| Since Rio, the Commission's
international cooperation has focused on whole ecosystem
management and building the capacity to do this. Before
the rise of mechanised fishing, traditional marine practices
safeguarded habitats and areas important for the reproduction
of fished species through limited access to fishing zones,
etc. Modern misconceptions concerning 'freedom of the seas'
- and the belief that marine life was inexhaustible - were
contributing factors to many years of excessive fishing
and other unsustainable practices. We now know that populations
of many marine organisms can easily decline to critical
levels and even face extinction.
Courtesy: D. Pauly |
This is even more true in freshwater ecosystems. It was
also widely believed that fisheries could be managed on
the basis of (individual) population models and by focusing
on technical measures, but predictions were often wide of
the mark. Furthermore, the dynamics set in motion by subsidies
and sometimes misguided industrial incentives or policies
at macro-economic level proved more powerful than technical
fisheries management procedures. Current thinking is that
a combination of species, ecosystem and socio-economic focus
offers the best hope of devising and implementing policies
supporting sustainable aquatic productivity.
Jakarta Mandate and sustainable
marine use
One important component of the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) is the Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal
Biological Diversity (1995)(27). This
global consensus on the importance of marine and coastal
systems, which is fully supported by the Commission, comprises
five thematic areas, including sustainable marine use. Funding
mechanisms to help implement the Mandate include the Global
Environment Facility (GEF)(28) among
many collaborative activities sponsored by the Commission
and other agencies. The Reykjavik Conference on Responsible
Fisheries in the Marine Ecosystem (2001)(29)
addressed steps on how to introduce ecosystem-based approaches
into the mainstream of fisheries management
and thus act on the Mandate and Code of Conduct.
Ecosystems, global change and
sea level rise
Climate change, and the legal instruments established
initially to deal with it, accelerated thinking about the
need for ecosystem management, adaptation and mitigation.
Despite some notable absences among signatories, the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change(30)
and associated Kyoto Protocol set targets for reducing greenhouse
gas emissions. Small island states and their ecosystems
are among the most vulnerable to natural events, global
change and sea-level rise. Whether reef growth keeps pace
with sea-level rise (~0.5 cm per year) depends on coral
and reef health, among other factors, while activities such
as coral mining limit reef growth. Low-lying areas of continental
countries, often associated with extensive estuaries which
may be used for fisheries, aquaculture, agriculture and
other socio-economic activities likely to be affected by
global change, need to develop scientific knowledge for
coping and mitigation strategies.
River basins are the natural planning unit to ensure overall
sustainable use of freshwater resources. The world's 261
documented transboundary river basins require particular
cooperation between states and users. Several research collaborations
between Latin American, Asian, African and European teams
have produced or are producing basic understanding of major
river and wetland systems, e.g. in the Red River System
in China and Vietnam, the Pantanal-Chaco straddling Bolivia,
Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, the Okavango system in Angola,
Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and the Incomati River
shared between South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique. A
new EU Water Initiative is being launched at Johannesburg
to bundle together a range of cooperation efforts around
water as a cross-sectoral issue. Special attention will
be paid to the transboundary river basin approaches and
safe water and sanitation.
Managing fisheries, ecosystems
and special areas
Apart from removal of seafood species, heavy fishing has
demonstrated undesirable ecosystem effects, in particular
'fishing down the food web', resulting in the loss of upper-level,
long-lived species (i.e. carnivores) and a shift to catching
short-lived species lower in the food web. The net effect
is the destabilisation of food webs, the loss of productivity
and the unsustainability of fisheries. Physical and biological
disturbances and destruction of habitat, e.g. from unselective
trawling on the sea bottom and dynamite fishing on coral
reefs, also severely impact ecosystems.
As the result of these and other socio-economic pressures,
the need to set aside special areas and representative marine
ecosystems is becoming increasingly urgent. Habitat/ ecosystem
representation and protection is a good proxy for biodiversity
conservation. Current research recommend that within each
of the world's major (biogeographical) regions at least
10-20% of every ecosystem should come under protected area
management.
Good practice examples
Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) putting fishery resources
in their ecosystem context
Research in temperate waters has generally concentrated
on the impact of fisheries on a few dominant species, while
sub-tropical and tropical fisheries characteristically rely
on many species, none of which is dominant. In both situations,
species and groups of species interact with each other and
the fishery interacts with them. The Ecopath tool kit represents
species and group interactions and their dynamic change,
and shows fishery impact on such aquatic
ecosystems. Ecopath’s key output is validated information
on the ecosystem, how it has changed and how its components
impact on each other. An INCO research collaboration among
some 31 research institutes in Africa, the Americas and
Europe carried out comparative analyses of marine ecosystems
to find policy-relevant common features (http://www.ecopath.org/).
The development of analytical tools has since advanced to
explore minimum size and adequate location of marine protected
areas to complement conventional management tools.
Fisheries Information and Analysis System (FIAS)(31)
In NW Africa, fisheries research institutes from six coastal
countries (Mauritania, Senegal, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea
Bissau and Guinea) and their four European partners have
jointly analysed 50 years of change in marine fisheries.
Their analysis demonstrates serious degradation of marine
biodiversity and ecosystem functions resulting in a potential
loss of income-earning opportunities as public policy and
private investment simply have fewer options left for development.
While rarefaction has increased prices for remaining fish
or non-fish resources thriving because of declining fish
densities, it cannot offset the longer-term effects on coastal
communities and national economies. This capacity building
and collaborative research project supported by the EDF
convened an international symposium in June 2002 as part
of the region's preparations for the Johannesburg World
Summit for Sustainable Development. Linking scientific results
to discussions on policy options was an important step towards
sustainability.
The FIAS partnership is remarkable not only for science
inputs in public policy thinking, but also for the way it
operates. From the beginning, it decided to concentrate
its resources on the use, among others, of information and
analytical tools from other research collaborations around
FishBase and Ecopath with Ecosim to carry out its tasks.
This was done to ensure they could 'deliver the goods' within
a relatively short time. Moreover, instead of spending massive
resources for new ship-bound survey work, they located as
many as possible of almost 260 research surveys conducted
in the region over the last 50 years. To their surprise,
they found that most of these 'costly' data had never been
systematically stored and analysed. By inputting them into
a structured information system, FIAS enabled organised
use and analysis of data worth millions of euro in earlier
investments, which previously had had little or no impact
on pressing fisheries management needs.
Lake Victoria Fisheries Research Project, Phase
II
Another scientific research and capacity building project
in East Africa supported by the EDF and focusing on fisheries
research institutes in Lake Victoria's three riparian States
of Jinja (Uganda), Kisumu (Kenya) and Mwanza (Tanzania)
operated between 1997 and 2002. Over 30 million people live
in the Lake Victoria Basin and depend on the lake's resources,
particularly the 500000 tonnes of annual fish production.
Fisheries contribute 3% of the riparian states' GDP and
are a major source of income, food, employment and foreign
exchange earnings. Over the last three decades, heavy fishing
and the impact of introduced species are believed to have
contributed to driving about 60% of the original fish species
to extinction. The project not only produced a wealth of
information about key aspects of the fisheries, but also
made major contributions to institutional strengthening
through rehabilitation of facilities and training of 150
staff and the development of a Management Plan submitted
at the end of 2001 to the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization
(LVFO). There are opportunities to step up cooperation in
the future if riparian countries are committed to the implementation
of a wider management plan, integrating the whole catchment
area of Lake Victoria and to move towards more environmentally
and socially sustainable use patterns.
Knowledge in Fisheries Management (KNOWFISH)
Taking issue with earlier failures, this project addresses
the need to develop new types of research-based knowledge
appropriate to the complexity of tropical Aquatic Ecosystems
and the way management institutions in developing countries
actually work. One critical need is the development of less
complex indicators of ecosystem health and exploitation
status that are both scientifically valid and widely acceptable
by fisheries stakeholders. The project aims to improve understanding
of the information needs and appropriate institutional structures
for fisheries management by bringing together natural and
social scientists from Europe, Southern Africa and South
East Asia to develop indicators to increase capacity for
aquatic resources management which is knowledge based and
considered legitimate by stakeholders.
Meeting the fishing boats
on the beach at Saint Louis, Senegal.
Courtesy: G. Chenut, Dakar, Senegal |
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