Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 142

PART 2 FAO FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE IN ACTION
Finally, by opening the concept of
“stakeholder” to others than simply fishers, the
EA F/EA A process has led to a growing
alignment between fisheries management and
other societal management processes, including
environment and human health as well as
social protection.
aquaculture development. FAO has beg un to
develop projects that effectively consider
fisheries and aquaculture as part of a single
planning and management framework, the
most complete example being the management
plan of Estero Real in Nicarag ua. Where EA F
and EA A have been applied side by side,
conf licts between capture fisheries and
aquaculture have generally been reduced.
Applying lessons learned
Many stakeholders, from Norway to
Mozambique and Nicarag ua, Turkey and
Lebanon, report the legitimacy of the fisheries
management process as much improved
thanks to the inclusion of ecosystem
considerations. The formal consultation
processes of EA F, for example, and the
requirement for inclusion of local knowledge,
have given a voice to many stakeholders,
including fishers, who previously felt excluded
from the decision-making process. The
requirement to minimize impacts on the
natural ecosystem, together with the
consultation process, has helped to reduce
conf lict between the fisheries and aquaculture
sector and conser vation interests and to
improve their cooperation, and ultimately will
lead to more sustainable fisheries. In the
Southwest Indian Ocean, for instance, active
cooperation is now in place between nature
conser vation organizations and the national
fisheries management institutions, as well as
the corresponding RFB (SWIOFC); such
examples are increasing.
As the number of projects on EA F/EA A
increases, so does the opportunit y to draw
lessons from their development and
implementation. Three lessons are common
across the regions where these projects have
been carried out.
„ „ Participation. Participation is essential and key to
effective management, allowing diverse
interests to agree on a common approach, but
it must be perceived by all stakeholders as fair
and effective. Participation must be ensured
both at the planning stage and as part of the
reg ular management cycle, including data
collection and research activities.
„ „ Adaptation. EA F/EA A implementation requires
institutional processes that ensure reg ular
monitoring and decision-making in relation
to the agreed objectives established in the
management plans. Mechanisms for mid-term
review of management plans should also be
built into institutional processes. These
processes do not always exist, and where they
have been established they seldom include
stakeholder participation.
„ „ Misconceptions. Despite awareness-raising
efforts, EA F/EA A is widely misconceived as
an approach mainly concerned with
conser vation, when in realit y it is an
enhanced sectoral or multisectoral
management approach (depending on the
context) for achieving sustainabilit y by
considering the dynamic ecosystem that
underpins any fisher y and the social and
economic goals of those involved in the
sector.
Enforcement of fisheries reg ulations, a major
difficult y in most if not all fisheries, has also
benefited from the open participation of
multiple stakeholders in defining the
management measures for the sector. In the
Kapenta fisher y (two freshwater sardines) in
Mozambique, for which an EA F management
plan was developed, as well as in other fisheries
in the Mediterranean and in Africa, fishers and
other stakeholders are taking up the task of
promoting and ensuring compliance with the
reg ulations. In this way the EA F process is
reducing the burden of enforcement for the
State, increasing stewardship by resource users
and supporting the legitimacy of the
management process.
Importantly, EA F provides a formal
framework for weighing and defining trade-
offs among conf licting societal goals.
However, obtaining widespread agreement on
which ones to prioritize will remain a
challenge for years to come. Global pressures,
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