681
Wherever monitoring, control and surveillance of fishery is absent, incentives
such as high price, low cost and easy access will disturb fish stocks. This is the case
of the illegal fishery of the endemic South African mollusk abalone (Haliotis midae)
in the Eastern Cape of South Africa (Raemaekers and Britz 2009). Since 1997, the
illicit abalone trade and uncontrolled fishing effort has decreased the average size
and densities. By 2005, a fleet of 30 boats was responsible for the existed, harvesting of 1000–2000 tons of abalone per year, with export value of 35–70 million US$
(Raemaekers and Britz 2009). A ‘Management Plan for the Eastern Cape Abalone
Resource’ was proposed in 2002, but never implemented (Raemaekers and Britz
2009). The absence of fishing rights created the conditions for the illegal operations,
a serious deficiencies in abalone fishery management.
The co-management appears to be able to promote fisheries conservation in
Brazil also, by integrating the human element into fisheries management (Berkes
et al. 2001). Participatory management experiments are taking place across the
country, however with little representatives in estuarine regions. In the flooded forests of the continental Amazon, for example, the participation of fishers in the evaluation of arapaima (Arapaima gigas) stocks, the determination of fishing quotas, and
the surveillance of management rules helped to reverse the status of over- exploitation
of the species (Viana et al. 2007). With the implementation of co-management systems in the Sustainable Development Reserve of Mammirauá, fishing of arapaima
increased from 5.5 to 132.9 tons between 2002 and 2010, even with a significant
increase from 50 to 551 fishers (Amaral et al. 2011).
Co-management is, so far, the best option available for living resources conservation and sustainability in Western Atlantic wetlands (Lackey 2005; González
et al. 2006; Frangoudes et al. 2008; Schafer and Reis 2008). Together with capacity
building within and beyond traditional communities, good quality and long-term
data are the basis for this model. To properly build accurate landing stats, it is necessary to invest time and resources in training fishers and their families in describing
their catches and environmental settings where/when capture took place. Also, perseverance in producing daily reports is vital. These reports need including correct
identification of taxa, total weight of captures, lengths and weights for individual
specimens in a representative sample, including bycatches; location of habitat
where fishing took place (mangrove creeks, main channel, mangrove forest, estuarine beaches, coasts); effort in terms of time and number of fishers and; details of
gears and boats used. However, artisanal fishery is far more difficult to predict when
compared to industrial fishery. In the last case, the fishery company needs licensing
and are obligated to provide data to manage the landed product (King 2007). This is
the reason why control and surveillance in the artisanal fishery are of extreme
importance. Legal terms and conditions for the exploitation of resources in traditional communities is an urgent approach to avoid illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries (Pitcher et al. 2002) that impair conservation and compromises food
safety.
The gathering of landing data generates information on capture rates (fishing
mortality) and changes in the biomass of a stock and bycatch over time (King 2007).
To understand patterns and propose feedback actions it is necessary the compliance
20 How Can Accurate Landing Stats Help in Designing Better Fisheries…
Wherever monitoring, control and surveillance of fishery is absent, incentives
such as high price, low cost and easy access will disturb fish stocks. This is the case
of the illegal fishery of the endemic South African mollusk abalone (Haliotis midae)
in the Eastern Cape of South Africa (Raemaekers and Britz 2009). Since 1997, the
illicit abalone trade and uncontrolled fishing effort has decreased the average size
and densities. By 2005, a fleet of 30 boats was responsible for the existed, harvesting of 1000–2000 tons of abalone per year, with export value of 35–70 million US$
(Raemaekers and Britz 2009). A ‘Management Plan for the Eastern Cape Abalone
Resource’ was proposed in 2002, but never implemented (Raemaekers and Britz
2009). The absence of fishing rights created the conditions for the illegal operations,
a serious deficiencies in abalone fishery management.
The co-management appears to be able to promote fisheries conservation in
Brazil also, by integrating the human element into fisheries management (Berkes
et al. 2001). Participatory management experiments are taking place across the
country, however with little representatives in estuarine regions. In the flooded forests of the continental Amazon, for example, the participation of fishers in the evaluation of arapaima (Arapaima gigas) stocks, the determination of fishing quotas, and
the surveillance of management rules helped to reverse the status of over- exploitation
of the species (Viana et al. 2007). With the implementation of co-management systems in the Sustainable Development Reserve of Mammirauá, fishing of arapaima
increased from 5.5 to 132.9 tons between 2002 and 2010, even with a significant
increase from 50 to 551 fishers (Amaral et al. 2011).
Co-management is, so far, the best option available for living resources conservation and sustainability in Western Atlantic wetlands (Lackey 2005; González
et al. 2006; Frangoudes et al. 2008; Schafer and Reis 2008). Together with capacity
building within and beyond traditional communities, good quality and long-term
data are the basis for this model. To properly build accurate landing stats, it is necessary to invest time and resources in training fishers and their families in describing
their catches and environmental settings where/when capture took place. Also, perseverance in producing daily reports is vital. These reports need including correct
identification of taxa, total weight of captures, lengths and weights for individual
specimens in a representative sample, including bycatches; location of habitat
where fishing took place (mangrove creeks, main channel, mangrove forest, estuarine beaches, coasts); effort in terms of time and number of fishers and; details of
gears and boats used. However, artisanal fishery is far more difficult to predict when
compared to industrial fishery. In the last case, the fishery company needs licensing
and are obligated to provide data to manage the landed product (King 2007). This is
the reason why control and surveillance in the artisanal fishery are of extreme
importance. Legal terms and conditions for the exploitation of resources in traditional communities is an urgent approach to avoid illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries (Pitcher et al. 2002) that impair conservation and compromises food
safety.
The gathering of landing data generates information on capture rates (fishing
mortality) and changes in the biomass of a stock and bycatch over time (King 2007).
To understand patterns and propose feedback actions it is necessary the compliance
20 How Can Accurate Landing Stats Help in Designing Better Fisheries…