ISSN 2070-7010 FAO FISHERIES 582 AND AQUACULTURE TECHNICAL PAPER 582 Rights-based management in Latin American fisheries Rights-based management in Latin American fisheries This study reports on the experiences with a diversity of cases of rights-based benthic and finfish fisheries management regimes from the Latin American region. Each case specifies the main attributes of the access rights (in a broad sense, including privileges), whether formal or informal: (i) how the rights are conferred and upheld; (ii) exclusivity of participation in the fishery; (iii) duration of the rights conferred; (iv) security or quality of the title conferred by the rights; (v) transferability, divisibility and flexibility in the use of the rights; and (vi) actual rights enforceability and corresponding compliance with use rights limitations. The study also reports on aspects of the harvest strategies in place, including: (i) fishing methods and gear; (ii) when fishing is authorized to take place; (iii) harvest controls; and (iv) monitoring. ISBN 978-92-5-107896-9 ISSN 2070-7010 FAO 978 9251 078969 I3418E/1/08.13 Cover photograph: Lobster Fishermen in Selkirk Island, Juan Fernández Archipelago. Courtesy of Billy Ernst (U. of Concepción, Chile). FAO FISHERIES AND Rights-based management in AQUACULTURE TECHNICAL Latin American fisheries PAPER 582 José María Orensanz Principal Researcher Centro Nacional Patagónico (CENPAT) Argentina and Juan Carlos Seijo Professor School of Natural Resources Marist University of Merida Mexico FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 2013 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. 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FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/ publications) and can be purchased through [email protected]. © FAO 2013 [English edition] © FAO 2011 [Spanish edition] iii Preparation of this document The request for an overview of rights-based management in Latin American fisheries emanated from the 2010 Latin America and Caribbean regional consultative meeting on securing sustainable small-scale fisheries: bringing together responsible fisheries and social development, held from 20 to 22 October in San José, Costa Rica. The workshop, attended by participants from 15 countries and 22 national, regional and international organizations and agencies including civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations, concluded that there was a need to promote small-scale fisheries in the region and secure their access to resources. The present document responds to the workshop’s request to make available information on how various fishing rights systems in the region are performing and their impacts on the livelihoods of small-scale fishers and communities. Many countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region support the development of local level co-management and community-based management regimes that include in some cases well-developed rights-based systems. The present document seeks to present an overview of the experiences on these systems in the region to facilitate knowledge dissemination and cooperation and to provide recommendations and best practices to inform, inter alia, the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forestry in the Context of National Food Security (VG-Tenure) as well as the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication once they are approved by the Committee on Fisheries. Some of the case studies in the present document were originally prepared for the FAO Workshop on Governance of Tenure for Responsible Capture Fisheries held on 4–6 July 2011 in Rome. The objective of the workshop was to generate inputs and guidance on the contents and process of developing a fisheries sector specific implementation guide for the implementation of the VG-Tenure. iv Abstract This document aims to provide a better understanding of the wide range of rights- based fisheries management systems in Latin-America. Rights-based management in the Latin American region is evolving, thus creating a wide diversity of schemes responding to local fisheries contexts, and institutional, resource and ecosystem dynamics and governance capacities. The document has been developed in two parts. Part I (edited and co-authored by Jose Maria Orensanz) presents case studies of fisheries targeting sedentary resources while Part II (edited and co-authored by Juan Carlos Seijo) presents case studies of industrial and small-scale finfish fisheries in the region The case studies presented in Part I include the following regimes: (i) limited entry or moratoria combined with a total allowable catch; (ii) catch shares; (iii) territorial-use privileges; and (iv) territorial communal rights by [customary? and indigenous users). Case studies of finfish fisheries include the following: (i) individual vessel quotas combined with spatial quota allocation rights; (ii) individual fishing quotas; (iii) rights of access to particular fishing areas or territories; and (iv) individual effort quotas. Each case specifies the main attributes of the access rights (in a broad sense, including privileges), whether formal or informal: (i) how the rights are conferred and upheld; (ii) exclusivity of participation in the fishery;(iii) duration of the rights conferred; (iv) security or quality of the title conferred by the rights; (v) transferability, divisibility and flexibility in the use of the rights; and (vi) actual rights enforceability and corresponding compliance. The study also reports on aspects of the harvest strategies in place, including: (i) fishing methods and gear; (ii) when fishing is authorized to take place; (iii) harvest controls; and (iv) monitoring. Orensanz, J. M. & Seijo, J. C. 2013. Rights-based management in Latin American fisheries. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, No. 582. Rome, FAO. 136 pp. v Contents Preparation of this document iii Abstract iv Tables and figures vii Acknowledgements ix Contributors x Abbreviations and acronyms xi Executive summary xiii Part I Latin American rights-based fisheries targeting sedentary 1 resources 1. Introduction 3 Conventions 3 Case studies 3 2. Limited entry or moratoria combined with a TAC 7 Case 1: The Galapagos Islands sea cucumber fishery (Ecuador) 7 Case 2: The sea urchin fishery of the Los Lagos and Aysen Regions (south Chile) 10 Case 3: The Juliana clam fishery (Chile) 13 Limited entry or moratoria combined with a TAC – recap 14 3. Catch shares 17 Case 4: The San José Gulf scallop diving fishery (Argentina) 17 Case 5: The Chilean “Benthic Extractive Regime” 20 Case 6: The Patagonian scallop industrial fishery (Argentina) 20 Catch shares – recap 23 4. Territorial use privileges – sea bed tracts 25 Case 7: Chilean AMERBs 25 Case 8: Concessions from central Baja California (Mexico) 29 Case 9: “Predios” of sustainable use, Gulf of California (Mexico) 32 Case 10: Concessions for seaweed extraction in Chubut Province (Argentina) 35 Territorial use privileges: sea bed tracts – recap 36 5. Territorial use privileges – fishing spots 37 Case 11: Lobster concessions of Punta Allen (Mexico) 37 Case 12: The Juan Fernández Archipelago lobster fishery (Chile) 39 Case 13: The “parcela” system of algal harvests (Chile) 42 Territorial use privileges: fishing spots – recap 47 6. Territorial communal rights (traditional and indigenous users) 49 Case 14: The Seri Indian benthic fishery (Mexico) 49 Case 15: Brazilian marine extractive reserves (RESEXs) 51 Case 16: Colombia’s Afro-American communities (piangua fishery) 56 Territorial communal rights (traditional and indigenous users) – recap 59 vi 7. Transversal subjects 61 Origins and objectives of rights systems 61 Devolution of authority 61 Incentives for resource conservation and stewardship 64 Biological sustainability 65 Economic sustainability 65 Social sustainability 66 Provision of scientific/technical support 68 Enforcement and compliance 68 Discussion – recap 69 Part II Latin American rights-based fisheries targeting finfish species