Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone

Experimentation with Right-Based Fisheries in the Artisanal Fisheries of Sierra Leone

© Andrew Baio, PhDFisheries & Environmental Resource Economist

Tenure and Fishing Rights 2015A Global Forum on Right-Based Approaches for Fisheries

23-27 March 2015, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone

Layout:1. Fisheries of Sierra Leone: Environment, Economics and Organisation

2. International donor supported projects, Policy reforms and the Evolution of Right-Based Fisheries in the Artisanal Fisheries of Sierra Leone

West African Regional Fisheries Programme in Sierra Leone (WARFP-SL) - World Bank/GEFWest African Pilot Project (WAPP) Under the Partnership forAfrican Fisheries (PAF) - DfID/NEPAD

3. MPAs as a Conduit to TURFs

4. Policy Reform and Impact

5. Lessons Learnt

Industrial Fisheries (Trawlers)

Artisanal Fisheries (Community

Based)

Artisanal Fisheries (Community

Based)

Inland Fisheries/Aquaculture (Rivers & Fish Ponds)

1. The Fisheries of Sierra Leone1. The Fisheries of Sierra Leone

1A. ECOSYSTEMS: THE GCLME AND THE CCLME

•Sierra Leone has a comparative advantage in west Africa, hosting high fish biomass of Shrimps, Demersal Finfish, Pelagic and Tuna Fishery with Potential Yields For the Small Pelagics of about 100,000mt

•The Country's marine ecosystem is favored by the Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem and the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME) that flows with nutrient rich waters supporting large quantities of pelagic and demersal fish stocks

Migration of Small Pelagics

Migration of Tuna and Bill Fish

1b. Fisheries Sector Economic Overview

The fisheries sector of Sierra Leone contributes about 10% to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Sierra Leone and provides some 80% animal protein source for majority of Sierra Leoneans.

The sector also provides direct and indirect employment for over 500,000 Sierra Leoneans.

Sierra Leone – Fisheries Valuation:Potential Annual Economic Rent: US $59 million / year.

Potential Capital Value of fish resources: US $735 million(DFID, FAO, World Bank Study, 2007).

1c. Social Environment ( Governance Arrangement - Actors)

An Overview of Fisheries Management in Sierra LeoneManagement Structure: Rigid Hierarchical Top-Down (Post-Independence – 2008) – Slow evolution to participatory approaches i.e. co-management

Reference Point: Yield Maximization (MSY)

Management Instruments: - Effort control – access control using financial instruments e.g. Licences, taxing, royalties etc. Input control i.e. gear restrictions i.e. via minimum mesh size and prohibition of destructive fishing gears and methods

Area restrictions e.g. IEZ, (MPAs (Introduced);

Biological protection/conservation via banning harvesting of e.g. gravid lobsters, endangered species such as sea turtles, marine mammals (Manatee, Dolphins, etc.).

Surveillance for the prevention of IUU and Hard instruments such as court actions and fines used to curb contravention of legal provisions embodied in the law e.g. Fisheries Management and Development Act, 1994.

2. International donor support projects, Policy reforms and the Evolution of Right-Based Fisheries in the Artisanal Fisheries of Sierra Leone

A. West African Regional Fisheries Programme in Sierra Leone (WARFP-SL)

World Bank/GEF Support – US$ 28 Mil

1.Resource governance 2.Reduction of illegal fishing3.Official quality control & value addition.

1: Focuses on:•Establish clear principles and policies to increase the wealth from fisheries through strengthened rights and equitable allocation of these rights which balances economic efficiency and social benefits;

•Register small-scale fishing vessels in targeted fisheries;

•Allocate fishing rights to communities;

•Reduce number of vessels in targeted fisheries that are overexploited.

2. Focus on: The reduction of illegal fishing.

This part of the project decisively sets out to reduce the USD30million worth of fish and fish products stolen from Sierra Leone waters yearly. In doing so, the fisheries have witnessed; Increased number of total patrol days at sea per year in targeted fisheries;

Functioning satellite-based fishing vessel monitoring system (VMS) in place

3. Official quality control and value-addition Focus on:

Pilot integrated fish landing site clusters established by the program

A sanitary authority is accredited for certification of fish quality for consumer health and exports to the European Union.

As a way of presenting value added and safe products on the market

B. West African Pilot Project (WAPP) Under the Partnership for African Fisheries (PAF) - NEPAD US$ 1.5Mil

For long term policy advice for the management of Fisheries, PAF of the NEPAD stepped in to support the MFMR under a DFID grant of WAPP within the framework of WARFP.

The following activities have been or are being undertaken:

• Prepare cabinet paper to align the Fisheries and Aquaculture sector to Agenda for Prosperity.

• Review of the current status of the Fisheries Policy and Law in Sierra Leone and the identify future reform options

•Development of a five year strategic plan for the fisheries sector

•Review of the Namibian Right Based Fisheries Management (RBFM) Model, Quota System (QS) and Fishing Rights Allocation (FRA) Model to Provide Recommendations for Complementary RBM, QS and FRA Models for the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources of Sierra Leone

Fisheries ReformWhy Reform?

Fisheries are capable of producing wide range of sustainable benefits; Many fisheries are greatly under-valued; Many fisheries are overexploited (economic, biological) On a global scale US $50 billion /year (lost rent) (World Bank “Sunken

Billions Study”);

Sierra Leone – Fisheries Valuation:Potential Annual Economic Rent: US $59 million / yearAbout US$ 5Mil/year currently accruing Potential Capital Value of fish resources: US $735 million(DFID, FAO, World Bank Study, 2007).

Current status of exploitation: uncertain (high threat of overexploitation under de facto open access conditions)

Range of Policy and Governance Reform in the Fisheries of Sierra Leone

Co-management through Community Management AssociationsMechanism to conceive and share vision for fisheries resource stewardship with the various interest groups.

Establishes a clear line of communication between interested parties so that the interaction process is both complimentary and supplementary.

In this way, co-management institutions provide support to other institutions such as, MPA.

Marine Protected Areas (Evolving into Territorialising the Sea)MPA is a programme of investment into the marine resources that tacitly recognises that wealth generation from marine resources requires capital formation from which the stream of goods and services would flow into the future.

Right Based Fisheries with Territorial Use Rights in the Artisanal Subsector

The lack of ownership in open access fisheries gives rise to the imperative of the commons: i.e.

1.Resource is harvested before someone else does. 2. There is no incentive for investment to improve productivity as everybody’s business is nobody’s business.

3. The best is taken first. The most desired stock is harvested first with a rush that generates considerable wastage during harvest.

Overfishing and depletion of resources as caused by insecure user rights to the resource leading to perverse but individually rational behaviour dictated by lack of ownership. Some form of community rights to introduce incentives to look after the resource.

Example of Right Based Schemes in Fisheries

Individual Transferable Quota schemes (ITQs)

(fishermen guaranteed right to land ‘X’ tons fish at any time, with any allowable gear, and any market)

Harvester Cooperatives

(shares of an allowable catch granted not to individuals but to groups, then internal arrangements manage share)

Territorial Use Right Fisheries (TURFs)

(shares to a group, but not species-based, but rights to use a unit space in the marine ecosystem; also requires internal management for harvest within the space)

Importance of Rights

Rights-Based Management:

“The most important feature of modern success stories in fisheries management is that they have reoriented fundamental behavioural incentives away from wasteful competition toward more constructive value creation. This has been achieved through several different institutions, each an example of a rights-based scheme”

Crothers and Wilen (2009) ‘Reversing Perverse Incentives: The Case for a Rights-based Strategy’ in: Bourne, R. And Collins, M. From Hook to Plate: The State of Marine Fisheries. Commonwealth Foundation, London.

Effort and Catch Regulation

The unit cost of harvest decreases with an increase in stock size.

This is to say a large stock has a cost saving effect. Large stock size is maintained by effective effort and catch control – thus the case for limited entry and rights based fisheries management.

Most reforms are geared towards effort and catch controls to maintain a healthy stock level.

This will require exclusion of some segment of actors as a consequence of such policy reform.

Management and Functional Review of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources

Stabilise fleet capacity at sustainable levels in artisanal fisheries (Capacity capping)

1974 1981 1994 2003 2009 Percentage ChangeRegion Number of Vessels 1974-81 1981-1994 1994-2003 2003-2009North 2394 2292 1784 1922 3098 -4.3 -22.2 +7.8 +61.2Western 1550 1262 1961 1091 1629 -18.6 +55.4 -44.4 +49.3South 2179 4012 3448 4382 4787 +84.1 -14.1 +27.1 +9.2Total 6123 7567 7193 7395 9514 +23.6 -4.9 +2.8 +28.7

In 55 years the vessels have increased by 55.4%

Sierra Leone Artisanal Fisheries Fleet Dynamics by Region, 1974-2009.

MCS with VMS to curb IUU fishing and Enforce IEZAn important reason why so much effort/resources are spent on MCS is because ownership of resource is fundamental to wealth creation from environmental resource

Influencing Marketing to Maximise Value, Regulate Effort/Catch and Reduce Post Harvest Losses

Review of Licenses, Fines & Fees

Wealth-Based Fisheries ManagementA flexible management system that taps from other management systems e.g. right-based and incentive-based management systems - in the process of maximizing accruable resource rent while ensuring optimal capital stock formation.

Implementation of Policy Reforms for Right-Based Fisheries - MPAs as a Conduit to TURFs

Establishing MPAs (Gazetted) – Physical delineation Community ClusteringOrganising CMAs complete with legal requirementsTerritorial Negotiations

MPAsFour areas along the coast of Sierra Leone have been officially designated as an MPA. These include 1.Scarcies River Estuary2.Sierra Leone River Estuary3.Yawri Bay4.Sherbro River Estuary

Map of Coastal Sierra Leone Showing Major Fishing Grounds (after Ssentongo and Ansa-Emmim, 1986).

Formation of CMAs

Community Clustering

The coastal fishing communities in close proximity have been organized into Community Management Associations (CMAs) by clusters, each with a CMA taking demographic factors into account.

1.The Scarcies River estuary MPA has eight (8) clusters,

2. Sierra Leone River estuary MPA has six (6) clusters

3.Yawri Bay MPA has five (5) clusters

4.The Sherbro River estuary MPA has nine (9) clusters

14 clusters in the South West 14 clusters in the North West

Sensitization and Mobilization of Fishing Communities CMA formation preceded by sensitization of fishing communities on marine protected area establishment and the role of CMAs in management of the MPAs.

Stewardship responsibility for regulating access to fish resources in their own territories.

Access to fisheries by fishers from another CMA will be based on permit and other requirements defined under a constitution and/or bylaws of each of the CMAs.

Key messages focused on the sustainability of fishery resources in Sierra Leone.

Elected Executives of CMAs The election process was interactive and involved identification of representatives by each cluster of community who met together to conduct elections. The following positions were contested; •Chairman•Secretary General•Public Relations Officer (PRO)•Financial Secretary•Treasurer•Ex- Officio Members

Constitution Drafting for Registration of CMAs and final copies left with the Attorney General’s office and MFMR

The registration of CMAs at the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs.

Boundary delineation and modalities now being negotiated for TURFS whilst MPA management is evaluated

Policy Reform Impact

Summary of Risks and Opportunities

Summary of Environmental OpportunitiesSuccessful implementation of reforms should, result in very significant environmental gains with improvements in the condition of the sea bed in coastal waters, reestablishment of benthic flora and niche habitats, increased fish stock and enriched biodiversity. These interlinked activities are: •The exclusion of industrial vessels and trawling within coastal waters,•Regulation of fish catches through seasonal control of fishing and standards for vessels/gear,•Stabilisation of the fishing fleet within sustainable harvesting yields,•The adoption of management plans, formulated and agreed with full cooperation of local communities,•The introduction of MPAs and fishing rights (TURFs) through co-management agreements, and•Well planned consultation and information dissemination throughout the fisheries sector.

Summary of Environmental RisksA number of consequences from policy and governance reform have been identified where minor risk to the physical and biological environment could arise if proper design and implementation standards are not adhered to. These relate to:

•A potential risk of over-exploitation of target species in the artisanal fisheries where industrial operators are now supporting artisanal operator to target some species

•Rapid development of effort to counteract the effect of capacity capping

Summary of Social OpportunitiesImplementation of the policy and governance reform will bring about substantial change in the fisheries sector and, over time, increased revenue, reduction of post harvest losses and added value to fish products will bring major economic returns.

Summary of Social RiskAt the same time there will be some individuals who do not participate in direct gains and whose livelihoods could be adversely affected if appropriate safeguarding measures are not put in place. The level and extent of these socio-economic risks will be governed by:

• the level of commitment that is entered into by Government and its development partners to deliver incentives to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups and,

•Elite capture

• the speed with which the sector is transformed. Rapid change could cause significant displacement of less-efficient operators, especially within the artisanal sector which would have serious ramifications for dependent communities.

The main risks to local livelihoods relate to the potential for:

• loss of employment for crews of unseaworthy/obsolete vessels that are withdrawn from the fishing fleet

• the inability of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, including artisanal fishers, vendors and individual fish processors in small fishing villages to adjust to new market conditions.

Lessons Learnt

Good Governance and Institutional ReformFundamental reforms are required to fully equip the national fisheries management effort at government level

Political resolve to implement unpopular measuresStakeholder meetings have confirmed the significance of party political influence as a constraint on achieving progress in the reform of the fisheries sector..

Availability of Technical and Financial ResourcesThe process of moving from complete open access to restricted use rights will take many years to complete. Progress will be heavily influenced by the level of political will, availability of technical assistance and financial support.

Inertia to Change Traditional fishing practices are quite literally a way of life for many Sierra Leoneans and have been handed down from generation to generation. These traditions are closely interlinked with cultural practices and power and influence resides in specific families with hereditary authority

Incentives versus RegulationA top priority in developing existing strategies and plans will be to ensure that measures are in place to offer encouragement and practical assistance to fishers to convert to more sustainable practices while at the same time introducing effective enforcement.

Development of Alternative LivelihoodsThe long term success of the fisheries strategy depends upon reducing fishing effort to a level at which catches become both sustainable and profitable for those who remain in the business. This, in turn, requires that those displaced from the industry are able to find gainful employment and livelihoods in other sectors of the economy.

Thanks