BAY OF BENGAL PROGRAMME BOBP/REP/82 REPORT OF THE REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON THE PRECAUTIONARY APPROACH TO FISHERY MANAGEMENT 25-28 February, 1997 Medan, Indonesia BAY OF BENGAL PROGRAMME Chennai, India 1999 PREFACE This document reports on the proceedings and decisions of a four-day regional workshop on the “Precautionary Approach to Fishery Management” (referred to in the text as PA2FM), held from 25 February to 28 February, 1997, in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. It was organized by the Directorate-General of Fisheries, Indonesia, and supported by the FAO and the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP). The workshop was meant to clarify and discuss the implications of PA2FM and show how such an approach to management enables sustainable development of fisheries resources in BOBP member-countries and beyond. The workshop was expected to endow participants with practical skills and knowledge on PA2FM methods. The workshop was attended by 18 representatives from member-countries of the BOBP, and seven resource persons from within and outside the region. The BOBP is a multi-agency regional fisheries programme which covers seven countries around the Bay of Bengal - Bangladesh, India, Indonesia. Malaysia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand. The Programme plays a catalytic and consultative role in developing coastal fisheries management in the Bay of Bengal to improve the conditions of small-scale fisherfolk in member- countries. The BOBP is sponsored by the governments of Denmark and Japan. The executing agency is the FAO. CONTENTS 1. Workshop Summary I 2. Workshop Prospectus 8 3. Agenda 13 4. List of Participants 16 5. Keynote Address by Dr Serge Garcia, Director, Fishery Resources Division, FAO, Rome 19 6. Country Papers 6.1. Bangladesh 44 6.2India 58 6.3 Indonesia 60 6.4 Malaysia 64 6.5 Maldives 76 6.6 Sri Lanka 81 6.7 Thailand 89 7. Role of Scientific Advice on Operationalization and Implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries By John Fitzpatrick, FAO consultant 100 8. Overview of Fisheries Management in Indonesia: Past, Present and Future by Sukotjo Adisukresno, Director, Directorate of Resources Management, Directorate-General of Fisheries, Indonesia 106 9. Government Decision-Making under Uncertainty: A Case for Fisheries Management by- Fuad Cholik (Central Research Institute of Fisheries) & Johanes Widodo (Research Institute for Marine Fisheries, Agency for Agriculture Research & Development, Jakarta, Indonesia) 114 10. Overview of Fisheries Management in Asia: Past, Present and Future by Nik Mustapha R Abdullah & K Kuperan. Department of Natural Resource Economics, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, Serdang Selangor 121 1 I. U S Experience in Implementing the Precautionary Approach to Fisheries Management by Stanley Wang and Andrew Rosenberg 129 12. Overview and Practical Implications of the Precautionary Approach to Fisheries Management and the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries to Small-Scale Fisheries by G.L. Preston, Gillett & Preston Associates, Noumea, New Caledonia 144 13. Operationalizing and Implementing of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries by Dr John Kurien, Associate Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, India 155 iv 14. Identification of Unresolved and New Issues in Fisheries Management by Dr John Kuri eni Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthnpuram, India & Kee-Chai Chong, Programme Coordinator, Bay of Bengal Programme, Chennai, India 159 15. Do Fisheries Statistics Give the Full Picture? Indonesia’s Non-Recorded Fish Problem by Dr Nick Walloughby (Team Leader, Marine Resource Evaluation/Planning Project), Daniel R. Monintja (Institute Pertanian, Bogor, Indonesia) & M. Badrudin (Central Institute for Fisheries, Jakarta) 163 16. Encouraging Fisherfolk to Manage their Fisheries : How Communication and Awareness Can Help by Rathin Roy, Senior Communication Adviser; BOBP 173 17. Guidelines for Group Discussion 179 Group 1: Selling the idea of precautionary fisheries management Group 2: Operationalizing fisheries management Group 3: Implications of PA2FM for Small-Scale/Artisanal Fisheries 18. Summary of Group Discussions 182 I 1. WORKSHOP SUMMARY (Reproduced from Buy of Bengal News, March 1997) Some 25 experts from member-countries and the FAO took part in a Regional Workshop on the Precautionary Approach to Fisheries Management in Medan, Indonesia, held 25-28 February 1997. Here’s a report on what the workshop discussed and decided Don’t wait for evidence ofoverfishing to promote fisheries management. Initiate management measures right away, even in the absence of documented evidence! That in sum is what the precautionary approach to fisheries management is all about. The Medan Workshop on the Precautionary Approach to Fisheries Management was inaugurated by the Governor of North Sumatra Province. Speakers at the inaugural session included the Governor; the FAO Representative in Indonesia; Ms Ennie Soetopo of the Director-General of Fisheries; and Dr Kee- Chai Chong, BOBP’s Programme Coordinator. An illuminating keynote address by Dr Serge Garcia of FAO was the highlight of the inaugural session. Sessions that followed featured country presentations on fisheries management by representatives of the member countries, plus lively presentations by resource persons. Participants discussed many aspects of artisanal, commercial and industrial fisheries in the context of the precautionary approach to fisheries management. The discussion made it clear that management arrangements for many of the region’s fisheries are inadequate. Further, several coastal fisheries had in the past operated under traditional management systems. These had suffered decline and were no longer visible, but new arrangements had not been put in place. New fisheries management regimes effectively using the precautionary approach need to be formulated. The point was made that better fisheries management is not synonymous with precautionary fisheries management. Management can be improved without following the precautionary approach. There was some discussion on the basic question: " What qualifies a fisheries management strategy, as precautionary?” Participants agreed that at least some of the following characteristics should be present in a precautionary strategy: - limited fishing access and allocation of user rights; - production targets set lower than the maximum sustainable yield; formal fisheries management plans that include pre-arranged management responses to the achievement of targets or the surpassing of catch limits in the fishery; - carrying out pilot projects or step-wise development rather than rapid, massive expansion; - institution of adequate fishery research and monitoring systems, and feedback of data from these systems into the management process; - learning from development mistakes of the past; learning from other countries. Three working groups were formed to discuss these issues and in particular: 2 - how best to promote the precautionary approach; - operationalisation of fisheries management; - implications of the precautionary approach for small-scale fisheries. The consensus of opinion among the three groups is summed up under three heads in what follows Promoting the precautionary approach Q. Who takes decisions on precautionary management ? A: Government, whether Central, Regional or Provincial, is the main decision-maker. Q: What triggers the decision-making process ? A: The process is generally triggered by a Parliamentary initiative which in turn may be promoted by parliamentarians, fisheries associations, NGOs, fishery consultative committees, or day-to-day interaction between administrators and the fisherfolk community. Q. How do you introduce PA2FM? How do you convince decision-makers about the need for it? How can fishermen also be convinced? A: Some suggestions: - Improve the information available and submitted to policy-makers; - Use all opportunities of contact with management authorities to promote PA2FM. Examples: fisheries or resource crisis, rehabilitation projects, development planning etc. - Use the media to advertise and publicise issues and reach parliamentarians. - Promote longer-term concerns among fishery sector operators. Example: introduce fishing rights and allocations. This promotes secure access to resources. Long-term licensing is an option for industrial fisheries. These rights could be recognised by purely legal means (e.g. statutory local reef ownership) or by a system of paying nominal user fees for the right to fish. This would instill among fishers some feeling for the value of their ownership rights and make them defend of stand up for such rights. - Where resources are depleted and coastal conflicts occur, community projects could seek to introduce PA2FM by (a) devices such as artificial reefs to keep large-scale fishing out; (b) organising local enforcement; (c) strengthening local community organizations; (d) integrating community support toward clean water supplies, alternative job creation etc. Such projects could create a climate receptive to PA2FM. Introducing such an approach before resources are degraded would be precautionary. A cap on fishery capacity should also be established. 3 Q: What kind of information is required to convince decision-makers? A: Research concerning promotion of PA2FM is insufficient at present. Such research should address not only biological topics but also economics and social sciences. It should not only assess fisheries resources, deal with risk assessment and look at management options,