Sustainability of the Artisanal Fishery in Northern Chile: A Case Study of Caleta Pisagua

Abstract

The Humboldt Current, one of the most productive waters in the world, flows along the Chilean coast with high primary production level. However, living marine resources in these waters are declining due to overexploitation and other anthropogenic and environmental factors. It has been reported that deploying artificial reefs in coastal waters can improve the production of benthic resources. To ensure the sustainability of coastal fisheries in northern Chile this study aims to investigate fishermen’s perceptions on deploying artificial reefs and propose future management measures using Caleta Pisagua as a case study. Interviews of artisanal fishermen regarding four aspects: fishermen profile, fishing activity, resources, and artificial reefs were conducted. Results showed that most fishermen favored the implementation of artificial reefs within the Areas of Management and Exploitation of Benthic Resources (AMERBs). In addition, deploying artificial reefs appears to be socio-economically necessary for the artisanal fishermen whose livelihood is being affected by the overexploitation of coastal fish and because hard substrates essential for benthic resources are in short supply within this administration area. It is recommended that criteria for the deployment of artificial reefs as well as specific management plans for main and secondary species should be developed.

Analysis of Fishery Resource Management Practices in São Tomé and Príncipe: Perception of the Dynamics of Catches from 1950–2020, Recommendations and Strategies for Future Research

“…To analyze the data, we used the trend-based analysis proposed by Froese and Kesner-Reyes [18], Belhabib [36], and Pikitch and Doukakis [1], which classifies a developing, fully exploited, overexploited, and collapsed fishery based on a time series of catch, effort, and CPUE from the fishery [4,27,38,44,47].We applied it to understand the dynamics of sustainable fishing management [11,17,29,32,45,52]. The method based on a time series of catch, effort, and CPUE was applied to two data sets: (1) survey data collected from the different literature, reports, and cross-sectional surveys covering the period from 1950 to 1999; and (2) the official fishery production statistics of São Tomé and Príncipe covering the period from 2000 to 2020, collected at the landing sites by the DRSADF, using key variables such as the number of artisanal and semi-industrial fishermen; the evolution of the number of boats; the mode of propulsion; the characteristics of the gear; and the fishing hours of each pirogue.…”

“…Fishing activity is highly unstable, and managers of small-scale fisheries still face the challenge of managing the dynamic and unexpected dependence between resource users and fishing resources [32]. Understanding the interactions between fishers and fishery resources can provide insights to enable the comprehensive and sustainable management of SSF fisheries [6,27,33].…”

Marine artificial reef (MAR) interference in artisanal fisheries in Brazil: use of traditional knowledge

“…For the installation of structures that may interfere in marine ecosystems and, as a consequence, artisanal fisheries, there must be stakeholder participation starting in the early stages of the process to facilitate information interchange among all the groups involved (Ravesteijn et al, 2014;Carral et al, 2018;Lima et al, 2019;Espinoza et al, 2020). Fishermen can feel excluded from decisions that involve their territory (Musiello-Fernandes et al, 2017).…”

Analysis of Regional Efficiency in the Use of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (FEMP) in the Eurozone Countries

“…This policy attempts to achieve the always difficult balance between the economic aspirations of the fishing sector and environmental sustainability. This balance is necessary and essential to ensure the economic viability for fishermen and their regions in the medium and long term [1][2][3][4].…”

“…(1) Reduction of the impact of fishing on the marine environment, for which it is necessary to avoid and reduce, as far as possible, unwanted catches. (2) Protection and recovery of biodiversity and aquatic ecosystems. (3) Achieve and maintain a lasting balance between fishing capacity and available fishing opportunities.…”