Fisheries Improvement Project Coordinator
*This is a prospective position: the project is under review, and we are assessing if volunteer support is available.
to apply email:
trevor.eakes@ecowb.org &
cleve.steward@ecowb.org.
Project name: Jiquilisco Bay, El Salvador, Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP)
Organization: Jiquilisco Bay Alliance
Website: www.ecopa.org
Project Location: Jiquilisco Bay, El Salvador
Volunteer Type: Remote, with possible field opportunities for the right volunteer.
Time commitment: To be arranged between volunteer, EcoWB and the Alliance.
Requirements:
- Minimum Spanish intermediate advanced to fluent is essential.
- Advanced Knowledge of Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP) concepts, applications and procedures
- Fisheries data-limited stock assessment techniques
Desirable:
- Experience working with community-based fisheries, preferably in Latin American countries
- Familiarity with Social Responsibility Assessment Tools for the seafood sector
Activities
- Expert FIP consultations to promote sustainable fisheries and socio-economic well-being.
- Outreach to identify local civic leaders, fisheries biologists, government officals, and private actors in the supply chain (e.g., suppliers, retailers, fishing industry)to support the FIP.
- Help start a FIP Pre-Assessment, including evaluation of the local fisheries, ecosystem, regulatory and management structure; and identification of current challenges
Project Overview:
The Jiquilisco Bay Alliance (formerly ECOPA), a California-based non-profit organization desires to partner with EcoWB on a sustainable fisheries project in Jiquilisco Bay of El Salvador. Our team consists of policy professionals and international development specialists[PH1] with close ties to the communities of the Jiquilisco Bay region. ECOPA has developed close ties to several organizations in the region, notably the Asociación Cincahuite in Puerto Parada and Asociación Mangle in the Lower Lempa region. Over the past several years ECOPA has provided technical and financial support to these organizations to further their community-focused missions, which involve fisheries-related work and mangrove restoration.
ECOPA proposes to forge a partnership with EcoWB that would leverage the expertise and experience of our two organizations, enabling us to empower local stakeholders and communities to reduce the impacts limited fisheries management, the decline of mangroves, and the local and global effects of climate change. By promoting scientifically sound, culturally sensitive and economically sustainable policies and actions, ECOPA and EcoWB can help local residents attain the quality of life they desire for themselves and future generations.
Background:
The Jiquilisco Bay (Figure 1)[PH1] supports one of the largest expanses of mangrove forests in Central America and is of vital importance for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and the livelihood of thousands of artisanal fishers in the region. This importance has been recognized by by its designation as both a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance.
While ecologically rich, the region remains one of the economically poorest in El Salvador, with a per capita income of around $50 per month in Puerto Parada. It is a region also susceptible to flooding and salt-water intrusion, which will only worsen with continued sea-level rise.
Asociación Cincahuite emerged out of a social movement to address community concerns and meet the ecological and human needs of the region. The small organization, which legally incorporated in 2011, runs childhood nutrition, flood relief, and mangrove reforestation programs and projects. Yet their program Pesca Limpia (clean fishing) has arguably garnered the most beneficial gains for both the community and the mangroves they depend on. Working with four fishing cooperatives, Asociación Cincahuite successfully ended fishing with explosives after a decade-long campaign against the destructive, yet once widespread practice in the region.
Fishermen in the cooperatives use handlines, baited with shrimp from small skiffs to catch pargo (red snapper), robalo (sea bass), among other species. Each cooperative has a vivero (nursery) where they fish daily. The viveros sit atop artificial reefs which were constructed with concrete-coated cubes made of PVC pipes with funding from USAID and support from the Salvadoran Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (MARN). Since the initial cooperation with the government environmental ministry, the artificial reefs now stand in legal limbo, a fact that would have to be addressed in an FIP.
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