Managing ghost fishing in the Colombian Pacific with a community-based strategy

Rich marine ecosystems are degraded by abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gears in the Tribugá Gulf. Concrete management actions are needed to achieve sustainable fisheries and maintain food security and ecosystem health. The project designed and implemented a community-based management strategy. This strategy included the adoption of new fisheries management measures to reduce the problem of ghost fishing gears and the creation and training of a local group in charge of surveillance and cleaning of ghost fishing gears on identified hotspots. It further concerned with enhancing knowledge and awareness of ecological impacts of ghost fishing and financial mechanisms for long term implementation of the strategy. The project cooperated with the local ethnic authority, the Community Council Los Riscales and an inter-institutional alliance, created to support the co-management of the regional protected area.