Dear Colleagues
Mitigating cetacean bycatch in coastal Ecuador:
Governance challenges for small-scale fisheries
Juan José
Alava, Bradley Tatar, María José Barragán, Cristina Castro, Patricia Rosero,
Judith Denkinger, Pedro J. Jiménez, Raúl Carvajal, Jorge Samaniego
Highlights
•Bycatch is a continued conservation
threat for cetaceans in Ecuador's waters.
•Government actions to address and
manage bycatch of cetaceans are insufficient.
•Empowering fishers’ governance is
crucial to mitigate cetacean bycatch.
Abstract
Bycatch of marine fauna by
small-scale (artisanal) fisheries is an important anthropogenic mortality source
to several species of cetaceans, including humpback whales and odontocetes, in
Ecuador's marine waters. Long-term monitoring actions and varied conservation
efforts have been conducted by non-governmental organizations along the
Ecuadorian coast, pointing toward the need for a concerted mitigation plan and
actions to hamper cetaceans’ bycatch. Nevertheless, little has currently been
done by the government and regional authorities to address marine mammal
interactions with fisheries in eastern Pacific Ocean artisanal fisheries. This
study provides a review of Ecuador's current status concerning cetacean
bycatch, and explores the strengths and weaknesses of past and current programs
aiming to tackle the challenges of bycatch mitigation. To bolster our appraisal
of the policies, a synthesis of fishers’ perceptions of the bycatch problem is
presented in concert with recommendations for fostering fishing community-based
conservation practices integrated with policies to mitigate cetacean bycatch.
Our appraisal, based upon the existing literature, indicates a situation of
increasing urgency. Taking into consideration the fishers’ perceptions and
attitudes, fisheries governance in Ecuador should draw inspiration from a truly
bottom-up, participatory framework based on stakeholder engagement processes;
if it is based on a top-down, regulatory approach, it is less likely to
succeed. To carry out this process, a community-based conservation programs to
provide conditions for empowering fishing communities is recommend. This would
serve as an initial governance framework for fishery policy for conserving
marine mammals while maximizing the economic benefits from sustainable
small-scale fisheries in Ecuador.
Keywords: Marine mammals; Dolphins; Humpback whale; Bycatch;
Small-scale fisheries; Fisheries governance; Ecuador
Best
Wishes!!!
Juan
Jose Alava
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Juan Jose Alava, PhD
Adjunct Professor