Triple bottom line assessment for the historically underperforming Colombian queen conch fishery

Abstract

The rebuilding of a collapsed fishery is a daunting management challenge as multi-faceted evaluations are required to assess the current and potential performance of the fishery system. Single-dimension analyses such as stock abundance assessments are only partially effective in determining the best course of action in this type of scenarios. This study relied on the Fishery Performance Indicators (FPIs) – a rapid assessment tool for measuring economic, social and ecological outcomes from fishery management systems – to analyze performance and rebuilding challenges for the Colombian queen conch (Aliger gigas) fishery. The ecological and economic indicators clearly revealed an underperforming fishery, even when compared to other fisheries from developing countries. However, higher scores were achieved in the community (social) indicators, reflecting the socio-economic and cultural importance of the fishery even when operating at a subsistence level. In addition to ecological considerations, managerial and economic factors play an important role in the rebuilding of the resource. Bioeconomic modeling of the fishery is strongly recommended to contribute useful economic advice to the policy-making process, which has been traditionally guided by biological considerations such as maximization of sustainable yield.