Keepin' it Real is Not Always Pretty

I have a thing for stories and story-telling. So let me tell y’all a story. Not the type with unicorns and fairy dust, but the kind of story that comes from being present, having “ears on the ground,” and listening to others speak about their experiences.

Last year, with the support of Sea Pact, Sustainable Fisheries Fund, Sea Delight, and Atlantida del Sur, the Mexican Grouper fishery was able to undergo a formal pre-assessment following the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard.

Subsequent meetings with leaders from fishermen cooperatives, local governmental institutions in charge of the management of this resource, and CeDePesca (the NGO partner conducting the FIP activities on the ground), we could all be in agreement that the grouper stock is depleted and that some of the following recommendations should be considered:

• Establishment of a consistent recovery strategy through the reduction of fishing effort.
• Define a research plan that includes data collection of target and non-target species of the fishery and the impacts on ecosystems components.
• Establishment of an adequate Management Plan based on stock assessment to control harvest levels.
• Establishment of a participatory mechanism to assess the performance of the Management Plan.

There are management issues which need to be addressed and which are exacerbated by the social problems that the excessive exploitation of sea cucumber has brought to this fishery through the increase of fishermen coming from other parts of Mexico to fish illegally in Yucatán. This is creating conflict with local fishermen and armed confrontations between poachers and authorities. This disorganization of the fishery is seen in the disproportionate increase of the on-shore fleet which is estimated to be around 5,000 boats and 15,000 people, in addition to another estimated 5,000 people involved in different stages of the value chain, processing and trading. With that said, we can estimate that there are around 20,000 families depending directly on the fishery.

Over 700,000 pounds of grouper from Mexico were imported into the U.S last year (Urner Barry- Foreign Trade Data). Compared to other highly commercialized species imported into the U.S., and in the greater scheme of things, 700 K is not a large quantity. However, knowing that the grouper population in this fishery is under stress, every pound counts.

So, why am I writing about this? Because, contrary to the beliefs of many, there are no simple answers and solutions to the issues affecting the Mexican Grouper fishery. Allow me to illustrate by addressing some of the three most common arguments I’ve been faced with:

1.  “Mexico should extend the closure period to two months if not more”- During the “veda” (closure), the Mexican government helps to subsidize the livelihoods of the families depending on this fishery. In order to increase the closure period, the government would have to allocate enough funding to be able to support these families for an additional month (or more). Unfortunately, additional subsidies are not feasible.

2. “Increase minimum size”- The bulk of the fishing effort is concentrated in the artisanal fishing fleet, and, by the very nature of their fishing effort, they operate close to the shore and catch juveniles before these are able to reach deeper waters and achieve sexual maturity and spawn. It would be more realistic to define a number of juveniles that could be caught without impairing the reproductive capacity of the stock. This is one of the reasons why CeDePesca is proposing a community- based quota system.

3. “Need to change hook size used” – This is incredibly difficult (some would argue, it’s useless) as the Grouper has a large mouth and changing hooks doesn’t get selectivity at the time of fishing and would not reduce the catching of juveniles.

It is evident we have to go beyond extending closure periods, increasing minimum size, enforcing regulations, increasing monitoring by working with local authorities, etc. More importantly, we need to support the fishery by being active participants in the decision-making progress. We need to focus on education, really working on enacting measures that can be implemented, and ensuring that the government has the capacity to enforce such regulations.

The process of developing the FIP and engaging stakeholders from different sectors of the supply chain have revealed that the current approach, based on limited licenses, minimum size, and a closure season, has failed. Through the work the Sea Delight Ocean Fund has been doing with CeDePesca, we are proposing a completely different approach based on Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and a community quota system which would give management power to the communities that depend on this fishery and, in doing so, strengthens their commitment to care for these resources.

My point is organization and funding is key! Unfortunately, funding is one of our biggest hurdles, and investing on this FIP seems to be risky. I’m hoping other importers will start engaging in this conversation and bring their own vendors to participate. I’ve come to realize that there’s a lot of interest and opinions from industry about this fishery’s shortcomings or what could be solutions, but I haven’t seen anyone participating in these meetings or the workshops we organize. Furthermore, there is a lack of understanding in regards to the reality of the fishery and how it will take a lot of work to create improvement from the ground up (while addressing some of the socioeconomic issues that affect the fishery and hinder the environmental improvement of such).

In the words of Jacques Yves Cousteau, “The sea, the great unifier, is man’s only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat.” Hence, I invite the industry become engaged in this project, attend the meetings, and work with their supply chain to develop measures to help rebuild the stock and improve the management of the fishery so that it can be maintained.