Miller V, Mirabal-Patterson A, García-Rodríguez E, Karr K, Whittle D

Language: English
References: 0
Page: 65-70
PDF size: 64.69 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Healthy fisheries, particularly small-scale fisheries, are closely linked to prosperous and healthy coastal communities and resilient marine environments. Cuba’s marine and coastal ecosystems are highly biodiverse and support fi sheries vital to food security and the national economy. Cuban government and state institutions, scientists, managers and fishers—along with colleagues from other countries—have expressed growing concern about the decline of fi shing resources. In 2012, under the aegis of the National Center for Protected Areas, Cuban institutions from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment and the Ministry of Foreign Investment partnered with the Italian nongovernmental organization, COSPE Onlus, to launch SOS Pesca, a four-year project to achieve sustainable fi sheries management, conserve marine habitats and improve quality of life in two Cuban fishing communities (Guayabal in Las Tunas Province and Playa Florida in Camagüey Province). SOS Pesca involved the municipal governments of Amancio Rodríguez (in Las Tunas Province) and Florida (in Camagüey Province), delegates to the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power (municipal government) from Guayabal (Amancio Rodríguez Municipality) and Playa Florida (Florida Municipality), the state-owned fishing industry, private fi shers, local families, protected area officials and staff scientists, municipal governments and international nongovernmental organizations. By the end of 2012, a new US–Cuban collaboration emerged when COSPE recruited Environmental Defense Fund to provide scientifi c and technical support, trainings and exchanges focused on fi sheries. SOS Pesca succeeded at community, regional fi shing zone and national levels. Outcomes included: an assessment of fi nfi sh identifying species most vulnerable to fi shing (methods and capacities), a proposed management plan for fi nfi sh, a National Plan of Action for sharks and rays, two marine protected areas established, increased employment through socioeconomic alternatives, revitalization of community environmental brigades, and greater capacity to use fi shery assessment methods and develop management strategies. Perhaps the greatest achievement was communities’ and fi shers’ changed perceptions of their marine environment, the need for conservation and sustainable resource management, and their active role in this objective. SOS Pesca spurred a more participatory form of integrated marine and coastal management in Cuba—one that integrates fi sheries and spatial management, links fi shing families and coastal communities with scientists and administrators to fi nd solutions that support sustainability, and connects economic alternatives to communitybased conservation and improved food security. This innovative multinational collaboration benefi ted coastal communities, marine and coastal ecosystems and international cooperation.