Mahi-Mahi Longline Fishery in the Pacific Coast of Guatemala
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PERFORMANCE STUDY AGAINST THE MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL STANDARD FOR SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES MAHI-MAHI LONGLINE FISHERY IN THE PACIFIC COAST OF GUATEMALA PREPARED BY October, 2013 Index 1. Introduction ................................................................................ 3 2. Summary of results .................................................................... 4 3. MSC standard Performance Indicators applied to the longline mahi- mahi fishery in the Pacific coast of Guatemala .................................... 7 3.1 Principle 1: Sustainable Fish Stocks ........................................... 8 3.2 Principle 2: Maintenance of the ecosystem integrity ..................21 3.3 Principle 3: Effective Management ............................................52 4. Improvement Plan for the longline mahi-mahi fishery in the Pacific coast of Guatemala ............................................................................72 Annex CeDePesca presentation about FIP progress of this fishery in Guatemala at the Boston Seafood Show in March 2013. 2 1. Introduction This document aims at presenting the results of a performance study against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard for sustainable fishing applied to the mahi-mahi longline fishery in the Pacific Coast of Guatemala in order to propose, as a Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP), the tasks or actions that could potentially allow the fishery to conform to the standard. The MSC standard involves three principles. Principle 1 is related with ensuring fish stocks sustainability; Principle 2, with minimizing the ecosystem impacts due to the effects of fishing operations; and Principle 3, with subjecting the fishery to an effective and adaptive management system that will ensure its sustainability. To assess if a fishery complies with the standard, the MSC has developed 31 performance indicators, 7 of which are related to Principle 1 and distributed in two components (Outcome, and Harvest Strategy); 15 are related to Principle 2 and distributed in five components (Retained species, Bycatch species, Endangered, Threatened or Protected species -ETP species-, Habitats, and Ecosystem); and 9 are related to Principle 3 and distributed in two components (Governance and Fishing Policy, and Fishery Specific Management System). Each Performance Indicator is allocated a certain score according to the fulfillment of specific scoring guideposts. For a fishery to be certifiable, two conditions should be met: the 31 Performance Indicators should receive scores of 60 points or more, and the average of the scores assigned to the Performance Indicators associated to each Principle must be 80 or more. A fishery confronted with the possibility of failing a full assessment could implement improvements in view of achieving acceptable scores for the individual indicators and on the whole. If the decision is made to improve the fishery and reach a certification status, it is advisable to establish an improvement plan as part of a Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP). The final goal of a FIP is to achieve a more sustainable fishery within a timeframe, thus increasing the possibility of the fishery approving a formal full assessment process against the MSC standard. This document is divided into two parts. Part I is a summary of the rationale that supports the outcomes for each Performance Indicator and its order of priority, offering useful advice to solve those problems identified. Part II, presents a proposal for an Improvement Plan with activities or specific steps to be followed to face those problems identified in Part I that would come in handy to achieve an acceptable score in a full assessment process of the fishery. 3 2. Summary of results This performance study carried out for the purpose of achieving MSC certification status for the mahi-mahi longline fishery in the Pacific coast of Guatemala, showed that 18 performance indicators –or of paramount importance for the sustainability of the fishery- could obtain scores below 60 points. This situation reveals that the fishery is not currently in a position to obtain a certification against the MSC sustainability standard. Moreover, 8 indicators could obtain scores between 60 and 79 points with a medium priority, and 5 could obtain scores equal or above 80 points. Table # 1 summarizes the state of each Performance Indicator (PI) status. Table 1. Information Summary for PIs probable scores and their suggested priority according to Principle 1: Sustainable fishing stocks. MSC Performance Indicator Standard applied to mahi-mahi longline fishery in the Pacific coast of Guatemala ID Probable Component Performance Indicator Priority Relations No. score Principle 1: TARGET STOCK SUSTAINABILITY 1.1.1 Outcome indicator High < 60 1.1.2; 1.2.1; (Stock status) 1.2.4 1.1.2 Reference points High < 60 1.1.1; 1.2.1; Outcome 1.2.4 1.1.3 Stock rebuilding Low No 1.1.1; 1.1.2; evidence 1.2.1; 1.2.4 1.2.1 Management strategy High < 60 1.1.1; 1.1.2; 1.2.2; 1.2.4 1.2.2 Control rules and tools High < 60 1.1.1; 1.1.2; for harvest levels 1.2.1; 1.2.3; Harvest 1.2.4; 3.1.1; Strategy 3.2.3 Management 1.2.3 Information/Monitoring High < 60 1.1.2; 1.2.1; 1.2.2; 1.2.4 1.2.4 Assessment of stock High < 60 1.1.1; 1.1.2; status 1.2.2; 1.2.3 4 Table 2. Information summary for PIs probable scores and their suggested priority according to Principle 2: Maintenance of the system integrity. Principle 2: MAINTENANCE OF THE ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY 2.1.1 Outcome indicator High < 60 2.1.2; 2.1.3 Retained 2.1.2 Management strategy High < 60 2.1.1; 2.1.3 species 2.1.3 Information/Monitoring High < 60 2.1.2; 3.1.1 Non- 2.2.1 Outcome indicator Medium 60 – 79 2.2.2; 2.2.3 retained 2.2.2 Management strategy High < 60 2.2.1; 2.2.3 bycatch 2.2.3 Information/Monitoring High < 60 2.2.2; 3.1.1 2.3.1 Outcome indicator High 60 – 79 2.3.2; 2.3.3 ETP Species 2.3.2 Management strategy Medium 60 – 79 2.3.1; 2.3.3 2.3.3 Information/Monitoring High 60 2.3.2; 3.1.1 2.4.1 Outcome indicator Low > 80 2.4.2; 2.4.3; 3.2.5 2.4.2 Management strategy Low > 80 2.4.1; 2.4.3; Habitat 3.1.1; 3.2.3 2.4.3 Information/Monitoring Medium 60 – 79 2.4.1; 2.4.2; 2.5.1; 3.1.1 2.5.1 Outcome indicator Low > 80 2.5.2; 2.5.3; 3.2.5 2.5.2 Management strategy Medium 60 – 79 2.5.1; 2.5.3; Ecosystem 3.1.1; 3.2.3 2.5.3 Information/Monitoring Medium 60 – 79 2.5.1; 2.5.2; 3.1.1 Table 3. Information summary for PIs probable scores and their suggested priority according to Principle 3: Effective Management. Principle 3: EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT 3.1.1 Legal and/or customary Medium 60 – 79 1.2.2; 2.1.3; framework 2.2.3; 2.3.3; 2.4.2; 2.4.3; Governance 3.1.2 Consultation, roles and High < 60 2.5.2; 2.5.3 & Policy responsibilities 3.2.2 3.1.3 Long term objectives Low 80 2.4.2; 3.2.4 3.1.4 Incentives for sustainable fishing High < 60 3.2.5 3.2.1 Fishery specific objectives High < 60 3.1.3; 3.2.4; 3.2.5 3.2.2 Decision-making processes High < 60 3.1.2 Fishery 3.2.3 Compliance and enforcement Medium 60 – 79 1.2.2; 3.1.1; Specific 3.1.2; 3.2.1 management 3.2.4 Research plan High < 60 3.1.3; 3.2.1 System 3.2.5 Management and Monitoring High < 60 1.1.1; 2.1.1; Performance evaluation 2.2.1; 2.3.1; 2.4.1; 2.5.1; 3.1.4; 3.2.1 5 Part I 6 3. MSC standard Performance Indicators applied to the longline mahi-mahi fishery in the Pacific coast of Guatemala This section offers more details about each Performance Indicator (PI), showing the scoring guideposts (SG) used to allocate scores of 60, 80 and 100 points. A summarized description of the current status of this fishery is provided for each PI and a level of priority is assigned to each of them as follows: High Priority: If the fishery is likely to fail a full assessment due to its score or if the situation is of utmost importance for the fishery sustainability. Medium Priority: If the fishery could pass full assessment by the acceptance of certain conditions. Low Priority: If it is considered that the PI would obtain a score that would pass full assessment without conditions. In addition, this part presents a brief description of the type of information and/or research that could help the fishery to receive acceptable scores, through the implementation of a FIP. 7 3.1 Principle 1: Sustainable Fish Stocks SUSTAINABLE FISH STOCKS The fishing activity must be at a level which is sustainable for the fish population. Any certified fishery must operate so that fishing can continue indefinitely and is not overexploiting the resources. 1.1 Stock status SG60 SG80 SG100 1.1.1 Outcome It is likely It is highly likely There is a high indicator: (P ≥ 0.7) that the (P≥0.8) that the degree of certainty stock is above the stock is above the (P≥0.95) that the The stock is at a point where point where stock is above the level which recruitment would recruitment would point where maintains high be impaired. be impaired. recruitment would be productivity and impaired. has a low probability of recruitment The stock is at or There is a high overfishing.