Have Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) adequately addressed key needs to monitor and mitigate fishery impacts on endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) species? A review, with recommendations to the supply chain

Abstract

ABSTRACT Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) are time-bound, public efforts to improve specific aspects of environmental or sustainability performance in a fishery. They rely upon a joint effort by seafood stakeholders to leverage action to move a fishery toward greater sustainability through developing and implementing better policies, management and fishing practices, supported in part by the supply chain exercising informed purchasing choices of fisheries products. This study sought to examine available evidence of the ability of FIPs, through the actions of the FIP participants if successfully implemented in the future, to galvanize conservation and sustainability improvements in fisheries at various spatial and jurisdictional scales. Twenty-seven publicly reported FIPs (and their associated fisheries) were reviewed to: (1) identify endangered, threatened, or protected (ETP) species interactions with the fisheries considered, (2) analyse which FIPs had planned or were already implementing measures to specifically address aspects of bycatch of ETP species, (3) identify new or additional necessary improvement actions for ETP species in FIP workplans, and (4) develop general guidance to improve the development of the ETP-related components of FIP workplans. Out of the FIPs included for final consideration, only two appeared to have no interactions with ETP species. We identified three main areas related to addressing ETP bycatch where the remaining FIP workplans were found to be inadequate: (1) mitigation, (2) monitoring, and (3) stakeholder engagement. In addition, six key recommendations to FIP implementers and stakeholders were developed.