On January 14, 2022, President Guillermo Lasso signed the Executive Decree that formalized the creation of the new protected area in the Galapagos Islands. This reserve was baptized as Brotherhood, and of the 60,000 square kilometers it comprises 30,000 of don’t take and 30,000 non-longline. These are in addition to the 138,000 square kilometers that were already protected in the archipelago.
The Hermandad reserve is considered a very important milestone for marine conservation worldwide, since this allows connection with the Cocos Marine Reserve of Costa Rica. Populations of species such as the critically endangered hammerhead shark will benefit from this route. Brotherhood, in addition, is the contribution of Ecuador to achieve the structuring of the so-called Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR), together with Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama.
Hermandad is the name of the new protected area in Galapagos; decree was signed today
Achieving the creation of this reserve was not easy, says Eliecer Cruz, spokesperson for the Más Galápagos collective. It was necessary to present technical studies and enter into months of conversation with the fishing sector.
The Brotherhood Reserve is almost a year old. The effort that you made as Más Galápagos to protect this area was commendable. What problems did they face along the way?
It was a titanic effort. In the previous government (Lenín Moreno) there was basically no government support. In that administration, a group of people and institutions came together in Más Galápagos, which led the proposal for the creation of a new protected area. That it finally came to fruition under the leadership of Minister Gustavo Manrique and the Galapagos National Park was very positive.
We provided all the information and progress and this reserve came about thanks to the fact that Más Galápagos and the industrial fishing sector agreed. The support of the fishing sector was important for the creation of this area. We were lucky to have a delegate from the fishing sector who was a visionary, who worked with small tuna vessels, industrialists, longliners and artisanal fishermen.
A ministerial agreement was signed that formalizes the Hermandad Marine Reserve, in the Galapagos
These dialogue tables were set up in the Moreno government without any government support and basically at the initiative of the industrial fishing sector and Más Galápagos. We reached agreements even in profile, closed dialogues where agreements were evidenced, and we were only waiting for the opening of the Government to materialize them.
Internationally, the creation of this reserve has been considered a milestone for conservation.
Completely. Let’s remember that Galapagos has one of the largest reserves in the world (which according to the latest Inocar review extends to 141,000 square kilometers) and now another 60,000 kilometers have been added with a very important connotation because it creates a kind of corridor that protects to migratory species such as hammerhead sharks, which are highly affected, and which also unites the Galapagos and Cocos, in Costa Rica.
However, there are environmental organizations that affirm that it would have been better if all the 60,000 kilometers were don’t take, to reduce the rates of the so-called shark bycatch that drives the export of shark fins.
The longline is one of the most complicated gear for sustainable fishing. It causes a lot of trouble and bycatch. Globally, longlining is being banned in many countries. The other fishing gear is the seine net used by purse seiners and in Ecuador there are about 110 ten. These vessels are under a ton of regulations and have a 1% bycatch rate.
That is why it was as a negotiation mechanism, that it was allowed to have this 30,000 kilometer buffer zone where longlines were not allowed, but where seiners can enter.
Once the reservation is created, what next?
The decree came out on January 14, 2022. Then, in March, the ministerial agreement came out that officially created the current reserve. We are in the construction process and the challenge now is to conclude the management plan. The executive decree orders that the management plan be inter-ministerial (environment, fisheries, economy and chancellery ministries) and that up to now it has been participatory. We are supporting the preparation of this plan and there is already a final draft version that is waiting to be shared with the different users and the ministries in order to put it into effect.
Control and surveillance issues are some of the most complex parameters, especially due to the allocation of resources. During this time, have controls been carried out on the reserve? Is it being respected?
A control and surveillance plan for this area is being worked on. But I want to emphasize that although the reserve is new, from the date of its creation the fishing sector has basically withdrawn from this area. Through the international platform Global Fishing Watch, which even has agreements with the Ecuadorian Navy, we reviewed, a few weeks ago, and we saw the fishing peaks that were in the Hermandad area and how the presence of boats in that area has been disappearing. area.
Update of the limits of the Hermandad Marine Reserve was published in the Official Gazette
This is a sign that the industrial fishing sector is respecting the agreements, despite the fact that there are still no existing control and surveillance mechanisms.
In addition, we know that the national government is interested in raising international funds for the conservation of this area, which is quite expensive. So, the government also needs the management plan to be able to get these funds. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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