Suriname corvina and acoupa weakfish - driftnet and trawl

FIP partners Sea Delight, Deep Sea Atlantic, Caribbean Sea Foods, Marisa Fisheries, Omicron Seafood, and CeDePesca have committed to the sustainability of the Suriname corvina and acoupa weakfish driftnet and trawling fisheries, and look forward to bringing about the necessary improvements in collaboration with other fishery stakeholders. 

Corvina (kandratiki, Cynoscion virescens) and acoupa weakfish (bang bang, Cynoscion acoupa) are between the most important commercial species of fish in Suriname and are fished by different fleets, including the artisanal driftnet fleet and the industrial trawling fleet.

In Suriname, the corvina and acoupa weakfish driftnet and trawling fisheries occur entirely within the waters of Suriname's Exclusive Economic Zone.  The driftnet fishery is conducted by open and closed Guyana boats using gillnets that are not anchored to the bottom but float with the tide.  On the other hand, the trawling fishery is conducted by Florida type trawling boats using otter trawl nets.

There has been no formal identification of stocks for Cynoscion virescens and Cynoscion acoupa along their geographical distribution; however, it is expected that the stock's biomass moves across fishing grounds in the Brazil-Guianas shelf.  This would mean that the stocks are most probably shared between Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, Venezuela (most probably along the Venezuelan Guayana region) and Brazil (most probably along the Brazilian Goiania region).  In 2019, a stock assessment (Willems, in press) was conducted for these species using data collected in Guyana and Suriname and a method appropriate for data-deficient situations.  The results indicate that both species are overexploited.  However, by improving management measures and fishery practices to keep fishing effort at appropriate levels in Suriname and by strengthening collaboration between countries in the region, the stocks could be rebuilt to their optimal level.

This FIP aims to solve those sustainability obstacles that were identified through an MSC Pre-Assessment conducted in July 2020, and FIP partners are keen to join efforts with other stakeholders in the supply chain to attain a certifiable status for the fisheries.