Changing Course

“Sometimes we go with the [fishers],” says Alexis Nakandakari, a marine conservation specialist with TNC’s Oceans Program in Peru. He works with the local fishing community on a regular basis. “So far they have been OK [with it] since we collect data for analysis and not for controlling their fishing activities.” He says that it’s important to recognize their independence, and adds that the fishers understand that data is critical to making sound decisions.

In February 2015, TNC met with the fishers to discuss octopus biology and the importance of complying with the legal minimum weight limits.

“Suddenly, at the end of the meeting, they started discussing the scarcity of benthic resources in the islands and the need to close one of the fishing grounds to test if it works and how long [benthic species] will take to recover,” Nakandakari says. After some debate, a majority agreed to close one of the islands, called La Isleta, as a test, and asked TNC to help them assess the results.

After five months, the population density of black rock snail had risen by 50% at six test sites. Based on these results, the fishers decided to keep La Isleta closed longer and reopened its waters roughly a year later.

Tracking the average weight and population density of a species—and adjusting the length of closures—makes the process more flexible, Caillaux says. “The idea is that if the average size goes up and density goes up, too, then there is room for increasing the fishing. If those go down, they should also respond accordingly and reduce fishing.”

A web-based tool guides an analysis of a specific fishery and suggests effective management measures such as catch limits, gear restrictions and training workshops. FishPath coaches can advise the fishers on how they might implement such practices.

Having access to such information empowers self-regulating fishing communities to make better decisions for themselves. Fishers who help conduct their own monitoring and understand the rationale behind catch limits and other restrictions are more committed to comply with them, says Fernando Ghersi, TNC’s Oceans Program director for Peru. “It’s extremely important to build trust,” he says. “You have to respect their autonomy and be transparent and honest. In the end, they are the ones responsible for the resources.”

It became clear that rotating temporary closures was the most efficient regulation to implement to improve fisheries stocks in Ancon, Nakandakari says. “Closures are very clear and easy to follow; there is no ambiguity or possibility of unwanted error.” The fishers understood that trying to apply rules and limits at the dock, after the catch has been brought in, can create tensions among them and toward inspectors.

As of 2019, roughly half the fishing grounds around Ancon were being closed for one to two months at a time, and stocks and catch per fisher had both increased. Compliance is encouraged through social pressure and fines. Rule breaking is rare but still occurs, especially after long periods of bad weather or before holidays, when fishers need cash more than usual.

In addition to the rotating closures, Ancon’s fishers have been willing to adopt other sustainability practices such as catch limits and size limits. “Now we go directly to a place we have taken care of over time,” says Hector Samillan, president of the Ancon benthic fishers association, “and we take only what we need. The Nature Conservancy has been a great help to us. We had been doing some conservation work on our own initiative already, but we always felt that we were missing something, and I think it was the technical contribution that TNC brought.”

Working with Ancon’s fishing community has had its ups and downs, Nakandakari says, but the overall trend is positive, and the basic lessons are clear. Local fishing organizations don’t have enough money to fund long-term management studies, so technical and financial support from outside organizations helps put management strategies into place.

Helping fishers become less dependent on the vagaries of the seafood market is also important, he says. Among Ancon’s benthic fishers, the enthusiasm for conservation efforts rose when times were good and fell when catch levels dropped.

Since most fishers survive financially on a day-to-day basis without insurance or savings, TNC is also working to identify other activities that could generate alternate sources of income for divers when they can’t go out, such as boat maintenance services.

Even though the fisheries aren’t completely recovered, Caillaux says, catch levels improved during the program’s first two years and remained stable despite El Nino climate events.

Ultimately, members of the fishing community would like to improve their place in the supply chain and receive more money for their catches. “We’d like to get our product internationalized, to directly export to other continents,” Samillan says, sipping coffee with fellow fisher Mendez at a small outdoor restaurant on the municipal dock.

But first they must expand their access to local markets. The dozen or so little seafood stands near the docks buy direct from the fishers, but at the moment only a couple of the bigger restaurants in town—including one named Pepe Cangrejo, run by a former diver—do so. Expanding that list would help the fishers earn more, which is why TNC has been talking up sustainably managed seafood to buyers and chefs in Lima’s world-class restaurant scene. This year, three fishers will take part in an experiment selling products such as octopus, snails and crabs directly to restaurants.