by Silvia Capezzuoli
It is an amazing feeling to see the ripple effect of the training we ran in December 2017 on Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) for REBYC-LAC II.
IMA has been supporting EAFM initiatives since 2013, initially in Asia and more recently in Latin America and the Caribbean, promoting the sustainable and equitable use of fisheries-related resources. The EAFM approach has been developed and refined by the EAFM consortium. It is based on the three components of Human and Ecological Wellbeing through Good Governance. Key principles are: good governance, appropriate scale, increased participation, multiple objectives, cooperation and coordination, adaptive management and precautionary approach.
In December 2017 we ran EAFM training and Training of Trainers for FAO’s ‘Sustainable Management of Bycatch in Latin America and Caribbean Trawl Fisheries’ (REBYC-II LAC) project, with agency staff and fisher associations represented from the 6 project countries in the region. Many of these countries have now carried out their own training and awareness raising for their key stakeholders.
In February 2018 INVEMAR ran a familiarisation session for scientific researchers and WWF in Colombia; a month later Magdalena University and WWF then co-ran a participatory EAFM workshop with INVEMAR for 70+ fisherfolk http://www.fao.org/in-action/rebyc-2/news/detail/en/c/1113471/
In March 2018 in Costa Rica, INCOPESCA strengthened capacity of its own agency staff http://www.fao.org/in-action/rebyc-2/news/detail/en/c/1110298/ and Suriname ran familiarisations sessions for fishers and fisheries stakeholders http://www.fao.org/in-action/rebyc-2/news/detail/en/c/1107209/
We are looking forward to more news from the REBYC-LAC II region!
For more information on EAFM see http://www.eafmlearn.org/