679
habitats of harvest. The FAO Technical Guidelines on Fisheries Management series
defines fisheries management as the “integrated process of information gathering,
analysis, planning, consultation, decision-making, allocation of resources and formulation and implementation, with enforcement as necessary, of regulations or
rules which govern fisheries activities in order to ensure the continued productivity
of the resources and accomplishment of other fisheries objectives” (FAO 1997).
Therefore, accurate and detailed landing stats of artisanal fisheries need to inform
which species are being fished, what is captured and discarded, and in which season
the species are being captured (King 2007; Isaac et al. 2010). Where, how and what
quantities? Lengths and weights of different developmental stages? Production is
increasing or dropping? There is no way to build estuarine fishery management
without good quality and representative information (King 2007; Longhurst 2010).
The problem is even more complex when trying to access fisheries stats on a
national scale. Until 2006 these were designed and carried out by IBAMA, with a
record for each municipality, federation units and geographical regions of Brazil.
Since then it became a responsibility of the Fishery and Agriculture Ministry
(IBAMA 2007). Currently, this ministry is extinct and comprehensive annual
fisheries statistical bulletins have not been issued since 2011 (MPA 2011). Agencies
fail in providing consistent data, and due to this limitation, it is no longer possible
to estimate production by the artisanal and/or industrial fleets per location and time
in this country (MPA 2011). In addition, the production regarding estuarine fishery
and their yields cannot be assessed because there is no discriminant information
relative to the habitat where harvests actually occur (MPA 2011). The example of
Brazil in terms of fragility of institutions responsible for fisheries management is no
exception. Unfortunately, it also extends to environmental agencies, and the integration of the actions becomes an even more difficult task if coastal and marine fisheries is to be sustainable or resilient.
Although estuaries along the Western Atlantic are acknowledged to be responsible for the current fishing status of Brazilian coasts (Blaber and Barletta 2016),
until now it is not possible to predict what is really going on regarding estuarine
fisheries. To guarantee the continuation of fisheries production of estuarine
resources, Western Atlantic coastal wetlands requires accurate, complete and
detailed landing stats. Monitoring of fishing activities by proper sampling of data
and specimens must provide better description and assessment of exploited
resources.
As a first step, it is necessary to introduce a rights and duties-based fishery management model in each estuarine complex in order to guarantee the declaration of
every fisherman, their activities, fishing gear used and boat types to agencies of the
different federal entities (Berkes et al. 2001).
The second step would be to empower traditional communities through the introduction of the idea of ecological sustainability and economic efficiency of fisheries
resources, especially attempting to reduce extreme poverty (de Mitcheson 2009).
This was demonstrated to be an efficient way to enable fishers to organize themselves, establishing a bottom-up movement of co-management and informed
choices.
20 How Can Accurate Landing Stats Help in Designing Better Fisheries…
habitats of harvest. The FAO Technical Guidelines on Fisheries Management series
defines fisheries management as the “integrated process of information gathering,
analysis, planning, consultation, decision-making, allocation of resources and formulation and implementation, with enforcement as necessary, of regulations or
rules which govern fisheries activities in order to ensure the continued productivity
of the resources and accomplishment of other fisheries objectives” (FAO 1997).
Therefore, accurate and detailed landing stats of artisanal fisheries need to inform
which species are being fished, what is captured and discarded, and in which season
the species are being captured (King 2007; Isaac et al. 2010). Where, how and what
quantities? Lengths and weights of different developmental stages? Production is
increasing or dropping? There is no way to build estuarine fishery management
without good quality and representative information (King 2007; Longhurst 2010).
The problem is even more complex when trying to access fisheries stats on a
national scale. Until 2006 these were designed and carried out by IBAMA, with a
record for each municipality, federation units and geographical regions of Brazil.
Since then it became a responsibility of the Fishery and Agriculture Ministry
(IBAMA 2007). Currently, this ministry is extinct and comprehensive annual
fisheries statistical bulletins have not been issued since 2011 (MPA 2011). Agencies
fail in providing consistent data, and due to this limitation, it is no longer possible
to estimate production by the artisanal and/or industrial fleets per location and time
in this country (MPA 2011). In addition, the production regarding estuarine fishery
and their yields cannot be assessed because there is no discriminant information
relative to the habitat where harvests actually occur (MPA 2011). The example of
Brazil in terms of fragility of institutions responsible for fisheries management is no
exception. Unfortunately, it also extends to environmental agencies, and the integration of the actions becomes an even more difficult task if coastal and marine fisheries is to be sustainable or resilient.
Although estuaries along the Western Atlantic are acknowledged to be responsible for the current fishing status of Brazilian coasts (Blaber and Barletta 2016),
until now it is not possible to predict what is really going on regarding estuarine
fisheries. To guarantee the continuation of fisheries production of estuarine
resources, Western Atlantic coastal wetlands requires accurate, complete and
detailed landing stats. Monitoring of fishing activities by proper sampling of data
and specimens must provide better description and assessment of exploited
resources.
As a first step, it is necessary to introduce a rights and duties-based fishery management model in each estuarine complex in order to guarantee the declaration of
every fisherman, their activities, fishing gear used and boat types to agencies of the
different federal entities (Berkes et al. 2001).
The second step would be to empower traditional communities through the introduction of the idea of ecological sustainability and economic efficiency of fisheries
resources, especially attempting to reduce extreme poverty (de Mitcheson 2009).
This was demonstrated to be an efficient way to enable fishers to organize themselves, establishing a bottom-up movement of co-management and informed
choices.
20 How Can Accurate Landing Stats Help in Designing Better Fisheries…