Sustainable octopus fisheries in Mauritius and Rodrigues with FPAOI (Federation des Pecheurs Artisans de l’Ocean Indien)

 

 

The organization and local perspectives on conservation and stewardship

 

The Federation of Artisanal Fishermen of the Indian Ocean (FPAOI) is the professional regional association of artisanal fishermen from 5 Indian Ocean countries (Comoros, Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar and La Reunion, which groups over 35 organizations). It organizes its members to have their rights recognized as well as their important role in the food, cultural and social security of their country. The FPAOI emphasizes the role of artisanal fishermen in the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fishery resources. The advocacy efforts of the FPAOI is based on the fact that artisanal fishermen are important players in the blue economy and must be recognized as such. This Federation is the platform of representation of small fishermen who depend on fishery resources of their oceans to feed their populations.

 

The FPAOI underlines the role of artisanal fishermen in the conservation and sustainable exploitation of the resource they are depending on. Artisanal fishermen are deeply linked to the state of the resources and the environment, their relation to and knowledge of the resources is huge and based on years of experience. Their knowledge is invaluable for sustainable management and environmental protection. As such, they ought to be deeply involved in all decision making process regarding the fisheries resources.

 

Stewardship experience: Octopus fishery management/stock restoration in Rodrigues and Mauritius

 

The issue or problem being addressed

Octopus, having a rather short life cycle, have been over-exploited in Rodrigues and Mauritius to a state of collapse. The catch declined drastically during the last decade. In 2014, octopus catches was around 200 tonnes. It was then decided to introduce a seasonal closure of 2 months to allow the stock to recover.

The fishers have witnessed huge exploitation of the fishery resources in the region by both local and foreign operators, thereby causing a significant decrease in their catch. They are concerned that if this state of affairs continues, their livelihood will be affected and fish stocks may collapse. Training of fishers has increased their awareness on the need to protect the resources and capacity to enforce management measures designed and approved by them and aligned with their values and knowledge. These types of measures should not be implemented as a top down process.

 

The activities

With the support of the fishers community and the Smartfish programme at Commission de L’Ocean Indien (COI), a seasonal closure was set as a management measure. Challenges were mainly from a loss of revenue during the closed period, but then the long term benefits from the management measure became obvious.

 

The initiative came from a group of fishermen demanding some support to maintain the stock of octopus. The community came together to design the “frame” of the closure and help to communicate to ensure implementation was done properly and fairly. The fisher community had an interest to locally manage it to avoid top down situation of management.

 

The benefits/impacts including sustainability/environmental effects

Within 2 years (from 2015 to 2017), the catch of the fishers had doubled, and bigger octopus are currently being caught. This brought about an increase of revenue for the fishers while the closures have allowed the stock to begin to recover. This example highlights the role of professionals (local artisanal fishermen) in the sustainable management of resources and highlights their knowledge of the local situation. It is emblematic because it shows that if the communities are integrated into the decision-making process, they ensure actions are appropriate to suit local needs and their implementation is a success. This is a typical success story of involvement of local community to manage their own environment as they are deeply linked to its sustainability. This demonstrates the advantages of community participation in resource management and provides a good example of co-management.

 

The success and significance of the activities

After a brief time to understand the measures, now 2 closures / year has been accepted by the fishers and they monitor the fisheries on their own.

 

Some lessons learned or words of wisdom

A scheme of compensation was proposed at the beginning of the project. It was not a good fit for the community, so later on some alternatives activities on land were proposed to the fishermen and it was a better solution to avoid an assistance scheme and to keep the fishermen active during the closed periods and to remain deeply involved in the monitoring of the fishery. The short term “sacrifice” of the closed periods was found to produce higher valued resources in the longer-term, and the recovering of the stock that has given hope for the future.

 

This example is a good one to show the importance of closed periods. Since octopus have a short life cycle, we hope this will encourage the fishermen to introduce it for other species with a longer life cycle who will need closures on a longer term basis. This example can be shown as a positive and fast management measure by a local community who knows what is needed and understands the seasonal variation in the environment. The engagement and decision making process done at a local level encourages participation in consultation and ownership of the project, as well as a community-wide commitment to the activity.

 

 

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Fishery Facts

(Below are the applicable categories of fisheries, environment, species, gear type and livelihood role.)

 

Fishery characteristics:

• Marine Capture fishery (e.g. nearshore/coastal/reef-based/deep sea)
• Inland capture fishery (e.g. river/ lake/ reservoir)
• Commercial fishery
• recreational/ sport fishery
• subsistence fishery
• Multi-species

The environment where fishing takes place: 

• Open ocean
• Coastal – Estuarine / Nearshore / Coral / Delta / Lagoon / Mangrove

Main species targeted:

• Marine – Large pelagics (finfish) – e.g. tuna/sharks
• Marine – Small pelagics (finfish) – e.g. reef fishes/herring/mackerel/sardines
• Marine – Demersal finfish – e.g. cod/flatfish/grouper
• Inland finfish – e.g. carp/perch/catfish/salmonids
• Molluscs (including bivalves and cephalopods – e.g. octopus/clams)
• Crustaceans (e.g. shrimp/prawn/lobster)
• Other animals (e.g. jellyfish/sea cucumber)

Gear types/ methods used:

• Gillnet
• Longline
• Line
• Beach seine
• Pot/trap
• Dive
• Dredge
• Beach harvest/ gleaning (e.g. collection of shellfish/algae/mangrove crabs etc.)

Role of the fishery in local livelihoods:

• Main source of employment
• Full time