Rapid Fisheries Sector Assessment - Three Bays National Park, Haiti

Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program Cooperative Agreement No. AID-OAA-A14-00064 Rapid Fisheries Sector Assessment Three Bays National Park, Haiti Submitted by James Miller, November 2015 This report is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of The Nature Conservancy and its partners (CaribSave, CEBSE, FOPROBIM, C-CAM, and SusGren) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. i Contents Acronyms ....................................................................................................................................................................... v Rapid Fisheries Sector Assessment of the Three Bays National Park.................................................... 2 1. Introduction........................................................................................................................................................... 2 1.1. Overview........................................................................................................................................................ 2 1.2. Objectives of This Report......................................................................................................................... 3 2. The Fisheries Sector ........................................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Institutional Support.................................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Constraints to Fisheries Development ................................................................................................... 5 3. Political and Socio-Economic Context....................................................................................................... 7 3.1 Lack of Institutional Support and Infrastructure................................................................................. 7 3.2. Socio-Economic Context.......................................................................................................................... 7 3.3. Value Chain .................................................................................................................................................. 8 4. The Three Bays National Park......................................................................................................................... 9 4.1 Physical Description of the 3BNP........................................................................................................... 9 4.2. Development on Land in Caracol........................................................................................................... 9 4.3 Fishers in the Three Bays National Park ............................................................................................10 4.4. Fisher Associations..................................................................................................................................14 4.5. Fishing Gear Used in the 3BNP...........................................................................................................15 4.6. Summary of Fishing Gear and Returns .............................................................................................18 4.7. Fish Catch Observations........................................................................................................................20 4.8. Drivers of Change....................................................................................................................................21 5. Community-Based Management .................................................................................................................22 5.1 Fishery Management Systems...............................................................................................................22 5.2. Management by Women........................................................................................................................23 6. Recommendations............................................................................................................................................24 6.1 Institutional Support (Brown Frames) ................................................................................................24 6.2. Role of Fisher Associations (Yellow Frames).................................................................................25 6.3. Protection of Natural Habitat (Green Frames) ................................................................................25 6.4. Elimination of Small-Mesh Seines (Red Frames)..........................................................................26 6.5. Ban on Destructive Fishing Practices (Red Frames).....................................................................26 6.6. Sea Farming (Brown Frames) ..............................................................................................................26 6.7. Management of Landing Sites and Education (Blue and Brown Frames)..............................26 6.8. Fisheries Value Chain Development (Dark Green Frames)........................................................27 ii 7. Indicators for Measuring Progress ..........................................................................................................29 8. References .........................................................................................................................................................37 iii TABLES 1. Fishers, Boats, and Commonly Used Fishing Gear in the Three Bays National Park …....11 2. Fisher Associations in the Three Bays National Park .........................................................15 3. Fishing Gear Use and Economic Returns ............................................................................17 4. Estimated Incomes of Haitian Fishers in the Three Bays National Park, August 2015 ......18 5. Species Observed in Fishermen’s Catch during the Rapid Fisheries Sector Assessment, August 2015……………………………………………………………………………………….......21 6. Findings of Socio-Economic Household Survey in the Three Bays National Park, August 2015...........................................................................................................................................35 7. Findings of Fisheries Survey in the Three Bays National Park, August 2015 .....................36 FIGURES 1. Google Earth Image of the Three Bays Park ….………………………………………….1 2. Vicious Circle Faced by Haitian Fishermen .......................................................................8 3. Temperatures and Rainfall in Northeast Haiti .....................................................................9 4. Fishers, Income, and Gear in the Three Bays National Park ….........................................19 5. Recommendations for Assisting Fishing Communities in the Three Bays National Park ............29 6. Calendar of Activities in the Fishing Communities in the Three Bays National Park ......37 APPENDIXES 1. List of Consultations / Meetings……………………………………………….……..……41 2. Terms of Reference……………………………………………………………….…..……42 3. Elements of a Typical Fishery Sector Review ….……………………………………..…… 4. Sample Table of Contents for Fisheries Assessment ..………………………………..…… 3. Excerpt of Fisheries Section in CMBP Technical Application …………………………… iv Acronyms ACP Fish II Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific Fisheries Program of the EU APD Asosyasyon Peche Derack APDK Association Paysans pour le Developpement de Caracol APF Association Pecheurs Fort Liberté APJ Asosyasyon Peche Jakzil ASJPF Association des Jeunes Pecheurs Fayeton ASPF Association Pecheur Fayeton BID Banque Inter-Americane de Développement (IDB in English) BMA Brigadier Maritime en Action CEPROBAC Cooperative Environnementale pour la Protection de la Baie de Caracol CFI Centre de Facilitation des Investissements CMBP Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program CPD Koperasyon Pech Derak DPAQ/DFAQ Department des Pêches etAquaculture – Dept. of Fisheries and Aquaculture EC European Commission EU European Union FAO Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FSAP Fisheries Sector Action Plan FOPROBIM Fondation pour la Protection de la Biodiversite Marine Gdes Gourdes – 52.8 gdes = $US 1.00 GPF Groupman Peche Fayeton IDB Inter-American Development Bank (BID in French) IUU Illegal, Unregulated, Undocumented (fishing) Kg Kilogram LMMA Locally Managed Marine Area M Million MARNDR Ministere de l’Agriculture, des Ressources Naturelles et du Developpement Rural MGW Mega Watt MPA Marine Protected Area MSC Monitoring, Surveillance and Control MT Metric Tons OMPBL Organisation Marins pour la Protection de Bord de Mer Limonade OPBL Organisation Pecheurs de Bord de Mer de Limonade OPDM Organisation pour le Développement Pêcheurs de Madras PIC Parc Industriel de Caracol; Industrial Park of Caracol RFSA Rapid Fisheries Sector Assessment 3BNP Three Bays National Park UGEBFO Unité de Gestion pour la Protection de la Baie de Fort Liberté v Figure 1. Google Earth Image of the Three Bays Park 1 Rapid Fisheries Sector Assessment of the Three Bays National Park 1. Introduction 1.1.Overview Few countries in the world face the environmental degradation found in Haiti, where the “tragedy of the commons” is on full display. The country has lost most of its forests, leaving its mountains bare, and massive erosion is causing heavy siltation over inshore bottom habitats and coral reefs. Most people live along the lower altitudes near the coast, in highly populated fishing communities that have overfished the inshore waters for decades and exploited valuable mangrove forests for charcoal. Haiti has a population of 10 million and an unemployment rate estimated at 40–60%. Many of these unemployed people turn to fishing, using practices that damage marine habitat and further tax fishery resources. The totally open-access fishery, with no control by government or by fishers, has resulted in gross overfishing along a narrow continental shelf of some 5000 km2. Haiti remains the most food insecure country in the western Hemisphere, and imports more than 50% of its food, including some 20,000 tons of fish per year (ACP Fish II, 2012). About 50,000 fishermen live in 400 fishing communities along the 1,770-km coast, operating at a subsistence, artisanal level and using basic gear and small (10–15 foot), wooden, locally made boats. The limited capacity of Haiti’s largely un-motorized, aging skiffs has further concentrated fishing in the inshore waters, as existing vessels are mostly powered by sail or oars and are inadequate for fishing in offshore waters. Haiti has 140 fisher associations, including 12 in the Three Bays National Park (3BNP) (Table 2). Haiti’s antiquated Fishing Law dates back to 1978, when François Duvalier ruled the country with top-down dictates. This law fails to adequately consider fishermen’s needs or establish co-management practices and is overdue for a revision. A number of official fisheries missions have proposed revisions in vain over the years. The marine environment in the Caribbean is composed of 82% marine waters and only 18% land (CARICOM, 2011). Institutionally, Haiti’s fisheries fall under the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR). Within this ministry, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture (DFAQ) is a neglected department with few staff and insufficient resources. Due to the lack of policy framework and enforced regulations, there is no effort to manage and conserve fisheries and marine resources. Therefore, fishermen have attempted to organize themselves through the 140 fisher associations to mitigate the decline in catch observed throughout the country. Unfortunately, no efforts have measurably reversed the decline in catch. Clearly, the fishermen have good intentions but lack the leadership capacity to carry out sustainable initiatives to improve their fisheries. Nevertheless, within the Three Bays National Park, all fishermen who were interviewed and who spoke at meetings expressed a desire for change and were supportive of Fondation pour la Protection de la Biodiversité Marine (FOPROBIM) leading an organized effort to reverse the decline in catch due to overfishing. The fish catch around Haiti has been declining for decades. The World Bank reported an average annual catch of 48,000 tons from 1991 to 1993, but the catch as reported by the FAO declined to 6,000 tons byBellmans 1999. Such numbers cannot be verified, but they do indicate a dramatic decline in catch. All 161 fishermen who were interviewed in the park stated that the declining catch was their major concern; clearly, the fishermen want to see change. The DFAQ reports fish production at some 13,000 tons per year (personal communication, Director of Fisheries) with a potential maximum range of 23,000 to 25,000 tons (presumably if the fisheries were in good condition). However, these figures cannot be confirmed, as there are no efforts 2 to collect fish catch data or document fishing activities with specific gear or boats. Including imports and local production, annual fish consumption is estimated to range from 1.7 kg to 4.5 kg per person (FAO, Breuil 1999; Felix, 2012), compared with 17 kg in Jamaica and 18 kg globally (Felix, 2012). Fish consumption is thought to be much higher in the 3BNP, but there are no data to quantify this. 1.2. Objectives of This Report This report presents the findings of a Rapid Fisheries Sector Assessment (RFSA) on the fisheries in the northeast part of Haiti in the 3BNP. This park is one of four seascapes (Jamaica; the Dominican Republic; Haiti; and the Grenadines-Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines) being evaluated by The Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program (CMBP). The program, which is funded by USAID for $US 10m over five years, is addressing major problems in these seascapes. Its goals are to diversify livelihoods and change other activities to protect biodiversity and develop sustainable fisheries. Among the four seascapes, Haiti faces the most challenges due to its high degree of poverty and lack of support. This report seeks to diagnose and analyze important problems, weaknesses, and opportunities to create a sustainable fisheries sector in the northeast part of Haiti. The assessment is based on meetings with stakeholders, focus groups, and fishermen, as well as questionnaires that involved double checking of responses carried out over a month in seven fishing communities within the 3BNP. The total population of these communities is estimated at 25,000. No census on these small towns was available, but an estimated 1,000 fishermen are primary users of the resource, in addition to 5,000–6,000 secondary users. These estimates account for about 25% of the total population in the seven fishing communities: Bord de Mer Limonade, Madras, Caracol, Jacquezyl, Phaeton, Fort Liberté, and Derac. The project is clearly a stakeholder-driven effort, built on extensive participatory efforts, often under challenging conditions. Due to the lack of statistics and the difficulties in obtaining accurate information, the findings of this assessment are somewhat irregular. They underline the need for serious data collection over time among the fishing communities. A concerted data collection effort should include a census of fishermen, gear, and vessels; organizations of fishers (associations or cooperatives); catch effort; seasonal trends; marketing; information that could be used to develop an efficient value chain; identification of major species; spatial overlap between fishers and spawning and nursery areas; and potentially length and maturity data of catch. Unfortunately, there are no catch data to answer many of the most pressing questions. Boundaries for fishing by community are not defined. However, the fishermen are starting to understand that their open-access fishery is contributing to overfishing, and they see the need to establish zones in their fishing grounds in order to protect their resource (a first step toward a closed-access fishery). Given the lack of government support to fisheries in this marginalized area of Haiti, it is very important to build the capacity of the Fishers Associations to gather information and sustainably manage the fisheries in the 3BNP, which is a Marine Protected Area (MPA). Proper management of marine protected areas calls for leadership capacity and technical skills. It is necessary to establish a learning network among stakeholders that can facilitate joint problem solving and reflection among stakeholders and fishers. This effort will involve a lengthy process of empowerment and building trust, but there is no alternative; problems facing fisheries in the 3BNP can only be solved from within and from the bottom up. Fisheries elsewhere have succeeded using this approach (Maina and Samoilys, 2011). In Haiti, it is essential for local partners to facilitate the capacity building of fisher associations and other key actors. Such partners could include the University of Limonade, the CFI, and others. Training programs for fishermen and associations should be carried out in Creole, the language most fishers speak. 3 2. The Fisheries Sector 2.1 Institutional Support 2.1.1. Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Fisheries in Haiti fall into three categories: 1) inland freshwater fisheries, 2) aquaculture, and 3) marine fisheries. They are led by the DFAQ, under the MARNDR, which focuses most of its limited resources on agriculture. The DFAQ has limited staff and most of their efforts are in the south, where several international projects are based, deploying important resources. More proactive leadership is needed to promote fisheries and management in the DFAQ, in order to put fisheries at a priority level to receive greater support at the MARNDR. Reports from several official missions on fisheries indicate that the department is a difficult collaborator, as shown by difficulties in organizing meetings with staff, getting replies to internet queries, and receiving information about fisheries. The MARNDR should focus on strengthening the department, clarifying and revising laws and regulations, and creating a professional career pathway for mid- to upper-level managers. The central roles of the department should be to create a workable institutional framework, provide technical support to fishers and fish farmers, and help the private sector develop sustainable fisheries. In addition, a Monitoring, Surveillance and Control (MSC) program for Haiti’s waters is needed. Such a program could reduce IUU (illegal, unreported, unregulated) fishing. The scale of IUU in Haiti is unknown, but it is an enormous problem globally, with an estimated $US 10–24 billion worth of fish caught illegally worldwide. This is the equivalent of 11–25 million tons of fish (World Bank/FAO, 2008; Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism, 2013). Without an operational Coast Guard to carry out MCS, the degree of IUU fishing off Haiti’s coasts cannot be determined. No data have been recorded on fish catch or production; thus, there are no fisheries statistics available. A census and registry of fishermen was called for in the Fisheries Law of 1977, but has not been completed. No efforts have been made to carry out research, nor is there a plan for professional career development of government officials to encourage them to work on fisheries. Co-management in fisheries should be at the core of the mission statement of the fisheries department. The sharing of power and responsibility between government and local resource users was not acceptable in 1977 when the Fisheries Law was established, because the law was created under dictatorial leadership. However, 38 years have passed, and all progressive fisheries institutions elsewhere embrace the participatory process for improved, rational management of fisheries. In Haiti, the government lacks resources and the fishermen lack management skills, but by working together to co-manage the fisheries, they can create a win / win situation to provide healthy livelihoods for the fishermen, develop sustainable fisheries, and collect data that show the system is working. 2.1.2. Inland Fisheries Inland fisheries are essentially to people living around continental water bodies, who depend on them for both water and fish. Haiti has three large lakes, along with a number of small dams in rural areas. Fish production from these water bodies totals some 600 tons of fish a year (Felix, 2012) and supports about 800 fishermen. Periodic droughts have greatly affected these water bodies, causing significant fluctuation in water level. 2.1.3. Aquaculture 4 Several private-sector freshwater fish farms have been developed, mainly for tilapia. An exhaustive review of fish farming in Haiti was carried out by a team of consultants funded by the European Commission through the ACP Fish II program in 2012. This study seriously questioned the DFAQ’s activities regarding importation of a predatory Asian catfish and suggested that encouraging commercial fish farming was unlikely to be economically viable because of the need to import expensive feeds and the competitive market for low-cost fish. Extensive rural fish farming exists in much of the country, but the lack of technical support from the DFAQ limits the success of rural farmers, who may practice fish farming integrated with pig or poultry farming. Nevertheless, the private-sector hatcheries do provide tilapia fingerlings for fish farming. This offers an opportunity for pilot cage-farming of tilapias in the estuarine and fresh water areas of the 3BNP, but only for non-invasive species (which includes tilapias) and only if arrangements can be made for sourcing fish feeds. To date, all efforts at cage-farming of fish have failed economically, as noted by fishermen in Fort Liberté and Etang Saumautre, near the capital city Port-au-Prince. 2.1.4. Marine Fisheries Haiti’s marine fisheries are largely non-mechanized, small-scale commercial operations that practice severe overfishing. Dramatic commentary on this problem appeared in an article in September 2011 in the New York Times about Haiti’s “Ailing Reef,” which linked significant reef die-offs to overfishing. Gregor Hodgson, director of an NGO which first noticed the die-off, told the Times, “It’s probably the worst overfishing I’ve seen anywhere in the world.” Haiti’s most productive fishing grounds are in the south, where there are thousands of fishermen and boats, including fiberglass boats, of which some 36% are motorized. Fishing contributes greatly to employment, food security and the local economy. A limited fisheries value chain has developed in the southern region, dominated by middlemen or intermediate buyers of fish, who have been successful in supporting fishermen with equipment and loans. Because they are poorly organized and have a highly perishable catch, the fishermen are vulnerable to entering inequitable relationships with buyers and becoming indebted to them, which is a common problem among artisanal fishers worldwide. How can this situation be changed? First, an improved value chain is needed with organized fishermen, designated landing sites with basic infrastructure (following pilot test sites, with the full backing of fishers’ associations), improved processing and handling of fish, and better marketing. Strong fishermen’s associations could improve marketing and reduce the number of middlemen, giving more income to the fishermen. This arrangement will be important in the larger CMBP. Increased fish production around the southern peninsula of Haiti is reported to benefit from installation of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) in the deeper waters, which attract high-quality pelagic fish. There is much debate about the impact of FADs in this region, but they, along with improved equipment and motorized boats, have contributed to increasing Haiti’s fish production to 16,000 tons in 2010 (personal communication, Director, DFAQ), a doubling of the estimated production from 2008 (Masters, 2010). Unfortunately, there are no catch data to support these estimates, and they appear to be baseless and made only to support the current fisheries project involving the DFAQ. How much can small-scale fishermen catch in a year? In other countries that collect some statistics, such as the neighboring country the Dominican Republic, artisanal fishermen may catch 1 to 2 metric tons per year. If fish are sold by weight at $US 1.50/kg, then a fisherman could earn $US 1,500/year or more. 2.2 Constraints to Fisheries Development Based on the literature, knowledge of Haiti over 30 years, and findings of the present mission, we present the following summary of constraints to development of sustainable fisheries: 5 Institutional 1. Lack of institutional framework for policy on fisheries resources 2. Absence of fisheries management 3. Lack of resources and weak capacity among government fisheries staff 4. Lack of organized landing sites with infrastructure for processing and storage 5. Lack of data on fish catch, effort, and population with which to track the fisheries a. Lack of information on the identification, distribution, abundance, life history, and spatial structure of the fisheries resources and fish habitats b. Lack of information to estimate seasonal variation in catch 6. Lack of a plan for sustainable fish production 7. Totally open-access fisheries 8. Fishermen’s lack of effective organization into Associations or Cooperatives 9. Lack of census and licenses for fishermen, and boats 10. Lack of research capacity for fisheries 11. Lack of a professional career track to promote fisheries officials to management positions 12. Lack of MSC in Haiti’s waters, due to lack of personnel and financial resources; no efforts are made to protect national waters or national parks Practical / Human Resources 13. Overfishing 14. Use of fine-mesh seines, causing degradation of fisheries and marine habitat 15. Limited education among fishermen, only 12% of whom are literate 16. Limited capacity of fishermen’s boats, permitting only inshore fishing. Boats are poorly constructed and too small for safe, extended fishing in the open sea; fishermen lack skills for extended open sea fishing (they are familiar with the use of nets, not long-line fishing) 17. No enforcement of fishing regulations in general, including restrictions on sizes of fish caught or seasons for fishing, as with lobster and conch 18. Lack of information on the spatial and temporal overlap between fisherman and natural resources, which is essential to designing spatial and temporal management regulations 19. Recruitment of many unemployed people who lack experience and skills to fisheries 20. Lack of alternative livelihoods Marketing / Value Chain 21. No fixed landing sites that have basic infrastructure 22. Limited use of ice for storage of catch 23. No quality control in fish handling 24. Vulnerability of fishermen to control by intermediate fish buyers 25. High post-harvest losses 26. Lack of marketing chain for fisheries 27. Lack of value-added fish products Because of the desperation among Haiti’s poor fishermen, who lack support from government, the marine fisheries have developed in a chaotic manner without regulations or restrictions on catch of immature, juvenile fish, mollusks, and crustaceans. Even though the majority of fishermen understand that there is overfishing, largely caused by the use of fine-mesh beach seines, they lack initiative to organize themselves to solve this problem. They remain in a vulnerable position, while the numerous fish buyers have virtually taken control of most of the fisheries. Haiti’s totally open-access fishery needs controls on the movements of fishermen to reduce overfishing. A more developed value chain created by strong fisher associations who market fish effectively could reduce the middlemen who prey on vulnerable fishermen. This could provide a more equitable relationship among stakeholders and consequently generate more income for the fishermen. 6 3. Political and Socio-Economic Context 3.1 Lack of Institutional Support and Infrastructure Haiti’s fishermen have not received institutional support from their government for decades, and there is no resource management at any level. Within the seven communities in the 3BNP, 81% of the fishermen claim they have never seen a government fisheries agent. This is a unique situation, as in most countries governments provide some form of management and enforcement of regulations, with technical support by fisheries extension agents and training. Nevertheless, the neglect by government institutions and poor leadership is ubiquitous in Haiti. The lack of government support for co-management or any system of management has prompted the establishment of more than 140 Fishermen’s Associations in the country. The Associations’ ability to effect change is in some cases handicapped by the fishermen’s low level of education, including a 10–12% literacy rate. In countries with sustainable nonindustrial fisheries, government infrastructure and regulation guides the fisheries. In Haiti, not only is there no organization and no support from government, fishermen are not even aware of the benefits of such infrastructure. On Haiti’s beaches, where fish are landed, conditions are often unsanitary due to potential large crowds of people and animals, including dogs and pigs. There are no stations for quantifying fish catch and collecting data. Ice is usually manufactured by block ice makers based in large population centers, trucked to fishing communities, and kept under sawdust in unsanitary conditions. There is no available cold storage in much of Haiti, apart from a few chest freezers. Ice is mainly used by women fish mongers in small quantities. Many fishermen do not take ice when they go fishing. There are no fish inspections or quality control, which could affect the health of consumers and post-harvest loss. There is no processing, as fish are sold whole to a non discerning public in small rural markets. Each fisherman keeps 10–20% of his catch for personal consumption and sells the rest of his fish to the fish monger, who rushes to a nearby market. Here, the fish are sold “fresh,” perhaps 8–20 hours or more from the time of catch, often with little or no use of ice. 3.2. Socio-Economic Context Most of Haiti’s fishermen function without organization and are very vulnerable to exploitation by intermediate fish buyers and others. The level of indebtedness to middlemen is high among fishermen, as they experience peaks and lows in fish catch throughout the year, in keeping with the “boom or bust” nature of their business. Like fishermen elsewhere, they splurge at peak catches and borrow when catches are low. Fishermen are prone to gambling and spending on the lottery. Education is needed to help fishermen make wiser financial choices; support groups might also be useful. Fishermen need to be more involved in supporting their families and children, and education could contribute here as well. Major monetary concerns for fishermen are health care; paying school fees; providing food, clothing, and shelter for the family; and having money for fishing gear and boat repair. Common health problems among fishermen and their families include diabetes and high blood pressure. Elevated salt content in well waters in some coastal communities contributes to high blood pressure. The diet of fisher folk often lacks sufficient fruits and vegetables, leading to vitamin deficiencies. Health emergencies and the need for first aid can be critical issues in most fishing communities, which may lack clinics, doctors, nurses, or pharmaceutical dispensaries. When an emergency occurs, often there is no transportation available, except by motorcycle to a clinic some distance away. 7 Fishing as a livelihood is attractive to people in Haiti, even though fishers are at the lower end of the economic scale, because fishing provides them with food security as well as a small income for their families. However, fishermen’s lives in Haiti are a vicious circle of limited income, lack of organization, overfishing, large families, and indebtedness. Because of their vulnerable status in society and their lack of organization and indebtedness, it is very difficult for them to improve their situation. A fishing community calendar is presented in Figure 6. However, training can alleviate these problems, if it is presented in the right context with trainers who understand the fishermen and their conditions and who speak their language. Focused training can help good leaders emerge to provide the leadership necessary to enable fishers to make Large Families Indebted ness Poor Organ ization good decisions regarding their future. A small number of fishermen do try to increase their earnings by taking fish to market themselves or with their wives, rather than by selling to a buyer. Direct marketing Limited Income Small Catch of Fish allows the fishermen to reap a greater profit. This approach can be applied by fishermen who are organized in fisher associations. Figure 2.Vicious Circle Faced by Haiti Fishermen Culturally, fishermen in Haiti have little experience working together because of the controlling environment in the past, when Duvalier’s secret police, the macouts, spread distrust and fear. Although the government has changed, the mentality of distrust persists and limits fishermen’s ability to collaborate and build durable associations capable of managing sustainable fisheries. This situation can be reversed through improved education which would involve role playing and decision making in challenging situations to demonstrate a path to sustainable fisheries. Leadership in fisher associations needs to be strengthened to overcome this problem. 3.3. Value Chain The lack of a developed value chain is an impediment to fisheries development. Fishermen are subject to the will of the middlemen, who eagerly await their arrival along the beaches, wading into the waters to buy fish right off the small boats. A value chain that empowered the fishers and gave them negotiating power could create small and medium fisheries enterprises with employment throughout the chain. Most fishermen claim to buy ice, but many do not carry ice to sea (the intermediate buyers do tend to carry it). Catch is either tossed in the bottom of the boat or placed in basins or 10-gallon coolers, with or without covers. If ice is used, it is chipped from a large block of ice. Fish bought initially from a fisherman on his boat may be rapidly resold as soon as it reaches the beach. Most fish exchange hands several times before being bought by the consumer. Lack of organization and poor collaboration among fishermen maintains this situation. In spite of the rush to market, there is high fish loss after harvest, up to 40% according to IRAM (2007). Fishers earn low revenues for their efforts. In contrast, the middlemen are empowered and are good negotiators with the fishermen, which affords them good income for their families. The wives of a few fishermen are involved in fish buying and selling. 8 4. The Three Bays National Park The 3BNP presents a unique opportunity to create a sustainable fishery in an MPA through a participatory process of empowerment and delegation of roles and responsibilities. The present unmanaged status of fisheries and limited capacity of the fisher associations indicates that this achievement will be a long process. 4.1 Physical Description of the 3BNP Fisheries in the 3BNP, like fisheries in the rest of Haiti, are characterized by overfishing carried out by impoverished, vulnerable fishers who are largely controlled by fish buyers. The park covers an area of 900 km2 and includes the three large bays of Limonade, Caracol, and Fort Liberté, as well as the Lagon aux Boeufs, encompassing fresh and brackish water environments as well as marine waters. The area is rich in mangrove forests, sea grass beds, and fisheries habitats with some 250 species of fish. The 3BNP marine environment is an open-access fishery, in which anyone desiring to fish can do so. The government’s fisheries department has no staff in the area, and no technical support services are provided. National regulations establish minimum sizes of fish which can be kept in order to exclude the harvest of juveniles, but these regulations are not enforced. Respect for closed seasons on lobster (April–September) and conch are not applied and most of the lobsters captured are noticeably undersized. The park is in an arid region with little rainfall, which limits farming and animal husbandry. Figure 3 depicts minimum and maximum temperatures and rainfall for Cap-Haïtien. A cooler rainy season dominates from November through NE Haiti Temperatures and Rainfall. January, and the hot season lasts from June through September. Total rainfall ranges from 700 to 1300 mm annually in the northeast, thus limiting crop farming, especially in the eastern portion of the 3BNP. A number of fishers in the park maintain small livestock, which they sell to pay school fees at the start of school or to cover Precipitation (mm) 250 200 150 100 50 0 Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov 40 30 20 10 0 Temperature (ᵒC) Rainfall (mm) Min Temp ᵒc Max Temp ᵒC medical emergencies. The area had a large sisal plantation (the Dauphin Plantation) during the world war II, but Months it was abandoned long ago. Figure 3- minimum and maximum temperatures and rainfall for Cap-Haïtien The Caribbean’s main currents pass along the southern coast of Haiti, where the country’s main fishing grounds are found, with inshore demersal and offshore pelagic fisheries. The northeast coast of Haiti receives far fewer favorable currents and has less potential for fisheries. However, the northeast does have the benefit of experiencing fewer hurricanes than the south. 4.2. Development on Land in Caracol The seven fishing communities in the 3BNP are coastal towns with year-round, gravel-road access. All main roads through the area are paved and well traveled, as the area is the gateway to the border with the Dominican Republic to the east, beyond Fort Liberté. Housing was constructed over the years through government and donor funding, and most fishers and their families live in small, cement-block houses, often built in rows laid out in a grid. A number of old wooden plank houses remain. Each community has local 9 government offices and a number of small shops selling a variety of drinks, sweets, and basic food items. A few pharmacies exist in several larger communities. Special items can only be found in the large towns, such as Fort Liberté or Cap-Haïtien. The national lotto ticket sales are especially high in fishing communities, with lottery kiosks everywhere. Lottery ticket sellers are even seen at the beach as fishermen arrive. In 2012, the 600-acre Parc Industrial de Caracol (PIC) was installed in Caracol. It includes several garment factories that employ around 5,000 people and is intended to eventually include more factories and employ up to 20,000 people. A total of 366 farmers, including some fishermen, reportedly sold their land to create this industrial park. Facilities include a water treatment plant and a 10-MGW power plant that furnishes reliable electricity for area communities. Initial plans for the industrial park included development of a port, but this idea was dropped in favor of improving the port in Cap-Haïtien. The PIC has greatly increased employment in the region as well as increasing local population growth. The PIC was jointly funded ($US 300 m) by the Inter-American Development Bank, Clinton Foundation, and others. This industrial development has stimulated employment in this marginalized region in northeast Haiti and is generally viewed favorably by the local population. However, some fishermen express concerns about the potential risks to “their fisheries” when waste waters are released by the industrial park authorities. They fear that chemicals and dyes used in treating cloth could harm the environment. The University of Limonade is part of Haiti’s State University system. It was built within the past 10 years and features spectacular architecture. This institution of higher learning was a gift from the government of the Dominican Republic. The University has eight areas of study, 120 permanent staff members, 110 part time lecturers, and 2,600 students and seeks to expand up to 10,000 students. This institution seeks partnerships through MOUs with international schools and others, as part of their continuing fund-raising efforts. As it includes areas of study in health, agronomy, engineering, education, human resources, and environment, the university is a valuable asset to the northeast region of Haiti and could partner in the development of a sustainable fishery in the 3BNP. Strengthening the capacity of the University is a priority for the President, Dr. Bien Aimé Audalbert, who is searching for a fisheries specialist to launch a course of study in this field. 4.3 Fishers in the Three Bays National Park 4.3.1 Number of Fishermen Our survey estimated that there were 978 fishermen in the seven fishing communities (Table 1); the 161 questionnaires that we administered represents 16% of this population. However, an indeterminate number of fishers are transient and may even double the number of fishers in the 3BNP during peak fishing. In later meetings, fishermen indicated that there were many more fishermen than they mentioned earlier. For example, we initially estimated that there were 200 fishers in Bord de Mer Limonade, but later a group of fishermen informed us there were 473. Other fishermen from Caracol and Madras (a very small town) insisted that there were 1,500 and 430 fishermen, respectively, in their areas! Such estimates cannot be reconciled with the small number of boats observed at the shores in some of these small villages. These discrepancies underline the lack of valid information regarding the totally open-access fishery. Surprisingly, fishers in Caracol spoke of fishermen from Fort Liberté coming to fish in their waters, as if this was a normal occurrence. In fact, local fishermen should be concerned about transient fishers removing their resources and limiting their income. Our initial estimated number of fishermen in the seven fishing communities was 978, as mentioned. Later, fishers at two local committee meetings insisted that there were up to four times as many fishermen; thus, our initial estimate was only about 25% of the fishermen’s estimate. This mismatch in numbers was discussed at length. It appears that many of the fishermen are actually laborers who work for the owners of the large beach seines. A crew of 6–8 people is needed to set and bring in the very long net (which can be more than 10 800 feet long). These laborers actually owned no boats or fishing gear and only worked when they were called by the owners of the big nets. Therefore, they are not considered fishermen in this report. A census is needed to verify information about the fisher population. Preferably, it should be carried out by the fisher associations, after training and supervision by FOPROBIM. Training is required to ensure that any census is transparent. The Fisheries Law of 1977 calls for all fishermen to be registered, but it has not been enforced. Most fishermen interviewed claimed to be full-time fishers. However, only 30-40% appear to be involved full time in fishing, with the remainder supplementing their incomes by maintaining livestock or cultivating crops; a few may be involved in small commercial enterprises. This diversification is a risk strategy to secure income from several sources in order to always have enough money for food, school fees, etc. Nevertheless, few fishermen carry out farming in the northeast part of Haiti, especially in the eastern part of the 3BNP, where conditions are typically arid and soils are largely sandy with small gravel and desert-type vegetation. The hot, dry, coastal plain in this area lies at the foot of the mountains. As the day progresses, moisture from the sea rises, creating clouds that are carried inland by the wind, over the hot plains and toward the mountains, where the cooler air promotes precipitation. 4.3.2. Women Fishers Fishermen working from boats are all men; however, women fish in the “closed waters” in intertidal flats and freshwater pools that collect just above high tide from freshwater streams flowing to the coast. During the dry season, these pools start drying up or are reduced in area, and the women wade in these shallow waters with baskets to collect tilapias, other small fish, and freshwater shrimp. Several of these women fishers were interviewed in Bord de Mer Limonade. This type of fishing is done on a part-time basis, allowing the women to remain near their children and take care of the household. The women were very proud of their fishing activities, which enabled them to provide more food and some additional income to their families. Women are also very active in fish marketing, providing the conduit between the fishers and the markets in larger towns. Women are the majority of the intermediate fish buyers and earn a good profit from their efforts to rush the fish from the beach to markets, often on hired motorcycles. 4.3.3. Fishing Gear Used Fishermen appear to specialize in using a specific type of fishing gear. Independent fishers tend to be divers or to use gill nets, trammel nets, or traps or to practice hook and line fishing. Owners of the very long beach seines, trammel nets, and gill nets hire workers who set nets in teams of 4–8 people. The teams of workers handling the nets make it appear that there is a large number of fishermen, but these hired laborers are not considered fishermen, as they have no gear of their own. In some communities where seines are the dominant type of gear used, independent fishers share boats. Table 1 presents the numbers of fishermen, boats, and gear used in the seven fishing communities in the 3BNP, as revealed by the 161 questionnaire responses. These initial statistics are offered in hopes that they will be replaced by a more comprehensive, less subjective evaluation in the future. 11 Table 1. Numbers of Fishermen, Boats, and Commonly Used Fishing Gear in the Three Bays National Park No Community Fishing No. Fishers No. Boats Monthly (gourdes) Income No. Seines No. Gill Nets mel Nets No. Tram No. Cast Nets No. Short Lines No. Long Lines No. Hooks No. Divers No Traps No. Shockers No. Beaters 1 BdM Limonad 200 245 9,142 30 29 10 0 3 17 0 35 60 3 0 2 Madras 60 43 8,750 34 0 0 2 0 8 0 0 3 0 0 3 Caracol 200 213 8,142 38 31 0 0 20 10 7 109 22 5 10 4 Jacquezy 62 45 13,400 0 3 0 0 0 0 15 54 15 0 5 5 Phaeton 100 100 11,684 9 140 3 0 40 10 2 100 24 15 50 6 Fort Liberté 200 64 12,436 27 2 1 0 0 1 0 20 0 4 0 7 Derac 156 85 9,644 8 50 0 10 3 8 5 23 8 4 0 Average 10,456 Totals 978 795 146 255 14 12 66 54 29 341 132 31 65 Notes: The numbers of fishers presented are estimates. A comprehensive census is required to obtain accurate numbers, and this census could be carried out as part of the Action Plan for the 3BNP. The initial number of fishers (978) represents only about 25% of the number given by fishers in later meetings, although the later numbers may have included laborers hired by owners of large beach seines. We observed that in August, no large quantities of fish (no more than 20–30 kgs of fish) were caught by any fishermen during the assessment. 4.3.4. Results of Questionnaires Submitted by Fishermen The fishers in the 3BNP appear to be stable members of their communities, as 53% of them have lived in their current home for more than 10 years. The majority of households have 6–10 members with an average of 6. The average age of fishers interviewed was 46 years, with a range from 36 to 63. The 10 female fishers who were interviewed conducted basket fishing in the “closed waters” of small brackish lagoons lying just beyond the beach at the normal high-tide level. A number of these women fishers were interviewed in Bord de Mer Limonade. Fishing was the primary source of income for 91% of the household heads interviewed. Most fishers also maintain a few livestock as a “bank” for emergencies or to pay school fees. Housing is not a problem for most fishermen and their families, as 75% live in small, cement-block houses and 78% claim to own their homes. Most fisher families (68%) purchase their drinking water, which costs them about 2–3% of their income. All communities had kiosks where p