Measuring Impact

Research that works for developing countries and Australia

 

Improving sustainability and profitability of village sea cucumber fisheries in Solomon Islands

Project ID:
FIS/2003/051
Collaborating Countries:
Solomon Islands
Project Locations
Commissioned Organisation:
WorldFish Center, New Caledonia
Project Leader
Dr Warwick Nash
Phone: 687 262000
Fax: 687 263818
Email: w.nash@cgiar.org
Collaborating Institutions:
  • Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Solomon Islands
  • WorldFish Center, Solomon Islands
Project Budget:
$400,000
Project Duration:
01/01/2005 - 31/12/2008
ACIAR Research Program Manager
Mr Barney Smith
Project Overview

In many parts of the Solomon Islands sea cucumber fisheries are an important or even primary income source. This is also often the case in other Pacific Island countries. Sea cucumbers are being overfished with increasing rapidity, a situation that will result in the collapse of fisheries if left unchecked. Recent unrest has significantly reduced earning capacity, making sea cucumber a viable short-term income option. Many villagers have limited knowledge of processing, are uncertain on pricing and current market values, so receive less income than is possible. This is promoting overfishing. Once depleted sea cucumber fisheries take decades to recover. A community-based approach to these problems will assist communities to optimise returns without depleting resources.

Project Progress Reports
Year One

Progress was made in 2005 with the following activities conducted:
A project implementation workshop was held over 3 days in Honiara in April 2005. Twenty people participated in the workshop, in addition to the ACIAR project team. Participants included representatives from Kia community (first project site, Isabel Province), Minister for Natural Resources-Isabel Province, Provincial Senior Fisheries Officer-Isabel Province, UNDP-Isabel Province Development Program, the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources (DFMR), the International Waters Program, the Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International (FSPI) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

In May/June 2005 the project team undertook the first project visit to Kia to conduct village surveys using a questionnaire approach. The surveys covered all 159 households in the community. The four components of the survey were: (i) household socioeconomic conditions, (ii) community utilisation and perceptions of the sea cucumber fishery, (iii) community business operations and development, and (iv) community leadership and governance. The survey report is presented in Appendix 1. Until the ban on sea cucumber fishing in December (see below), there was a high reliance on the bche-de-mer fishery for income in Kia. Trends in the catch over time (fishing location, species harvested, catch rates, fishing methods) gave clear evidence of population declines, probably caused directly by fishing. Despite this, little or no effort was being made to modify fishing habits to reduce fishing pressure.

Discussions on sea cucumber stock assessment, the use of the traditional tambu system of rotational closures as a component of fishery management measures, and the creation of a community Bche-de-mer Project Management Committee were also initiated during the May/June trip in preparation for the next visit in August. The August trip didn't eventuate as, shortly after the May/June survey was conducted, a ban on the export of bche-de-mer was announced by the DFMR. (The public notices of the impending ban are shown in Appendix 2. The ban, the events leading up to it, and future plans for the fishery and its management are described by Nash and Ramofafia (in press), see Appendix 3.) The ban was put into effect on 1 December. This necessitated a realignment of project objectives because the community was reluctant to engage in discussions of management options for the fishery, or to develop a community fishery management plan, for a resource they could no longer fish. As well, there was no fishing activity to which planned field activities could be linked. Importantly, there was a widespread misconception in Kia that the ban was introduced because of information given by Kia community members to the project team during the first survey. It was therefore necessary to reschedule project objectives and to engage with the community in various ways to regain their trust.

The project team conducted three visits to Isabel Province - one to Buala (the Provincial capital) and two to Kia. Meetings and discussions were held with Kia leaders during the Buala trip (June 2005). In addition, there was extensive public discussion and extensive awareness-raising in the Isabel Province community of the national fishing ban and its justification (the visit coincided with a week-long Provincial Trade Show). The Kia visits were undertaken in September and November 2005. In the September trip: i) clarified to the community the project team's involvement with the ban, in order to remove community misconceptions; ii) assessed in more detail, through further surveys, the impacts of the impending national bche-de-mer ban on the community; iii) provided insights into community organisation, governance and leadership through meetings with community members; and iv) gave training on participatory community management. Activities (iii) and (iv) were continued during the November trip.