US embassy cable - 05QUITO2184

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 QUITO 002184 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS TO USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV, EAID, EFIS, ECON, PGOV, PREL, EC, Environment 
SUBJECT:  GALAPAGOS: PROGRESS ON ALTERNATIVES TO COMMERCIAL 
FISHING 
 
REF: Quito 1828 
 
1.  Summary.  Despite lackluster efforts by the GOE, the 
search for sustainable alternatives to commercial fishing in 
the Galapagos is progressing.  Projects initiated by USAID 
and NGOs are beginning to generate new economic 
opportunities that could reduce the pressure on extractive 
fishing practices.  Although not ideal, these projects have 
brought the often-ostracized fishing community back into the 
consultative process.  End Summary. 
 
ALTERNATIVES TO COMMERCIAL FISHING 
---------------------------------- 
 
2. Along with the stability of the Galapagos National Park 
(GNP) and the reduction of illegal immigration to the 
islands, the development of sustainable alternatives to 
commercial fishing is considered critical to marine 
conservation in the Galapagos.  Despite any complementary 
program support from the GOE (reftel), projects initiated by 
USAID and its nine-member alliance of international and 
local NGOs have registered initial success with micro- 
financing and technical assistance programs.  The programs 
help the fishing sector tap into the lucrative tourism 
market as a source of income and provide an alternative to 
other profitable but environmentally-damaging fishing 
practices, including the (frequently illegal) extraction of 
sea cucumbers and shark fins. 
 
3.  Galapez, the first fish processing plant in the 
Galapagos, recently used technical assistance from the USAID- 
led Alliance to equip and administer the plant and to 
develop a commercial relationship with tour operators. 
Before, all fish served on the larger tour boats were 
purchased on the Ecuadorian mainland.  This practice 
bypassed the local fishing community and undermined their 
efforts to produce value-added products.  Fish processed by 
Galapez are migratory species whose capture does not 
undermine the viability of the marine environment.  As 
volume increases, Galapez, which has a relationship with the 
fishing cooperative COPESPROMAR, will provide an important 
source of employment to both women and men from within the 
fishing community on the island of San Cristobal. 
 
4.  A grant made last week by USAID will allow COPROPRAG, 
the fishing cooperative on the island of Santa Cruz, to 
develop a similar commercial venture.  Earlier efforts to 
initiate a fish processing plant lacked the necessary 
infrastructure and technical planning that the USAID grant 
will provide.  CORPOPAG Director Kleber Lopez indicated that 
some 40% of the 240 members of the cooperative would 
directly benefit from the venture.  Lopez considers this an 
important step in their search for alternative sources of 
income for fishermen from his island. 
 
5.  Meanwhile, a women's cooperative on the island of 
Isabella utilized USAID funding to develop a fish-smoking 
operation that sells to tourists on the island.  The 
operation is already commercially viable and no longer 
relies on USAID funding.  A parallel effort by USAID also 
has helped another women's cooperative develop artisan 
products for direct sale to tourists.  In both cases, the 
members of these cooperatives are the wives of fishermen. 
Participating in a tourism fair this week, both cooperatives 
are actively marketing their products to tour operators. 
Recent financial success for both of these projects has 
garnered a positive response from the island's initially 
suspicious fishing community. 
 
BRINGING FISHERMEN BACK INTO THE FOLD 
------------------------------------- 
 
6. Buoyed by the success of these USAID-led projects, the 
fishing community has developed its own initiatives.  Most 
promising is their recent proposal to allow tourists to 
accompany fishermen and experience firsthand how artisan 
fishermen work and live.  This practice currently is not 
allowed under the Special Law that governs activities in the 
Galapagos.  Under the proposal, fishermen would adapt their 
vessels for tourists, limiting the vessels' use for 
extractive fishing practices.  A similar plan developed by 
the fishing community involves the use of fishing boats for 
scuba diving expeditions.  The Joint Management Forum (JMP), 
which incorporates other stakeholders such as the tourism 
sector, the scientific community, and local government 
officials into the Galapagos policy-making process, approved 
by consensus the artisan fishing proposal at their most 
recent meeting.  The JMP has since passed the proposal on to 
the Inter-Institutional Management Authority (IMA) for 
implementation.  The JMP and IMA together constitute a two- 
tier advisory and governing system in the Galapagos. 
 
7.  The involvement of fishermen in the search for 
sustainable economic opportunities is a major positive 
development.  Over the past 18 months, representatives of 
the fishing sector had been refusing to participate in JMP 
meetings to protest what they felt was the excessive blame 
they received with respect to recent failures in the GNP's 
management.  Their absence effectively sabotaged the 
development of sustainable policies for the islands. 
Although the GOE failed to put pressure on the fishermen to 
return to the participatory forum, the success of the USAID- 
led projects brought the fishermen back into a productive 
dialogue.  The fishing community's change of heart also 
reflects a positive response to the attention paid to their 
community by these projects.  Historically, there has been 
little concern shown by other stakeholders to the fishing 
community's economic prospects. 
 
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES? 
------------------------ 
 
8.  While the effort to provide the fishing community with 
new economic alternatives is laudable, the success of these 
projects may inadvertently make the Galapagos more 
attractive to mainland Ecuadorians seeking employment. 
Mainland immigrants already are attracted by greater 
economic opportunities and a higher quality of life in the 
Galapagos.  Estimates of the current population suggest an 
unsustainable 25,000 inhabitants with annual growth rates 
from 6-10%, raising serious solid waste management and other 
environmental concerns.  Creating new economic opportunities 
could exacerbate these problems.  Although plans exist for 
robust immigration control to better manage and limit 
immigration to the islands, the GOE has yet to implement 
them.  The GOE's poor record with respect to controlling 
immigration to the islands suggests a worst-case outcome. 
 
9.  In addition, these new projects and proposals do little 
to directly keep fishermen from maintaining their 
unsustainable (and sometimes illegal) fishing practices. 
Indeed, none of these projects actually provides training to 
help fishermen enter a different productive sector, that is, 
to leave their boats and their fishing world behind.  As 
long as the boats remain, a return to prior fishing practice 
is possible.  In this sense, the fishing community has 
expanded its economic options without taking steps to shut 
down operations that threaten the marine reserve. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
10.  The success of these and similar projects in reducing 
environmentally harmful fishing will depend on the sincerity 
of the fishing community and the willingness of the GOE to 
control migration to the islands.  Fishermen have for years 
been clamoring for alternative economic opportunities to 
allow them to leave their lucrative but destructive 
practices.  Now that these options are emerging, it is up to 
them to take the next step.  This should be easier with the 
active assistance of the other stakeholders, all of whom 
share responsibility for conserving the marine reserve. 
 
JEWELL