Kyrstn Zylich

Reconstructing Panama's Total Fisheries Catches from 1950 to 2010: Highlighting Data Deficiencies and Management Needs

With extensive coastlines bordering the Pacifi c and Atlantic (Caribbean) Oceans, Panama has a valuable fi sheries resource base. While the exploitation of these resources began long ago, it was not until the 1960’s that Panama’s most fi nancially lucrative fi shery developed—a reduction fi shery, mainly for Pacifi c anchoveta, Cetengraulis mysticetus, and Pacifi c thread herring, Opisthonema spp. Today, this fi shery continues to convert large quantities of small pelagic species into fi shmeal and oil for export. Also economically important is the fi shery for shrimp, Penaeidae, which began in the 1950’s, mainly for export. The remaining fi sheries of the country were slower to develop, and consequently, domestic consumption remained low in the early years. As new fi sheries eventually developed and expanded, monitoring and the collection of catch data lagged. Aside from the major fi sheries for export, fi sheries catch data in Panama have not been adequately collected and/or made publicly available, with the offi cial landings statistics representing but a portion of what is truly being extracted from Panamanian waters. Here, we present a fi rst attempt at estimating total marine fi sheries catches, including all fi sheries subsectors and components. Our estimate of 8.59 million t for 1950–2010 suggests substantial under-reporting, with the total reconstructed catch being almost 40% higher than the offi cial landings as supplied by Panama to the FAO for the 1950–2010 time period (6.15 million t). For Panama to continue deriving benefi ts from its fi sheries resources, management measures are urgently needed, which include collecting detailed catch data for all its fi sheries, territorial waters planning, and an overall reorganization of the fi shing sector, including government agencies. Introduction Panama is located in Central America, and is the geographical divide between the South and North American continents, with (since the early 20th century) a canal connecting important shipping routes between the Atlantic and Pacifi c Oceans. Costa Rica is the nearest neighbor to the west, while Colombia is to the southeast. Early explorers of the country must have seen the potential for fi sheries as the name Panama means “abundance of fi sh” (Holston, 1963). With its extensive coast relative to inland areas, Panama has a large and productive Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), measuring 331,465 km2 (VLIZ, 2012). The Panamanian EEZ includes both Atlantic (Caribbean) and Pacifi c waters, with the Pacifi c being much more productive biologically than the Caribbean (Fiedler et al., 1943). Domestic fi sheries were somewhat slow to develop in Panama, with much of the locally consumed fi sh being imported in the 1940’s (Fiedler et al., 1943). With the development of an important industrial Penaeidae shrimp fi shery in the early 1950’s and a fi shmeal production industry in the 1960’s, fi sheries started to play a much more prominent role in the Panamanian economy. Panama’s shrimp fi shery is concentrated on the Pacifi c coast in the Gulf of Panama and Gulf of Chiriqui (Fig. 1) with shrimping taking place mainly from May to July and October to December (Pruett et al., 1975). Several species of shrimp are targeted, including three species of blancos or white shrimp, Litopenaeus occidentalis, L. stylirostris, and L. vannamei; camaron rojo or pink shrimp, Farfantepenaeus brevirostris, and two species of seabob, Xiphopenaeus kroyeri and Protrachypene precipua (Pruett et al., 1975). In the 1970’s, management measures were put in place in an attempt to prevent over-exploitation of the valuable shrimp resources (e.g., restricting the number and power of vessels and limiting the harvest season: Pruett et al., 1975). For example, in 1973 there were 232 shrimp vessels limited to 250 horsepower engines and a fi shing season from mid-February to mid-April. However, these management measures were poorly enforced, and some measures were subsequently abandoned (Pruett et al., 1975), except for seasonal bans, which continue to be enforced. A recent report indicated that all shrimp trawl vessels (since 2005) must be equipped with Turtle Exclusion Devices (TED’s), and to better enforce regulations, all shrimp trawlers are required to depart and land at accredited ports or face heavy fi nes, particularly for repeat offences (Martinez et al., 2005). A small lobster fi shery exists on both Pacifi c and Atlantic coasts, al-

The marine fisheries in Bulgaria's Exclusive Economic Zone, 1950-2013

The aim of this study is to reconstruct the total historic catch of Bulgarian marine fisheries in their Exclusive Economic Zone for the time period 1950-2013, including unreported landings, discards, recreational and subsistence catches from the ecosystem. The landings data officially reported by Bulgaria to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for the Mediterranean and Black Seas (FAO Area 37) were revised in line with all available information. The reconstructed total catch for 1950-2013 was 1.7 times the (adjusted) baseline data reported by Bulgaria to FAO and 1.5 times the unadjusted data as reported by FAO. This study revealed major deficiencies which exist in the officially reported Bulgarian catch data, foremost being the large amount of unreported industrial catches, especially for the last two decades. Furthermore, the exclusion of some fisheries sectors, notably the absence of data on the subsistence and recreational fisheries in reported data are also noteworthy.

Reconstruction of Syria’s fisheries catches from 1950–2010:signs of overexploitation

Background. The global community infers trends in fi sheries through the catch data assembled by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) from its member countries. Thus, inferences depend on the quality of the member country data, and hence their national data collection systems. Syria’s national catch data are assembled from market assessments (market sales) from a subset of fi sh markets, therefore exclude non-commercial landings and direct sales that by-pass markets. Furthermore, discards are also not accounted for. Our goal was to provide comprehensive estimates of Syrian marine catches for 1950–2010 by fi shing sectors plus major discards, using a catch reconstruction approach. Materials and methods. Catches were estimated from 1950–2010, by industrial (large-scale commercial), artisanal (small-scale commercial), recreational (small-scale non-commercial), and subsistence (small-scale non-commercial) sectors, plus major discards. We reviewed published literature, grey literature, and unpublished data from local experts to obtain a fi rst comprehensive estimate of total Syrian catches (landings + discards). Results. The reconstructed catch for 1950–2010 (including reported data) is nearly 170 000 t, which is 78% more than Syria reports to the FAO. By 2010, reconstructed catch was over 2 times the reported data. The reconstruction added 74 000 t of unreported catches, consisting of 38 600 t of artisanal-, 16 000 t of industrial-, 4000 t of recreational-, and 3000 t of subsistence catches, plus around 12 000 t of discards. Syrian fi sheries are dominated by the artisanal sector (67% of total catch, including discards), while industrial, recreational and subsistence catches account for 29%, 3%, and 2%, respectively. Discards accounted for 7% of total catch. Conclusion. Our reconstructed catch estimates for Syria provide a comprehensive account of total removals by Syria for 1950–2010. This study also supports other observations that the state of the fi sheries is declining due to overexploitation, as suggested by the observed increase in fi shing effort, declining CPUE and the amount of juvenile fi sh in catches. More effective management measures are needed to ensure Syrians can benefi t more from their local fi sheries.

Reconstruction of domestic marine fisheries catches for Oman (1950-2015)

Domestic marine fisheries in Oman are increasingly viewed as the eventual economic alternative to the soon to be depleted oil reserves. This has galvanized the Omani government to invest in the management of its marine living resources. This study aims to provide a better estimation of Omans domestic marine fisheries catches that can be used to improve fisheries management in the country. Using the catch reconstruction approach, total domestic marine fisheries catches by Oman are estimated for the time period 1950-2015, including reported and previously unreported large-scale and small-scale commercial catches, subsistence, and recreational catches, as well as major discards. Catches from the Omani exclave, Musandam, are estimated separately, given this governorate’s geographical separation from the rest of Oman. Reconstructed total catches increased from around 64,000 t∙year-1 in the 1950s to over 200,000 t·year-1 in the 2000s, which are overall 1.2 times the landings reported by the FAO on behalf of Oman. Fish stocks need to be sustainably managed to allow long-term economic viability. This cannot be done without the improvement of fisheries statistical systems around the world, including in Oman.