Research Scientist, CENPAT/CONICET Argentina
There is still much confusion about how to assess and manage small-scale fisheries. Attempts at providing a general framework for international bodies, like the FAO, WFC, IDRC, the MSC, are still far from comprehensive. The problem is particularly serious in the case of benthic fisheries, where internal heterogeneities in the structure of the stocks have significant implications for assessment and management. In turn, the spatial structure of the stocks is reflected in the geography of fishing communities, creating scenarios conductive to local management and prone to co-management or community-based institutional arrangements. Biological and societal spatial complexity impose several imperatives: [1] scale and connectivity are significant considerations, since communities and the seabed areas that they harvest are not entirely independent because of, e.g., larval dispersal and markets; [2] while models of stock dynamics are inevitably complex, monitored indicators must be kept simple, and harvest rules understandable to everybody; [3] in systems where catch and effort controls are unenforceable, incentives and participation are requirements for successful management; [4] while community-based and participatory management have attracted much attention over recent years, institutional arrangements for the provision of scientific support to management must receive due attention. I will explore some lessons learned by means of comparing small-scale fisheries targeting benthic resources in several countries.
Lobo is a Research Scientist at the National Patagonic Center, Puerto Madryn, Argentine Patagonia. Born in Argentina, Lobo got his “licenciatura” degree in zoology from the University of La Plata. As a graduate student, he studied the systematics and biogeography of invertebrates (mostly polychaete worms) from the SW Atlantic. Later he moved to Patagonia and started a research project to support the management of scallops and other benthic resources. In 1977, during Argentina’s last military dictatorship, he was forced to leave his country and came to the University of Washington, Seattle, to earn a PhD under Vince Gallucci while simultaneously completing a doctorate in Argentina. He returned to Argentina in 2000 and joined the same center from three decades earlier. In 2000, he was awarded a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation and between 2002 -2005, was a Board member of the Marine Stewardship Council, interested in the certification of data-poor fisheries. Over the last 20 years, Lobo’s research has focused on the analysis and management of benthic fisheries, both in the USA and South America. Lobo has developed and continues to coordinate an extensive network of “learning communities” (fishers, managers and scientists) for the sustainable harvest of seabed resources.