Coastal Fisheries Initiative - Challenge Fund
Global Knowledge Competition

Cabo Verde

Ecuador

Indonesia

Peru

Winner: PescaLocal (Local Catch) 

Coalition Members

• Increase consumer awareness and demand and create a new sales platform for less popular and less overfished species, to reduce pressure on overfished popular species.  

• Business model involving a network of restaurants and hotels to buy a local seafood basket with premiums that create potential to improve the livelihoods of local fishing communities. 

• Strong representative coalition involving fisher organizations, hotels and restaurants, local and national government, and local and regional environmental non-government organizations. 

• There is limited data on the status of coastal fisheries in Cabo Verde, and some less popular species to be included in the seafood basket could be at risk of being overfished, so increased data collection and stock assessments will be needed for sustainable management. 

• Coordination of all fishers and enforcement of regulations is needed to recover depleted stocks of popular species and ensure the sustainable management of underutilized species to be sold in the seafood basket. 

• Regular supply of quality fish to the local hotels and restaurants will be critical to ensure the financial viability of the solution.  

Runner-Up: Sustainable Fishing Promotion in São Vicente and Santiago Islands 

Coalition Members 

Solution Summary 

Outstanding Characteristics 

• Strong emphasis on improving the income of women and artisanal fishermen by increasing the value of fish products and increasing awareness and engagement of coastal communities in fisheries. management to reduce pressure on overfished stocks. 

• Stock recovery plan for the overexploited mackerel and grouper fisheries through the implementation of closed seasons and minimum catch sizes for these species.  

• Coalition has strong experience and knowledge about the socioeconomic conditions and challenges for fishermen and women in the target coastal communities.  

• There is limited public data on the health of the mackerel and grouper fisheries, though the coalition highlighted that both fisheries are under pressure due to overfishing, the catch of juveniles, and fishing during breeding season. 

• Existing management measures, including closed seasons and minimum catch sizes, need to be effectively implemented and enforced to support the recovery of the overexploited fish stocks. 

• Limited access to finance and credit in the target communities could limit the ability to invest in equipment and materials needed to reduce post-harvest loss and increase value of fish products.   

• Alternative livelihood options are not yet identified. 

Winner: Small Pelagic Sustainability Coalition 

Solution Summary 

• Addresses the sustainable management of the small pelagic fishery, which supports more than 24,000 jobs and exports of $235 million annually. 

• Public registry of boats and factories increases transparency in the supply chain and discourages irregular or illegal fishing practices. 

• Progressive improvement approach makes it easier for vessels to apply the responsible fishing practices incrementally, recognizing the cultural, economic, and other challenges to adopt new practices.  

• Industry initiative, representing most of the small pelagic fishing and fishmeal industries, increases cooperation in the value chain and offers the potential to sustainably manage the fishery at scale.  

• Independent fishing vessel owners are not included in the initiative, and the coalition needs to implement outreach to ensure they are not marginalized and limit the impact of the common sourcing policy. 

• Coalition needs to implement effective enforcement and monitoring of participating vessels and companies to ensure adoption of progress improvements and compliance with the common sourcing policy.   

Runner-Up: Monitoreo Participativo (Octopus Monitoring Coalition) 

Outstanding Characteristics 

• Solution includes approaches to improve the management and health of artisanal octopus fisheries in two marine reserves through the implementation of a closed season, introduction of more selective gear use and establishment of minimum catch sizes. 

• Piloting better packaging technologies and looking to identify improved transportation to increase the shelf life and value of fresh octopus to enable direct sales to cities.  

• Establishing agreements with restaurants to purchase octopus at a premium, promoting responsible seafood products to consumers and increasing fisher incomes through direct sales of high-value products. 

Potential Challenges and Risks 

• Absence of formal regulations to manage the fishery means the adoption and enforcement of measures will only be on a voluntary basis by the community. 

• Alternative income and/or safety net programs for fishers will be required to ensure buy-in from the fishers and communities to implement closed seasons and other management measures.  

• Proper and cost-effective cold storage transportation will be needed to maintain the quality and sell to larger cities at premium prices.  

• Additional market research should be conducted to understand consumers’ willingness to pay more for responsibly sourced octopus. 

Winner: Fishery Area Access Network 

Solution Summary

• Addresses the tragedy of the commons by establishing Fishery Area Access Management Networks in close partnership between fishing communities and local governments, with development of marine spatial and management plans, allocation of access rights, establishment of no-take zones, and implementation of community enforcement mechanisms.  

• Provincial government legally supports the establishment and operation of Fishery Area Access Management areas as regulated in Governor's Regulation Southeast Sulawesi No.36 2019. 

• Includes a savings and loans group to support community members to save, provides emergency funds and allocate social funds, which will reduce vulnerability and guard against shocks. 

• Engaging buyers willing to purchase higher value fish products from communities involved in the coalition will require ensuring consistency in product quality and volume and addressing barriers to transportation from remote sites to larger cities with sufficient consumer demand.  

• Establishing fishery area access management networks requires significant resources. The coalition is working to solidify public and private mechanisms to sustain and scale the solution.  

Runner-Up: Raja Ampat Sustainable Anchovy Coalition 

• Coalition includes the main stakeholders in the anchovy fishery in South Misool to establish an effective co-management structure with the potential to implement an effective management plan, with key environmental and socio-economic strategies identified. 

• Developing an anchovy cooperative to coordinate the marketing of bait fish and dried anchovy from local fishers. Engaging local financial institutions has the potential to increase local fishers’ income and maintain regular bait fish supply to the commercial pole and line industry. This incentivizes compliance by local fishers and commercial fishing vessels with sustainable fishing practices. 

• Additional monitoring, control and enforcement activities led by government and communities should be considered by the coalition to ensure that the management measures to restrict or limit the access of the commercial fishing vessels from the fishery are effective.  

• Resistance by the commercial pole and line tuna industry to the solution will be major challenge as management measures will adversely impact bait fish supply in the short-term and may lead to the exclusion of commercial vessels from the fishery. More commercial pole and line industry actors should be engaged in the coalition.   

Winner: Direct Sales from Artisanal Fishers to Consumers in Lima 

Coalition Members 

• Innovative marketing approach to enable direct sales from artisanal fishers to consumers securing higher prices and improving fisher incomes, while addressing inefficient and non-transparent supply chains that dominate the seafood sector in Peru.  

• Coalition includes key stakeholders from artisanal fisheries supply chains and it has already engaged with 2,500 customers and 15 restaurants in Lima.   

• Use of traceability technology and a publicly accessible website for the coalition to report progress could increase the availability of data on artisanal fisheries to inform sustainable resource management. 

• Many artisanal fishers in Peru fish without official registration and fishing permits, thus are fishing illegally. The coalition must work with all fishers it engages to register and obtain permits to ensure seafood products sold as responsible do not come from illegal fishing.  

• Non-involvement from the government in the coalition may limit the ability to address illegal fishing and support artisanal fishers to obtain official registration and fishing permits. 

• Removing intermediaries from supply chains, as proposed in the solution, may be resisted by existing fish traders and the communities. The coalition needs to implement strategies including how to replace and/or redirect these existing intermediaries to other roles. 

Runner-Up: Protegiendo la Anchoveta (Anchoveta Protection Initiative) 

• Peruvian anchoveta is one of the most important fisheries worldwide, and if the selective fishing gear and management measures are implemented at scale there could be significant stock recovery and benefits for local food security. 

• Coalition includes key stakeholders in the artisanal anchoveta fishery in Peru, including the shipowner’s association that represents 360 artisanal fishing vessels with several of the highest volume vessels already interested in piloting the selective fishing gear.  

• Several canneries have expressed interest to source anchoveta from artisanal fishers at a premium if the quality and volume can be increased through the initiative. 

• Fishmeal plants and the industrial anchoveta fishing industry are influential actors in Peru. Although the law requires anchoveta caught by artisanal vessels to be sold for human consumption the industry groups may resist enforcement of the measures as it will divert juvenile fish away from fishmeal plants. 

• High market demand for juvenile anchoveta by the fishmeal industry may incentivize continued or increased illegal fishing, and without effective surveillance and enforcement introducing selective gear may have limited impact in addressing overfishing.  

• Convincing fishers to participate in the initiative will require marketing and outreach to increase understanding on the benefit of adopting selective fishing gear and guaranteeing sufficient price premium for larger anchoveta sold to canneries to offset the cost of reduced catch from selective fishing.