The SOS Pesca Project: A Multinational and Intersectoral Collaboration for Sustainable Fisheries, Marine Conservation and Improved Quality of Life in Coastal Communities.

Abstract

Healthy fisheries, particularly small-scale fisheries, are closely linked to prosperous and healthy coastal communities and resilient marine environments. Cuba's marine and coastal ecosystems are highly biodiverse and support fisheries vital to food security and the national economy. Cuban government and state institutions, scientists, managers and fishers-along with colleagues from other countries-have expressed growing concern about the decline of fishing resources. In 2012, under the aegis of the National Center for Protected Areas, Cuban institutions from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment and the Ministry of Foreign Investment partnered with the Italian nongovernmental organization, COSPE Onlus, to launch SOS Pesca, a four-year project to achieve sustainable fisheries management, conserve marine habitats and improve quality of life in two Cuban fishing communities (Guayabal in Las Tunas Province and Playa Florida in Camagüey Province). SOS Pesca involved the municipal governments of Amancio Rodríguez (in Las Tunas Province) and Florida (in Camagüey Province), delegates to the Municipal Assembly of People's Power (municipal government) from Guayabal (Amancio Rodríguez Municipality) and Playa Florida (Florida Municipality), the state-owned fishing industry, private fishers, local families, protected area officials and staff scientists, municipal governments and international nongovernmental organizations. By the end of 2012, a new US-Cuban collaboration emerged when COSPE recruited Environmental Defense Fund to provide scientific and technical support, trainings and exchanges focused on fisheries. SOS Pesca succeeded at community, regional fishing zone and national levels. Outcomes included: an assessment of finfish identifying species most vulnerable to fishing (methods and capacities), a proposed management plan for finfish, a National Plan of Action for sharks and rays, two marine protected areas established, increased employment through socioeconomic alternatives, revitalization of community environmental brigades, and greater capacity to use fishery assessment methods and develop management strategies. Perhaps the greatest achievement was communities' and fishers' changed perceptions of their marine environment, the need for conservation and sustainable resource management, and their active role in this objective. SOS Pesca spurred a more participatory form of integrated marine and coastal management in Cuba-one that integrates fisheries and spatial management, links fishing families and coastal communities with scientists and administrators to find solutions that support sustainability, and connects economic alternatives to community-based conservation and improved food security. This innovative multinational collaboration benefited coastal communities, marine and coastal ecosystems and international cooperation.