How to manage a sustainable small scale artisanal fishery Erik
Maitz Boman Data monitoring officer Department of Agriculture and
Fisheries
Slide 2
What is a sustainable fishery? Ecological sustainability
maintaining the resource base at levels that do not foreclose
future options and maintaining or enhancing ecosystem capacity,
quality and resilience. Socio-economic sustainability maintaining
or enhancing overall socio-economic welfare (employment,
livelihood, food supply). Community sustainability maintaining or
enhancing the communities economic and socio- culture
well-being.
Slide 3
Ecological sustainable indicators Catch level and effort Fish
population size Biomass trend Fish size, length frequency
Environmental Quality Diversity (harvested species) Diversity
(ecosystem)
Slide 4
What kind of fishery do we have on Statia? Statia has an
artisanal small scale fisheries. Fishing fleet consist of small
open boats.
Slide 5
What kind of fishery do we have on Statia? Eight main fishing
methods. More than 60 different species are targeted. Understanding
of the kind of fisheries you manage is crucial.
Slide 6
What is the optimal fishing patter? Fisheries management
involves numerous social and economic concerns but only two
biological considerations. How much can be caught and how should it
be caught? How much refers to the total amount of fish, that can be
removed from a fish stock relative to its productivity? How refers
to the specific fishing methods used to obtain the targeted
amount.
Slide 7
How much ? How ? A non-selective harvesting pattern is
ecosystem conserving. The system remains unchanged, except
everything is less.
Slide 8
How much? What is overfishing? Its when the rate of removal
from stock is too high so that the reproductive individuals in the
stock can not replace the removed individuals with new. Fish stocks
can become overfished for many reasons, including natural
mortality, disease, environmental conditions and fishing.
Slide 9
How much? Density dependence Carrying capacity Reducing the
biomass to half its virgin state is where the stock has highest
regenerative rate Density The logistic Gordon-Schaefer model
Slide 10
Other stakeholders to consider Industries, divers, tourists,
locals. Have to a certain degree consider the other stake holders
needs.
Slide 11
How can tourism help managers create and maintain a sustainable
fishery? Different species in demand from tourists and locals
(multispecies, multigear). Less depended on near shore areas which
may be more heavily fished. Opportunities for fishermen for
additional source of income (fishing charters, catch release
programs etc.).
Slide 12
Do we have a sustainable fishery on Statia? Small scale,
multigear/multispecies, unselective (to a degree). Fisheries
monitoring program (collection of fisheries data). Managers and
fishermen are provided with information regarding status of the
fish stocks and environmental quality. Yes we have a sustainable
fishery on Statia.