Ecuador South Eastern Pacific swordfish - longline

FRIGOLAB SANMATEO, PROPEMAR, and TRANSMARINA will work together to achieve Marine Stewardship Council certification for the fishery.

This Fishery Improvement Project builds on the results of the MSC Pre-Assessment of the swordfish (Xiphias gladius) longline fishery carried out by independent consultant Cynthia Fernandez in March 2019.

In this pre-assessment, two Units of Certification (UoC) were identified:

UoC1: Artisanal Ecuadorian longline fleet (Nodrizas)

• Gear: Longline
• Target species: Swordfish (Xiphias gladius)
• Stock: South East Pacific (EPO)
• Fishing areas: FAO Zone 87/ Ecuadorian EEZ
• RFMO: IATTC

UoC2: Industrial Ecuadorian longline fleet

• Gear: Longline
• Target specie: Swordfish (Xiphias gladius)
• Stock: South East Pacific (EPO)
• Fishing areas: FAO Zone 87
• RFMO: lATTC

The fishing grounds of the Ecuadorian artisanal large pelagic fishery are located between 05°00'N and 15°00'S, and up to the 100°00'W meridian of the Galapagos archipelago. Ecuadorian artisanal fisheries are multi-species fisheries that operate throughout the year and are defined by two main seasons related to the targeted large pelagic fish species.  One is mainly oriented towards mahi-mahi fishing and the other includes tuna, billfishes, and sharks. 

This fishery started gradually in the mid-1970s, but experienced a major expansion during the 1990s and 2000s. The traditional fishing areas, which were initially less than 40 m from the coast, have gradually expanded over the years to 1,400 m from the mainland coast, passing through the Galapagos archipelago, establishing what is now known as the "oceanic-artisanal fishery" in Ecuador.

The artisanal fleet consists of a mother ship (mother ship) which is defined as a fishing vessel that tows a series of artisanal longliners (made of fibreglass) to distant fishing grounds, and whose purpose is to fish, supply water, fuel, nurseries, bait and other fishing inputs and in turn store the catch obtained by artisanal fishing vessels in their farms (Agreement 407. Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries. 12 October 2011- Art. 1).  In the billfish fishery (including swordfish and other larger pelagics) up to a maximum of six small fibreglass trawlers will be allowed (Agreement 407. Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries. 12 October 2011- Art. 3). In 2019, the number of motherships was 106 according to data from the Undersecretariat of Fisheries Resources. It is estimated that mothership operations produce up to 80% of the total catch of the artisanal fishery.

High seas fishing is not regulated by any management measures except the prohibition of fishing in Galapagos waters.

The industrial longline fleet is composed of vessels up to 50 m in length, with motorised gear for medium-depth longlining targeting a range of large pelagic species, including tuna and billfish.  In 2019, the fleet would be composed of 93 vessels, according to information provided by the Undersecretariat for Fisheries Resources.