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This is the first project in Honduras that involves fishermen directly in the management of fishing resources in a protected area. The three fishing communities of the Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge have organized themselves to create the association called Asociación de Pescadores La Rosita Cuero y Salado (APROCUS) that represents them. They have signed an agreement between the association and the Cuero y Salado Foundation (FUCSA), co-administrator of the refuge, for the co-management of a fishing territory, which includes four no-take zones with a diameter of 1 Km each. This agreement will allow APROCUS to design and develop the management plan for their fishing territory and to monitor the no-take zones jointly with FUCSA.
APROCUS has identified capacity building needs, and a training program is being developed with external technical assistance. The program will include the following topics: environmental education, alternative economic activities, natural resources protection and conservation techniques, and fisheries regulation enforcement.
The Puerto Morelos Cooperative in Quintana Roo, Mexico has put together a team of fishermen that has been train in scuba and monitoring. The team has completed two full monitoring phases. Thirteen strategic monitoring sites were selected in the protected area, and within the sites 65 transects were setup to measure several indicators of reef health (fish, corals, key invertebrates, topographic complexity and substrate type). With the assistance from the Mexican NGO Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI) the Cooperative developed the baseline of the reef’s status, and will now be able to measure long-term changes and restoration processes through a monitoring plan, inside and outside of the designated community marine reserves.
Based on the data analysis, the Puerto Morelos Fishing Cooperative submitted a proposal to the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) to modify the Management Plan. Their recommendation is to expand an existing marine reserve (no-take zone) and to add a new fishing ground. The proposal is being evaluated by the
authorities.
At the end of 2010 we obtained funds from Avina Foundation for the implementation of a third fisheries co- management pilot project in the region.
There are two fishing communities located within La Graciosa Bay, which is part of the Punta de Manabique Wildlife Refuge: La Graciosa and Santa Isabel Lagoon. Both communities are concerned about the decline of fishing resources in the area, because each day is more difficult for them to get fish for their own family consumption. Moreover, the lack of financial resources in government agencies enables authorities to conduct surveillance and patrolling activities in the area, which leads to wrongful acts in the extraction of fishery resources, including the implementation of prohibited practices and fishing gear.
Authorities and fishermen have held several meetings to discuss the problems and possible solutions to these.
The fishermen have proposed not only the co-management area, but three no-take zones. The proposed location of the no-fishing zones was decided based on their empirical knowledge, it was then reinforced with a sonar survey, through which they could realize that fish stocks are not abundant in the Bay.
The goal now is to find the most practical legal figure for the area. Authorities are now discussing about this.