Costa Rica launches its first fishing improvement project

• This project seeks to promote sustainable fishing for tuna, swordfish and dorado

In the search for access to responsible consumer markets, the Government of Costa Rica, in alliance with the export and productive fisheries sectors of Costa Rica and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), have launched a new initiative to promote sustainable fishing in the waters of the Costa Rican Pacific.

This is the first Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP) for tuna, dorado and swordfish, which is promoted in Costa Rica in conjunction with the beginning of the certification process of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), an independent entity that rewards the world’s fisheries that adopt sustainable fishing practices.

The FIP helps create an alliance between buyers of fishery products, retailers, processors, distributors, producers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with an interest in a specific fishery, with the aim of favoring improvements in their policies and management at the administrative level.   At the same time, FIPs provide an incentive for changes in work practices at the fishery level, minimizing problems such as illegal fishing, bycatch and environmental impacts.

In order to comply with international fishing standards, the Costa Rica FIP project developed a work plan, to be applied through 2023, in which improvements will gradually be made in the fishing of these three species, both with longline and green stick fishing, a technique used by medium and advanced scale fishing fleets.

This is the first time that Costa Rica has initiated a process like this and expects to be part of a small group of 38 countries that, up until 2018, has managed to certify more than 228 fisheries across the globe, representing 14% of the world’s catch, equivalent to 10 billion tons of 141 different fishing species.

“We received this Project for the Improvement of Large Pelagic Fisheries from INCOPESCA, as an opportunity to identify the main needs that the Institute must strengthen in terms of fisheries management. When fisheries are managed scientifically, fish stocks have good prospects for recovery; FIP’s priority action is the management plan for the dorado, tuna and swordfish fishery, which involves generating effective decision-making processes, monitoring, control and surveillance mechanisms, and compliance with fisheries management measures with a clear process of monitoring and evaluating the performance of the system something that as a country and fishing authority we can take advantage of. This is an unprecedented project that involves not only the longline fleet, but also the export sector and international buyers who receive a product that is the result of responsible fishing. This can generate great benefits, because it is the type of solution we are looking for to structure the fishery, strengthen fishermen and at the same time ensure the sustainability of fish resources,” explained Daniel Carrasco, Executive President of INCOPESCA.

The presentation of the first FIP in Costa Rica was held in front of international buyers and Costa Rican businessmen, who gathered at the 2019 Buyers Trade Mission (BTM) organized by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER), which brought together key stakeholders of the national export offer.

For the Minister of Foreign Trade, Dyalá Jiménez, the foreign trade sector is committed to supporting initiatives like the FIP, which promote innovation and sustainability in the fisheries sector.   “We join this effort as a sector, taking into account that increasing the productivity of the fishing industry is one of the main objectives of the Discover program; we hope that this initiative has a direct impact on the competitiveness of our producers and the economic development of the country.”

Pedro Beirute Prada, General Manager at PROCOMER, added “both the FIP and the MSC certification are tools designed to increase the competitiveness and value of our fishery products in international markets. Sustainability adds value to the offer because it demonstrates the quality and commitment of national producers, making the commercial promotion services available to the Promoter much more effective.” According to PROCOMER data, the export of tuna, swordfish and dorado reached $26.8 million in 2018.

The FIP for tuna, dorado and swordfish already has the support of buyers in the United States and is open to responsible buyers committing to buy FIP products and collaborating with the financing of the actions, with the aim of advancing implementation of improvements to the fishery.

“Establishing a shared vision and a common agenda around a raw material such as fishery products, with the participation of all national stakeholders and the commitment of international buyers, is the fundamental to building solutions towards sustainability. This FIP is built on this premise. It is about moving forward in the governance and capacity of fisheries management in Costa Rica, contributing to the objectives of sustainable development,” said José Vicente Troya, Resident Representative of UNDP.

Access to international markets

For the Costa Rican export and fishing sector, Costa Rica’s first tuna, dorado and swordfish FIP is an opportunity to show the world that this country is not only an example in land conservation issues, but it is making significant progress in consolidating sustainable fisheries.

“It is for this reason that the export sector, together with the productive and institutional sector, has made an important commitment to this initiative and Costa Rican fishery products export companies accept the challenge as an additional step taken to show international buyers that Costa Rica is committed and moving steadily towards the sustainable management of its fisheries.   We have clearly defined our traceability processes – complying with international regulations – and with this new initiative we also have a key market tool towards the sustainability of Costa Rica’s fishing activities – opening windows of business opportunities in the most demanding markets is of great importance to the country,” said Ana Victoria Paniagua, Executive Director of the National Chamber of Exporters of Fishery and Aquaculture Products.

“This FIP is one more step that the country takes in an effort to promote sustainable fishing and a necessary step to reach a responsible consumer market, which increasingly demands compliance with sustainability standards. Our commitment as fishermen is to apply better practices and contribute to the implementation of this project as we have been doing with other similar initiatives since 2004,” added Robert Nunes, Vice President of the National Chamber of the Longline Industry of Costa Rica.

The Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP) can be consulted on the Fishery Progress website, a reference portal to verify the origin of fishery products, here.

Most of the catch off Costa Rica’s Pacific and Caribbean, of large pelagic species such as tuna, dorado and swordfish, is destined for export. In fact, 95% of dorado exports go to the United States, which is also the primary country of destination for tuna.The improvements in fisheries for tuna, dorado and other pelagic species, promoted by the country, could benefit more than 70,000 people who work with the long line fishing sector, all across the value chain, including those engaged in the fishing, processing, distribution or export of marine products.

Relevant facts

• The national long line fisheries sector is made up of approximately 400 ships and each ship can carry a 4 to 6 member crew, which constitutes a population of 1,600 to 2,500 people who work directly in this sector. Add this to the families that depend on this activity, and we have a population of 10 thousand to 16 thousand people, not taking into account the thousands of other indirect jobs that are a result of the fishing activity, such as transportation, fishing supplies, food, mechanics, and others.
• In Costa Rica, tuna and related species account for more than 60 percent of the catch within a fishing sector that, in 2012 provided around 7,200 jobs nationwide, with 23 percent in harvesting, 72 percent in processing and 6 percent in marine products.