An Overview Of Our Solution
Ministry of Economy, Development and Turism, Chilean Government
Who is this solution impacting?
Ecosystem
Oceans/Coasts
Community Type
Rural
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: South America
Problem
Describe the problem
The small scale fishery organizations, legally constituted, may apply to this fishery management regime. The Government grants use rights over benthic resources in the area requested by the organization. Those rights become effective once the management plan (MP) is approved. The MPs are developed over base-line studies & renewed on the base of systematic monitoring. Each organization may have one or more AMERB & manage & harvest one or more species. Overall, the MP is subordinate to the national fisheries management measures, but a flexible approach is implemented in order to allow small scale fishermen to take advantage of market opportunities & harvest accordingly. Also, the MP may incorporate complementary management actions to support central government measures.
Biodiversity Impact
At time implemented, the AMERB regime was very innovative. The AMERB regime is, somehow, the legalization and enhancement of territorial use rights for fisheries (TURFs). It generates adequate incentives for the conservation of fisheries resources avoiding the well-known Tragedy of the Commons. In each AMERB the fishermen manage their benthic resources, harvest them, evaluate the biological condition of them and receive the economic benefits of selling them. Therefore, the trade-offs between economic profits and ecosystem capacity in generating such benefits are articulated by the own fishermen, been overseeing by the central government. This scheme has proved to be a resilient management system and has catalyzed sustainable fisheries along the country. The ecosystem health is promoted by the incentive to generate greater biological surplus (BS) of target species. The fishermen have learned that the maximum BS of some commercial species may only be reached if a dynamic equilibrium, in the population structure and biological communities, is maintained. Therefore, in order to obtain the maximum possible quota, the fishermen tend to maintain the biodiversity of the area, the endurance of ecosystem services and, in general, the ecosystem health. The empiric evidence of what is argued above may be appreciated in the case of Chilean abalone or "loco". This fishery was heavily over exploited in most of the coastline of Chile, producing what was called ‘the loco fever’. After several years of application of AMERB regime, this situation was reverted in most of the fishing ground.
Solution
The "loco", main commercial resource in the AMERB, has been described as a key predator of the inter-tidal and shallow sub-tidal ecosystems. The fishermen interest in maintaining the "loco" abundance has generated positive consequences, by moving the ecosystems towards a new equilibrium point. This point is characterized by higher diversity of marine invertebrates, due to this specie is able to control ƒ?? by predation ƒ?? the abundance of mussels and barnacle (strong users of primary substrata). In this way, the complexity of benthic community has incremented, maintaining a balanced representation of trophic levels and, in general, biodiverse benthic assemblage. The positive effects of implementing AMERBs are framed the goodness of co-management common pool resources schemes and, by the economic profits obtained in harvesting a healthy ecosystem. In this scheme the fishermen select the harvesting model from a bottom-up approach, avoiding the overfishing. Also, fishermen control the invasion of exotic species (with support of central government and by maintaining a healthy biological marine community that prevent opportunities for alien colonization) and avoid contamination and loss of habitat. From a meso-scale perspective, all the AMERBs articulates a net of interconnected buffer zones, where positive border effects may be appreciated in the adjacent benthic communities and spill-over effect may be observed in other far areas. // At national scale, 520 AMERB are created, comprising 75,533 hectares. The AMERB may be set into the coastal and maritime area legally and exclusively reserved for small scale fisheries. This exclusive area is like a ribbon of 5 nautical miles along the entire Chilean coast, from the coastal base lines. The AMERB may also be declared in Chilean inner sea (Channel and Fjords area) and in some lake and rivers.
Replicability
How many years has your solution been applied? 13 years // Have others reproduced your solution elsewhere? Yes // The interested organization made a submission to the Undersecretariat for Fisheries requesting to be granted with an AMERB. The available areas for new AMERB are informed by Decree, with previous consultation to Ministry of Defense and with consideration of technical reports submitted by the Undersecretariat for Fisheries and the Zonal Fishing Council (Council composed by public and private actors). Approved the request, the official approbation is published in the Official Newspaper and the national Fisheries Service request the destination of the portion of water and seabed to the Ministry of Defense. Once the organization has developed (i) the prospectus for a base-line study (ESBA) and (ii) has implemented the ESBA and formulated an exploitation and management plan, the Undersecretariat for Fisheries proceed with the approval. Then the National Fisheries Service sign an Use Agreement with the fishermen organization. The requested studies and plans are carried out by the fishermen organization with the technical advice of an institution related with the marine sciences (university, institute or private consultant). Among others, the management plan relates on monitoring, control, surveillance and, controlled harvest to be informed annually to the Undersecretariat for Fisheries, who approve the continuity of management plan. The organizations granted with AMERBs are compelled to pay annual license on the basis of the hectares allocated to them.
Human Well Being and Livelihood Impact
Currently, 15,942 people (grouped in 340 small scale fisheries organizations) are beneficiary of AMERB regime. The benefits are exclusive access rights to their traditional fishing grounds. This has stopped nomad practices (e.g., harvest, collapse and move) and has impelled an economic behavior attached to a fishing village called ‘caletas’. Appreciated social benefits are: consolidation and stability of families; creation of complementary activities and business around ‘caletas’; and a fabric of society built on sustainability’s concepts. // As governance is the entire body of interactions, public & private, implemented to solve problems and create opportunities, this solution is at the very core of the governance definition. This solution operates at the day-to-day order the governance, because imply permanent interactions between government & stakeholders, but also at the second order by creating institutions. It based in the most powerful image of governance, sustainability, & the mode is guided by co-governance. The solution is based on principles: inclusivity, sustainability, efficiency, legitimacy & moral responsibility. The management relies on fishermen organizations, research organizations & government institutions. The fishermen sign a Use Agreement and a sense of ownership is generated. Then, by taking care of the area & using it at the same time, a sense of stewardship is established. The work fishermen federations allow their base organizations to obtain funds, support & technical assistance to manage the AMERBs. Research institutions are contracted to solve technical issues, obtaining data for their researches. This solution creates a societal link between scientists and fishermen, paving the way for communication, generation of knowledge and, learning. Creates integration between traditional and scientific knowledge. The solution is managed by permanent participation in monitoring & control, generating new criteria and practices for benthic resource management. Overall, the entire range of interactions, allow a simple but powerful, legally binding but adaptive & participative management scheme.