Area 77 (Pacific, Eastern Central)

A mixed-species hook and line FIP is being carried out in the Gulf of California in the region known as the San Cosme-Punta Coyote Corridor, in the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico. This FIP began its “Phase 0: Identification” in mid-2017 with the target of a finfish fishery comprising about 33 main species fished with hook and line.

For the analysis and management of this fishery, an indicator species approach was used, using the proposed modification of the MSC Standard for mixed-species fisheries. The species identified as indicators are assumed to be representative of the rest of the species harvested. Therefore, the measures adopted and improvements accomplished in these indicator species should have a positive impact on the rest of the species. The indicator species are those listed below in this FIP profile. At the outset of this project, the fishing cooperatives located in the northern area of the corridor are participating in the FIP, with the goal that other fishing organizations and independent fishermen from the southern part of the corridor can be incorporated.

This fishery is small-scale carried out in outboard motors vessels. There are fishing cooperative and independent fisherman permits. As a result of the pre-assessment of the fishery, there is the intention to address all those performance indicators that have been scored in red and yellow, and the implementers will evaluate if it is necessary to follow up on any indicator scored in green. Equally as important, the additional impacts related to the commercialization of the product will also be addressed.

The Panama Republic is a relatively small country in surface (75,000 Km²), but has a substantial biological potential as seafood producing country thanks to its geographic location. Panama coasts add up to 2,988 kilometers, 1,700 in the Pacific and 1,288 in the Caribbean. The continental shelf has an extension of 250,900 Km² and the Exclusive Economic Zone reaches 319,188 Km².

The fishing activity in Panama occurs mostly in the Pacific Ocean with 95% of the total. The Gulf of Panama upwelling during the dry season is the basis for the relevant fishing activities in the Panamanian waters. The industrial fishing operates in the Pacific Ocean and focus on shrimp, small pelagics for reduction, tuna, dolphin fish and finfish species, being the export markets the main objective. Except for tuna and dolphin fish, the rest of the target species are in critical status.

At the end of last century, the tuna and dolphin fish longline fishery had a strong and important evolution in terms of income and generation of jobs. The export of fresh tuna and dolphin fish initially, and later the frozen presentations were the factors boosting the Panama exports. The growing demand and the seasonal abundance of these transnational resources, generated the fishing effort increment with the inclusion of all kind of vessels, including shrimp trawlers transformed and adapted to the target species and market.

According to the IATTC, the tuna and dolphin fish stocks in the Eastern Pacific Ocean are not overexploited but close to their maximum yield. However, the generalized lack of biological information of the target species and the fishery environmental impacts difficult the design and implementation of harvest strategies and harvest control rules which would allow to maintain the target species populations at healthy levels, mitigate the environmental impacts and satisfy the increasing social and environmental responsibility demands at the markets for the Panamanian production.

The fishery being assessed is the Marpesca Panama longline fishery. The fishery operates in the Eastern Pacific Ocean high seas and Panama EEZ and targets yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus). The fishery is regionally managed by the Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

The FIP first launched as the Western and Central Pacific albacore and yellowfin tuna longline FIP but after a scope extension in October 2021 and again in August 2022, the fishery now targets albacore (Thunnus alalunga), bigeye (Thunnus obesus), skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares). The longline vessels are flagged to China, Taiwan, Fiji, Vanuatu and Panama and fish on the high seas and within the EEZ’s of Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, USA (American Samoa), Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The fishery is managed regionally by the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in the WCPO and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATCC) in the EPO.

In mid-2018, Environmental Defense Fund of Mexico (EDF) and Pronatura Noroeste (PNO) established a FIP for chocolate clams (Megapitaria squalida), in the Lagoon System of Altata-Ensenada del Pabellón, Sinaloa, Mexico. Since 2014, EDF and PNO, in coordination with the federal, state and municipal authorities, academia and fishing sector, have been developing a Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) for this Lagoon System, which recommends gathering data on the state of the fishery's health with a focus on defining management tools that help improve the conditions of the bivalve resource. This FIP defines the actions that should be taken to make these improvements and can define better market conditions as well. On November 6, 2018, the FIP held its first workshop, in which 69 people participated, representing the different sectors that are involved with the fishery. A working group was created, whose task was to design a FIP work plan, with actions, specific tasks and responsibilities. The a Minute of Agreements with the working group was signed, which constituted the first step to ensure the commitment of the members of this group and their participation in the FIP.
In 2022, the chirla clam was incorporated into the FIP with the purpose of carrying out the improvements that are being made in the FIP to this species of environmental and economic importance, for which a new assensment and work plan was made.

The main needs of this fishery involves the development of an adequate harvest strategy and the design of harvest control tools that respond to the state of the resource, in addition to formalizing the decision-making processes. The stakeholders of this FIP are actively working towards the fulfillment of these objectives, so in 2023 this FIP changed from basic to comprehensive.