Decentralizing the provision of scientific/technical support for the sustainable management of SSFs

Barefoot Ecologists & the like

Gonzalo Macho, Inés Naya, Juan Freire, Ana Parma, Jeremy Prince and J.M. (Lobo) Orensanz

Classic top-down approach for industrial fisheries management

- Assumptions:1. Unitary stock: stocks as self-sustaining unit of population, closed to immigration/recruits from other stocks. Makes no explicit allowance for spatial distribution of abundance and fishing effort

2. Dynamic pool: local effects of fishing are spread through the entire stock by virtue of the movements of individuals and mixing.

no spatial dimension

- Global stock assessment TAC

advice

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Classic top-down approach for industrial fisheries management

- Assumptions:1. Unitary stock: stocks as self-sustaining unit of population, closed to immigration/recruits from other stocks. Makes no explicit allowance for spatial distribution of abundance and fishing effort

2. Dynamic pool: local effects of fishing are spread through the entire stock by virtue of the movements of individuals and mixing.

no spatial dimension

- Global stock assessment TAC

advice

enfo

rcem

ent

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Multiplicity of micro-stocks - Not unit stock, but several micro-stocks - Structured as metapopulations- Not a dynamic pool, but heterogeneous spatial dynamics

Management

Data collection & assessment

Functional stocks <1km

regional scale~100s km

local scale~10s km

The Tyranny of Scale

Inspired in Abalone example (Prince 2003)

Multiplicity of fishing communities - Many small fishing communities- Sometimes isolated and difficult to access- Multiple landing points

RARE 2005

Gonzalo Macho

Stock assessment and big modelling are too expensive

- Scientific/technical support is ultimately needed for the sustainable management of SSFs, in order to reduce risks and uncertainties

- Key issue: assessment and advice depends on affordability

- Classic stock assessment and modelling at the relevant spatial scale are unaffordable:

there is a mismatch between the cost of the advice at the local level & the economic resources generated by SSFs

Top-down enforcement is expensive and ineffective

- Large numbers of fishers often widely dispersed in remote difficult to access places ( many landing-points)

- External enforcement officers at the relevant spatial scale are unaffordable to SSFs

- Fishers´ compliance with top-down imposed regulations is usually weak

Frameworks for the “successful” governance and management of SSFs

Berkes et al 2001

Key elements for ecological sustainability, social equity & livelihood security:

- Tenure systems for local communities- Strong participatory management and enforcement- Correct incentives- Simple management rules- Transparency of the decision making process

García et al 2008 Pomeroy & Rivera-Guieb 2005

Concerning the provision of technical support for decision making, those frameworks emphasize:

Key elements- Establishment of affordable data monitoring programs- Collection and applicability of local knowledge- Creation of improved contexts for the interaction among fishers, managers, scientists and other stakeholders

Institutional arrangements for providing scientific/technical support?

How can we addressed those key elements highlighted?

Who should…- Conduct the biological and socio-economic monitoring

- Compile/integrate scientific and local knowledge

- Present technical information on behalf of the fishers in the course of participatory management meetings

- Link fishers with managers/scientists in an interaction contexts

Prince 2003

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Solution: Barefoot Ecologists ?

Convergent solutions haveevolved independently worldwide

Diversity of figures: “barefoot ecologists”, “local extension scientists”, “extension workers”, “external change agents”, “external workers”, “scientific consultants”, “scientific assistants”, “technical assistance”, “local community organizers”. “local monitors”,..

Elements in common: - Active role at the scale of local fishing communities & SSFs- Facilitate fishers´ participation in the management process- Large scope of activities: from social to natural sciences

Barefoot Ecologists like cases(considered in a broader sense than Prince term)

- Not described in the conventional scientific literature- Grey literature: internal reports and manuals, PhD thesis, conference presentations, web pages and informal talks.

EFFORT IS NEEDED IN DESCRIBING HOW IS THE PROVISION OF TECHNICAL/SCIENTIFIC SUPPORT IN SSFs

Galicia, Spain(Tech. Assist.)

Portugal

Chile (Servicio País)Chile (Consultants)

Juan Fdez., Chile(Tech. Assist.)

Riacho, Argentina (Research assistant )

Japan(local scientists)

South Africa(community monitors)

California (sea urchin fishery)

Gulf California, Mexico(RARE Fisheries fellows)

Barefoot Ecologists case studies

CS1: Galicia (Spain) - Government program (FA):Technical Assistants in Marine Resources Management

- Big program government supported (Consellería do Mar): 48 BEs inserted in 51 cofradías (fishers´ associations with exclusive fishing rights for sedentary resources through TURFs)

- Hired by cofradías with governmental funds in a long term full time position

- Not designed as a BE´s program but naturally evolved into it: from assistants in seeding-mariculture initiatives to Technical Assistants in Shellfish Management of all sedentary resources (key role)

- BEs are Biology/Marine Science graduates or Aquaculture Technicians, but also working on the social sciences field (without training)

- Weak support/advice & training from managers/scientists, but increasingMore information: Inés Naya talk (this conference) and extended abstract

CS2: Gulf of California (Mexico) – NGOs (RARE + COBI + NIPARAJA + other local NGOs)

Fisheries Fellows Program

- Medium size program: 5 BEs inserted in 10 fishing communities/cooperatives (fish and shellfish), but growing

- De facto open-access

- Hired by RARE in a short term full time position (hired afterwards by local NGOs –3BEs–, government –1BE– and fishers´ cooperative –1BE)

- Program carefully designed to cover the necessities of the fishing communities and strongly monitored/evaluated with “process” and “success” indicators

- BEs are university graduated and are trained in ecology/fisheries, social sciences and laws/marketing

- Strong support/advice from managers/scientists/local NGOs (tools supplied and ongoing mentoring/monitoring)

More information: Jorge Torre (COBI), Amy Hudson Weaver (Niparaja) are at this conference

CS3: El Riacho (Argentina) – Academia (CENPAT):

Research assistant

- Individual case: one BE inserted in 1 fishing community (shellfish intertidal gatherers of El Riacho, Golfo de San José, Patagonia Argentina)

- from open-access to TURF

- BE coordinated by academics: action research project in collaboration with the fishing community in a short term bases (duration of her project)

- Designed to establish exclusive fishing rights for the community and give advice in the management (assessment, monitoring,…), but also ended up empowering fishing community

- BE is a biologists supervised by academics

- Unfortunately no continuation due to the end of the project

More information: Constanza Santa Ana, Lobo Orensanz, Inés Elias and Ana Parma

CS4: Juan Fernández I. (Chile) – Intra sector fishing community (STIPA) supported by academics (UC):

Local Technical Assistant/Production advisor

- Particular case: two BEs from the fishing community

- Traditional tenure system (lobster trap and bait fish fishery)

- Hired by the syndicate, working on-site

- BEs are local leaders from the community with expertise in fisheries (fisheries engineer) … backed trough regular interaction with academia

- Developed a strong log-book program which lead to have reliable fishery indicators

More information: Pablo Manríquez, Julio Chamorro, Billy Ernst and Lobo Orensanz

Institutional insertion

- Government programs: fisheries administration funds and administers the program (usually top-down developed)

- NGOs – Foundations (top-down or bottom-up developed)

- Academia: usually pilot programs coordinated by academics and conducted as action research involving a BE who works in collaboration with a fishing community (top-down or bottom-up developed)

- Intra-sector – fishers´ communities (bottom-up initiatives)

- Consultants (top-down developed)

Operational mode

- Inserted vs not inserted in the fishers´ community

- Full time vs part time job

- Time horizon of the role: circumstantial, temporary, duration of a project, permanent

- Support/Advice from regional learning communities (managers/scientists/other stake holders): weak, medium, strong

BEs Roles and Responsibilities (flexibility depending on the type of the fishery)

• Social support and monitoring- Organize meetings (facilitator)- Stimulate fishers´ participation and catalyze processes - Show information to fishers- Collect fishers´ opinion- Social indicators´ monitoring (livelihoods, …)

• Fishery Monitoring- Collect fishery information (catch, size composition, effort, fishing force, fishing beds,…)- Collect local knowledge - Sampling survey (abundance, size structure,…)- Database management - Resource assessment (direct and indirect)- Economic indicators (sales prices, coasts,…)

BEs Roles and Responsibilities (cont.)

• Assistance in co-management- Build social capital promoting learning communities which involve fishers, managers, scientists and other stakeholders- Support in decision making and formulation of management plans - Help to organize control (but not do it!!!!)

• Assistance with certifications/marketing - Water quality, sanitary, designations of origin and sustainability- Marketing strategies for improving sales prices

• Promotion of special projects (seek external support, partners, funding…)- Social empowering (capacity building,..)- Socioeconomic studies- Stock assessment and state of the fishery analysis- Stock enhancing techniques- Marketing strategies and fish products (processing) - Environmental issues (fishery residues, pollution, energy saving,…)

Skills and training desirable for Barefoot Ecologist• Social sciences- Familiarity with fishers´ culture and traditions- Conflict resolution- Stakeholder analysis- Participatory processes and decision analysis• Fisheries- Sampling design- Participatory research (methods for data collecting)- Tools for capturing local knowledge- Data organizing (data bases) - Stock assessment and simulation tools- Management strategies- Conservation and population dynamics• Legal framework of the fishery• Marketing strategies

How we envisage the Barefoot Ecologists

- Ethno-Socio-Quantitative ALL TERRAIN

- Equipped with appropriate TOOLBOXES: fisheries monitoring, assessment and social techniques

- Trained with social/natural sciences skills

- Inserted within the fishers´ communities (or organization) and working every day in collaboration with fisher/managers

- Not only catalyzing change as external agents, but more concerned with supporting ongoing processes (monitoring socio-economic and biological indicators, new challenges & problems, building social capital…)

- Networked with fishers and scientific/management community in learning communities

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How we envisage the Barefoot Ecologists

Can be achieved at a much lower

cost than classical approaches

with professional scientists/ managers

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Do you know about any “Barefoot Ecologists like” case? please, talk to us

Thanks to everybody who contributed to this work, specially the Galician Barefoot Ecologists