TINOWARDSNOVATIVE SUSTAINABLEAPPROACHES FISHERIESTO FISHERIES MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT International examples of innovation A report prepared by List of Acronyms AMERB Areas for the management and exploitation of benthic resources (Chile) BRD By-catch Reduction Device CCAMLR Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources CCP Co-management Committees (Comités de Co-gestão de Pesca) (Mozambique) CCRF Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries CCS Conservation Credit Scheme CPUE Catch Per Unit Effort DF Directorate of Fisheries (Norway) DFO Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Canada) EAF Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries EBFM Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone EFF European Fisheries Fund EU European Union FAO UN Food and Agriculture Organization GDP Gross Domestic Product HCR Harvest Control Rule IATTC Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission ICES International Council for the Exploration of the Sea IDPPE Institute for the Development of Small-Scale Fisheries (Mozambique) IFQ Individual Fishing Quota IMO International Maritime Organisation ITQ Individual Transferable Quota IPOA International Plan of Action IVQ Individual Vessel Quota IUU Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated ISSF International Seafood Sustainability Foundation MCS Monitoring, Control and Surveillance MSC Marine Stewardship Council MSY Maximum Sustainable Yield NGO Non-governmental organisation NPF Northern Prawn Fishery (Australia) QECTF Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery RBM Rights-based management RFMO Regional Fisheries Management Organisation RTC Real Time Closure SGC SmartGear Competition (WWF) TAC Total Allowable Catch UNCLOS United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNESCAP United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific UNFSA United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement UVI Unique Vessel Identifier WCPFC Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development WTO World Trade Organization WWF World Wide Fund for Nature Cover photo: MRAG (2010) Saga Sea Trawling 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was written by MRAG as commissioned by the Prince’s Charities: International Sustainability Unit. The report was authored by: Robert Arthur, David Agnew, Carl Harris, Tim Davies, Suzannah Walmsley, Francisco Leotte and Tom Peatman. The views contained in this paper those of the authors and not necessarily those of the institutions or of the individuals below who contributed to the case studies and who provided valuable feedback on the report. MRAG would like to acknowledge the great level of assistance and contributions in drafting reports on the individual case studies from Bob Trumble (Pacific halibut), Guðmundur Thordarson (Iceland), Ngo Tien Chuong and Flavio Corsin (Ben Tre clam), Jonathan Peacey (New Zealand), Robert Rangeley and Robin Davies (Banking on Cod), and Christian McDonald (Fiji) and Duncan Souter (Australian Northern Prawn). We would also like to acknowledge the important contributions that were made to the individual case studies from individual experts and fishers associated with each of the fisheries. Prior to the release of this report, the authors gained valuable feedback on a draft of the report at a workshop London hosted by the International Sustainability Unit. MRAG would like to thank Ragnar Arnason, Ngo Tien Chuong, David Middleton, John Riley, Nathan de Rozarieux, Robert Rangeley, Tim Bostock, Sebastien Troeng, Yemi Oloruntuyi, Geir Ervik, Chris Glass, Mike Park, Victor Restrepo, Roy Bross, Peter Shelley, Michel Kaiser and Sally Bailey for participating in the workshop and for their comments and suggestions. The authors are especially grateful to Charlotte Cawthorne, Justin Mundy and others at the International Sustainability Unit for their contributions to the report and their valuable comments on earlier drafts of the report. Further copies of this report and the more detailed individual case study reports used for the report are available from MRAG Ltd, 18 Queen Street, London W1J 5PN Web Address: http://www.mragltd.co.uk Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7255 7755 Fax +44 (0) 20 7499 5388 E-mail: [email protected] Cite as: MRAG 2010. Towards sustainable fisheries management: international examples of innovation. MRAG Ltd., London: 93 pages. © 2010 MRAG Ltd. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary 6 1 Introduction 12 The state of global fisheries 12 Key challenges to achieving sustainability 14 Identifying pathways to sustainability 17 2 Overcapacity 18 Alaska: Transferable quotas for Pacific halibut 20 Iceland: Transferable quotas 22 Canada: Quota pooling for herring roe 24 Vietnam: Limiting capacity 26 ISSF: Market-demand innovation 28 Chile: Territorial use rights 30 Addressing overcapacity 32 3 Perverse subsidies 34 Tackling subsidies through the WTO 36 New Zealand: Removal of subsidies 38 Investing in conservation 42 Harnessing market power for sustainable fisheries 42 Addressing perverse subsidies 44 4 Poor governance 46 The Philippines: Aquaculture governance in Lake Taal 48 South Africa: Certification of the hake fishery 50 Mozambique: Co-management 52 Addressing poor governance 54 5 Lack of data and stock assessment 56 Antarctic: Central Ecosystem-based and precautionary management 58 Fiji: Local knowledge and traditional management practices 60 Senegal: IUU fishing in small-scale fisheries 62 Scotland: Conservation Credits Scheme 64 Scottish Salmon Aquaculture 66 Addressing information gaps 68 6 By-catch and discards 70 Australia Prawn seawater hopper 72 Norway: Discard ban 74 International: WWF SmartGear Competition 76 Reducing by-catch and discards 78 7 Conclusions 80 Recommendations: Addressing the challenges 82 Recommendations: Entry points for change 85 List of References 88 Glossary 92 4 THIS PAGE HAS BEEN LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Several recent papers have highlighted the increasing problems that global fisheries face. Some 28% of stocks are overexploited, depleted, or recovering; most of the world’s fishing fleets are overcapitalised; approximately 10 million tonnes of fish are discarded; 11–26 million tonnes (worth USD 10–23 billion) are lost to IUU fishing. Underperformance due to inefficient operations, overexploited stocks and perverse incentives result in an estimated loss of USD 50 billion in economic rent each year. 2. Commissioned by the International Sustainability Unity, this report investigates a number of innovative solutions that have been developed to deal with five key challenges that are impeding progress in achieving sustainable fisheries: overcapacity; perverse subsidies; poor governance; lack of data; and by-catch and discards. These key challenges are interlinked and affect the sustainability of fisheries both directly as well as indirectly by undermining instances of good management. 3. Through 22 case studies demonstrating good practice, we explore how these challenges have been addressed around the world and how these approaches might be scaled up and applied in other fisheries. Each case study draws on published material and interviews with key people involved in the fishery. The main report draws lessons from these case studies. Table 1: List of case studies and the challenge they address Case study Challenge addressed Page number Alaska: Transferable quotas for Pacific Halibut Overcapacity 20 Iceland: Transferable quotas Overcapacity 22 Canada: Quota pooling for herring roe Overcapacity 24 Vietnam: Ben Tre clam Overcapacity 26 ISSF: Market-demand innovation Overcapacity 28 Chile: Territorial use rights Overcapacity 30 Tackling subsidies through the WTO Perverse subsidies 36 New Zealand: Removal of subsidies Perverse economics 38 Kiribati: Phoenix Island Protected Area Perverse economics 40 Banking on Cod Perverse economics 40 MSC: Harnessing market power Perverse economics 42 The Philippines: Aquaculture governance in Lake Taal Poor governance 48 South Africa: Certification of the hake fishery Poor governance 50 Mozambique: Co-management Poor governance 52 Antarctic: Ecosystem-based and precautionary management Lack of data 58 Fiji: Local knowledge and traditional management practices Lack of data 60 Senegal: IUU fishing in small-scale fisheries Lack of data 62 Scotland: Conservation Credits Scheme Lack of data 64 Scotland: Salmon aquaculture Lack of data 66 Australia: Prawn seawater hopper By-catch and discards 72 Norway: Discard ban By-catch and discards 74 International: WWF SmartGear Competition By-catch and discards 76 6 4. Overcapacity threatens the sustainability of fish stocks if fishing effort is not effectively restricted. Traditional “top down” approaches to regulating capacity include decommissioning and limited licensing schemes. Several case studies demonstrate that rights-based approaches, particularly those allowing the transfers and trade in rights and quota, can be an effective and efficient method to align fishing activity with fishing opportunities. For instance, in Alaska the number of licences for fishing Alaskan Pacific halibut greatly reduced from 4,830 to 2,855, once a transferable quota system was introduced, and price for landed halibut increased from USD 1–2 per lb to USD 3–5 per lb. Total revenue increased from approximately USD 50 million in 1992 to USD 245 million in 2008. However, in Iceland the initial limitation on transferability limited the benefits. 5. The implementation of ITQ systems can be appropriate for fleets managed under an objective of maximising economic gain, but safeguards may be required