Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission

Results and conclusions of the project "Ecosystem approaches for fisheries management in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem".
FAO Fisheries Circular. No. 1026. Rome, FAO. 2007. 167pp.

This report provides the final results and conclusions of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) project LMR/EAF/03/01 ?Ecosystem approaches for fisheries management in the BCLME?. The project set out to examine the feasibility of implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem which extends from east of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to Angola's Cabinda province in the north. The project, a cooperative effort by BCLME, the management agencies of the three countries and FAO, started in January 2004 and ended in December 2006. The main objective of the project has been to investigate the feasibility of EAF management in the BCLME region through examining the existing issues, problems and needs related to EAF, and considering different management options to achieve sustainable management of the resources at an ecosystem level. The approach followed was to focus on ten of the major fisheries in the three countries. The project used a structured and participatory approach, attempting to engage the range of stakeholders in the countries, in order to identify and prioritize the gaps in the existing, largely conventional, approaches to fisheries management and to describe potential management actions necessary to address those gaps. In a similarly participatory approach, preliminary estimates of the costs and benefits (positive and negative impacts) of those actions specifically related to implementation of EAF have been made. The costs and benefits were evaluated for each of the broad objectives identified for each fishery. The detailed results, including potential management actions and their costs and benefits, are still preliminary but the issues and the broad management needs and possible actions that have been identified are highly informative. The process that has been developed provides a valuable framework for future refinement and implementation of EAF. The project also considered the applicability of a number of tools and activities that would be important for effective progress in implementation of EAF, in particular methods for improved decision making, incentives to encourage implementation, institutional requirements and research needs

Although the principles of an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) are not new, there is very little practical experience in their implementation. Translating high-level policy goals on EAF into operational objectives and actions is now the key challenge to sustainable fisheries. This booklet will:

- provide an overview of EAF, for marine capture fisheries, and its benefits;
- consider what is required to implement EAF;
- consider the range of management measures available;
- provide an overview of the management process;
- outline any outstanding research requirements;
- list the main threats to the implementation of EAF.

This document presents case studies of the policy, governance and institutional issues of marine protected areas (MPAs) in Brazil, India, Palau and Senegal. It is the first of four in a global series of case studies on MPAs. An initial volume provides a synthesis and analysis of all the studies. The set of global MPA case studies was designed to close a deficit in information on the governance of MPAs and spatial management tools, within both fisheries management and biodiversity conservation contexts. The studies examine governance opportunities in and constraints on the use of spatial management measures at the national level. They were also designed to inform implementation of the FAO Technical Guidelines on marine protected areas (MPAs) and fisheries, which were developed to provide information and guidance on the use of MPAs in the context of fisheries.

Human dimensions of the ecosystem approach to fisheries: an overview of context, concepts, tools and methods

This document aims to provide a better understanding of the role of the economic, institutional and sociocultural components within the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) process and to examine some potential methods and approaches that may facilitate the adoption of EAF management. It explores both the human context for the ecosystem approach to fisheries and the human dimensions involved in implementing the EAF. For the former, the report provides background material essential to understand prior to embarking on EAF initiatives, including an understanding of key concepts and issues, of the valuation of aquatic ecosystems socially, culturally and economically, and of the many policy, legal, institutional, social and economic considerations relevant to the EAF. With respect to facilitating EAF implementation, the report deals with a series of specific aspects: (1) determining the boundaries, scale and scope of the EAF; (2) assessing the various benefits and costs involved, seen from social, economic, ecological and management perspectives; (3) utilizing appropriate decision-making tools in EAF; (4) creating and/or adopting internal incentives and institutional arrangements to promote, facilitate and fund the adoption of EAF management; and (5) finding suitable external (non-fisheries) approaches for financing EAF implementation.

[b]GUIDELINES TO REDUCE SEA TURTLE MORTALITY IN FISHING OPERATIONS[b]
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome, 2009

Sea turtles are affected by a range of different factors, some natural and others caused by human activities, including fishing operations. As a result, all sea turtle species whose conservation status has been assessed are considered to be threatened or endangered. These guidelines provide assistance for the preparation of national or multilateral fisheries management measures and industry initiatives that may help to conserve sea turtles by reducing the negative impacts that fisheries may have on them. The guidelines are voluntary and nonbinding.

Their scope is global, but when they are implemented, national and regional diversity, including cultural and socio-economic differences, should be taken into account. These guidelines present our best understanding of how to reduce interactions between sea turtles and fishing gear and reduce the proportion of caught turtles that are killed as a result of interactions with marine capture fisheries. They include information about how to change fishing gear and fishing methods and how the fishing industry can adopt voluntary approaches to reduce sea turtle mortality.

The guidelines make suggestions about implementing management actions, such as input and output controls and bycatch fees and they cover subjects such as bycatch hotspot avoidance, best practices for the handling and release of caught turtles and reducing derelict fishing gear and other marine debris. They also identify fisheries and areas where fishing may be a relatively important cause of sea turtle deaths. Research, monitoring, information exchange, capacity-building, financial support, socio-economic, cultural and legal aspects are also discussed.

Staples, D. & Funge-Smith, S. (2009) Ecosystem approach to fisheries and aquaculture: Implementing the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand. RAP Publication 2009/11, 48 pp.

This publication provides guidance on how to implement the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) using an ecosystem approach to fisheries and aquaculture. The CCRF is a voluntary code covering all aspects of the management and development of fisheries and is designed to ensure that they are developed sustainable without adversely affecting the livelihoods of local communities that share the same resources as the fisheries.

The authors outline the basic principles of the CCRF, describe concrete steps to be taken to use the ecosystem approach effectively, and recommend certain institutional changes and reforms that will be necessary in the Asia-Pacific region if the potential of the ecosystem approach is to be realized. The most significant reform that is needed to achieve the potential of the ecosystem approach to fisheries and aquaculture is a paradigm shift in policy from one that is production oriented to one that is benefits oriented (social and economic). There is evidence that this is already happening in the region with efforts being made to limit access, reduce the number of fishing vessels and introduce community-based rights systems. Stakeholder participation is essential and existing legal instruments and practices that interact with or impact fisheries may also need to be reconsidered, and adjustments made where necessary. In the future, it may even be necessary to regulate the inter-sectoral interactions and impacts through primary legislation, e.g. laws controlling coastal development.

To promote broader adoption and implementation of the ecosystem approach by member countries, a wide range of regional activities is suggested by the authors and includes a media campaign, the building of fishery alliances among countries and capacity building in fishery agencies.
Ensuring the sustainable development of fisheries is crucial if food security and economic well-being are to be achieved throughout the APFIC region and it is hoped that the ideas included in this publication will help shape the future of fisheries in the region.

Aquaculture growth worldwide involves the expansion of cultivated areas, a higher density of aquaculture installations and farmed individuals and greater use of feed resources produced outside of the immediate culture area. Such evolution of the sector could carry negative impacts on the environment and on portions of the society when unregulated and badly managed. In response to the explicit request of the Third Session of the Committee of Fisheries (COFI) Sub-Committee on Aquaculture to improve the management and enhance the socio-economic impacts of aquaculture, the Aquaculture Management and Conservation Service (FIMA) of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department initiated in 2006 an effort to look into the development and application of the ecosystem approach to aquaculture.

This activity is funded under a Japanese Trust Fund Project (Towards Sustainable Aquaculture: Selected Issues and Guidelines) and conducted in collaboration with the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and Planning Service (FIEP).Several activities have taken place to support sustainable aquaculture, including the workshop coorganized with the Universitat de les Illes Balears that took place from 7

The need to apply an ecosystem approach to fisheries management is now globally accepted and has been endorsed in a range of international decision-making fora. This approach represents a move away from fisheries management systems that focus only on the sustainable harvest of target species towards systems and decision-making processes that balance environmental well-being with human and social well-being within improved governance frameworks.

The FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) provides a global framework for responsible fisheries, but member countries, fisheries organizations and fisheries stakeholders require a practical framework to implement the recommendations of the CCRF. The ecosystem approach to management of fisheries (EAF) and aquaculture (EAA) presents such a practical framework whereby the objectives of responsible and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture can be implemented at national and local levels. Although there is an increasing will to move towards more holistic fisheries and aquaculture management and planning frameworks, the practical approach and application of ecosystem based planning and management remains challenged by a lack of familiarity with EAF and EAA and the need for considerable policy reform.

The 2nd Regional Consultative Forum Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) and the 30th Session of APFIC convened in Manado in 2008, recommended that APFIC promote understanding of how to implement ecosystem approaches to aquaculture and fisheries management.

They noted too that this would effectively contribute to the implementation of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. The session emphasized the need for guidance on how to apply this management approach to the small-scale production sector, the development of offshore fisheries and in the data-poor situations that prevail in the APFIC region.

This report is the proceedings of the APFIC/FAO/Government of Sri Lanka regional consultative workshop convened in response to this recommendation. The workshop brought together 75 participants from member countries across the Asia and Pacific region together with representatives of regional fisheries, aquaculture and environmental intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, alongside projects and other arrangements. The workshop enabled participants to familiarize themselves with ecosystem approaches to management and explore how these planning and management frameworks can be applied to the complex issues facing fisheries and aquaculture systems that are typical of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia. The workshop also developed recommendations for action directed at APFIC member countries and the regional partners of APFIC for individual or collective action.

The workshop represented a unique opportunity to build awareness and understanding of the potential opportunities that are offered by an ecosystem approach to management and hopefully will lead to the development of ecologically sound action plans for fisheries and aquaculture in the region. I am sure that the outcome of this workshop sees the beginning of wider adoption and implementation of ecosystem based management in the APFIC region, and encourages all to pursue the recommendations contained herein.

For resource background materials and presentations:
http://www.apfic.org/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=375