The Fisheries Resources of Clipperton Island (France)
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ISSN 1198-6727 Fisheries Centre Research Reports 2009 Volume 17 Number 5 FISHERIES CATCH RECONSTRUCTIONS: ISLANDS, PART I Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Canada FISHERIES CATCH RECONSTRUCTIONS: ISLANDS, PART I Edited by Dirk Zeller and Sarah Harper Fisheries Centre Research Reports 17(5) 104 pages © published 2009 by The Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia 2202 Main Mall Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6T 1Z4 ISSN 1198-6727 Fisheries Centre Research Reports 17(5) 2009 FISHERIES CATCH RECONSTRUCTIONS: ISLANDS, PART I Edited by Dirk Zeller and Sarah Harper CONTENTS Director’s foreword ............................................................................................................... 1 Cayman Island fisheries catches: 1950-2007 ......................................................................... 3 Reconstruction of marine fisheries catches for Guadeloupe from 1950-2007 ..................... 13 Reconstruction of marine fisheries catches for Martinique, 1950-2007 ............................. 21 The fisheries of St Helena and its dependencies .................................................................. 27 The fisheries resources of the Clipperton Island EEZ (France) ........................................... 35 Timor-Leste’s fisheries catches (1950-2009): Fisheries under different regimes ............... 39 Reconstruction of total marine fisheries catches for French Polynesia (1950-2007) .......... 53 Reconstruction of total marine fisheries catches for New Caledonia (1950-2007) .............. 67 Historical perspective of Sabah’s marine fisheries ............................................................. 77 Reconstruction of marine fisheries catches for Wallis and Futuna Islands (1950-2007) .... 99 A Research Report from the Fisheries Centre at UBC Fisheries Centre Research Reports 17(5) 104 pages © Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, 2009 FISHERIES CENTRE RESEARCH REPORTS ARE ABSTRACTED IN THE FAO AQUATIC SCIENCES AND FISHERIES ABSTRACTS (ASFA) ISSN 1198-6727 Fisheries catch reconstructions: Islands, Part I, Zeller and Harper 1 DIRECTOR‘S FOREWORD Island countries around the world rely heavily on marine fisheries resources for nutrition (fish are often the primary source of protein for their citizens), revenues and jobs. Indeed, the food security of many coastal communities around the world, particularly in developing countries, depends on the ability to obtain food fish from the sea. Moreover, most fishing by inhabitants of the islands of the Atlantic and Pacific is small-scale, with fish being caught mainly for subsistence or local artisanal purposes. Currently, national fisheries statistics, and the numbers submitted by member countries to the FAO, do not consistently account for the catches of thousands of small-scale fishers. The result of this poor accounting is that official catch records largely underestimate the likely true catch of a country, and hence underestimate the economic and social reliance on marine resources by these countries. By default therefore, small-scale fisheries end up accounting for a substantial component of the Unreported catches as part of global Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. With improved infrastructure and technology seen over the past half century, our ability to extract greater quantities of fish from the Ocean has increased dramatically. For small island countries, the problem is compounded by foreign fleets operating in their waters, which puts further strain on the resources available for local consumption. Most developing countries lack the resources to properly monitor their fisheries, yet they are some of the most vulnerable to the effects of overfishing and collapsed fisheries. A more complete estimate of total fisheries extractions is fundamental to more effectively managing fisheries resources in order to mediate potential threats to food security. This report presents a comprehensive estimate of total marine fisheries extractions in the waters of several island countries in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The reconstruction method used here was developed by researchers at the Sea Around Us Project and has been used to estimate total fisheries catches for a wide variety of large and small countries. The aim of these catch reconstructions is to account for catches of marine fish stocks from the 1950s to the present, thus providing a time series baseline from which future changes in fisheries resources can be assessed. While this catch reconstruction effort is still affected by uncertainties, it provides an improvement over the official statistics currently available for fisheries management and policy development. Ussif Rashid Sumaila, Director UBC Fisheries Centre December 2009 2 Fisheries catch reconstructions: Islands, Part I, Zeller and Harper Fisheries catch reconstructions: Islands, Part I, Zeller and Harper 3 CAYMAN ISLAND FISHERIES CATCHES: 1950-20071 Sarah Harpera, John Bothwellb, Sarah Balea, Shawn Bootha and Dirk Zellera aSea Around Us Project, Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, B.C., V6T 1Z4, Canada bDepartment of Environment, PO Box 486, KY1-1106, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] ABSTRACT Total marine fisheries catches were estimated for the Cayman Islands from 1950-2007. Reports of fisheries catches by the Cayman Islands over this time period were very limited. Fisheries data obtained from the FAO were the only available data for most years and represent only catches taken by Cayman fishers in foreign waters. Supplemental information was obtained for fisheries both inside and outside of Cayman waters, including artisanal, subsistence, recreational and shark catches taken between 1950 and 2007. Our reconstruction of total marine fisheries catches by the Cayman Islands in the Western Central Atlantic (FAO Area 31), which included all fisheries sector estimates, was 3 times larger than that presented by the FAO on behalf of the Cayman Islands. Landings of tuna and decapod species reported to the FAO as being caught by Cayman vessels in the Eastern Central Atlantic (area 34) were also presented but were not included in our reconstruction. These catches are thought to have been taken by ‗flag-of- convenience‘ vessels of non-Caymanian origin. Our investigation of Caymanian fisheries illustrated the need for better reporting of fisheries catches by all fisheries sub-sectors and better taxonomic accounting. INTRODUCTION The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean Sea, are comprised of three islands: Grand Cayman (19.20ºN, 81.15ºW), Cayman Brac N 21° (19.43ºN, 79.49ºW), and Little Cayman (19.49ºN, 80.02ºW). Grand Cayman is the largest and most Cayman Is populated of the three, where the capital city, George Town, is located (Figure 1). The Cayman Honduras Islands are located in FAO Statistical area 31, the Western Central Atlantic. The islands were officially settled in the early 1700s, but were first discovered by Columbus on his trip between Porto ± Bello and Hispaniola in 1503. The islands soon 0 250 500 Colombia Km became known as frequent feeding and breeding N 20° grounds for green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and Cayman Brac hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata). Little Cayman Shipwrecked sailors, military deserters, and iterant fishers whose occupations centred on selling captured turtles to passing ships comprised the Grand Cayman majority of the early Cayman population (Smith, 1985). ! GeorgeTown 0 25 50 Km ± In the 1937 British Colonial Report for the Cayman Islands, fishing is reported to be the mainstay of 81° W 80° W Figure 1. Map of the Cayman Islands showing the islanders (Anon., 1937). In a 1943 census, 63 Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. fishers were reported to be employed in the fishing Inset map showing EEZ of Cayman Islands, industry, which is the only year the number of Honduras and Colombia. 1 Cite as: Harper, S., Bothwell, J., Bale, S., Booth, S., and Zeller, D. (2009) Cayman Island fisheries catches: 1950-2007., pp.3-11. In: Zeller, D. and Harper, S. (eds.) Fisheries catch reconstructions: Islands, Part I. Fisheries Centre Research Reports 17 (5). Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia [ISSN 1198-6727] 4 Fisheries catch reconstructions: Islands, Part I, Zeller and Harper fishers was officially surveyed or reported. The bulk of the catch consisted of turtles (~3,000 green turtles∙year-1 and ~2,950 kg∙year-1 of hawksbill turtle shells), sharks (> 6,000 hides·year-1), and sponges (Anon., 1952). Initially, turtles were caught locally, but by the early 1800s, local catches were so low that fishers moved to waters off the shores of Costa Rica, and in the 1850s to those of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Honduras (Thompson, 1944). It was in the shallow, sandy-bottomed waters of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Honduras that shark fishing developed as a side-line of turtle fishing. Fishers discovered nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) and tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier), which were harpooned after being baited with lines, and trapped in turtle nets. At this time, the leather industry was keen to use shark skins for their durable and scuff- resistant qualities, but the trade peaked as early as 1937 when more than 11,000 hides were exported (Anon., 2006b; Thompson, 1944). A general lack of knowledge prevented other marketable items such as fins, liver oil or flesh from becoming exportable