF became a direct partner of the REBYC-II LAC project and led state-level EAF training workshops. In Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina for example, almost 50 additional multipliers received training to facilitate participatory meetings for the development of the management plan.

Once the trainers and networks were constructed, they fanned out and held almost sixty municipal meetings to receive input and suggestions on the content of the management plan content from over 1,000 fishers and other local value-chain actors (including processors, traders, vessel owners etc.). REBYC-II LAC partners and sixteen trained multipliers facilitated forty-three of these workshops. Each of these workshops have helped to expand and strengthen EAF in the country, for the first time in Brazilian history allowing the direct participation of local fishing communities in drafting a National Shrimp Fishery Management Plan.

Local communities identified some of the following items to include in the management plan:

Recommendations on evidence-based time and area closures;
Improvements to fisher interactions with government (particularly related to timely issuance of documentation to claim social insurance benefits and the conduct of fishing inspectors);
Issues related to high fuel costs;
Recommendations to improve the perception of both the public and government of their activity as fishers; and
Issues on legal insecurity.

Other problems raised were the high degree of informality in fishing communities, the large amount of litter in the sea, and the growing number of fishing exclusion areas due to other activities such as oil and gas exploitation. While none of these issues are unique to the shrimp fisheries of Brazil, this is the first time a formal mechanism exists to reflect them in what will become an official government plan.

State-level consultative meeting (Santa Catarina). Credit: REBYC-II LAC project

The REBYC-II LAC project operates in all three levels of government (federal, state and municipal) and alongside its national partners, propelles changes in how Brazil constructs fisheries management plans. The expansion of the project from four pilot sites to fifteen coastal states reflects the fishing sector’s embrace of the EAF process. In fact, industry and association leaders are now demanding the same process for other fisheries. In this context, the importance of the FAO training course on the ecosystem approach to fisheries cannot be overestimated. It was the seed that allowed the growth of a tree of engagement and participation that is now bearing many fruits.