Enfoques para la Planificación del Desarrollo Integral del departamento de Arauca

While the management of wild marine fisheries is struggling and stocks are in steep decline, significant progress has been made with the management of the wild Atlantic salmon. I have recently argued (Whelan 2005) that the lessons learned from the management of salmon stocks, both internationally and nationally, could be applied to other marine stocks.

Within the fisheries area the management of anadromous stocks, such as salmon, sea trout, char and shad, which spend part of their lives in both fresh and saltwater, is considered particularly complex. Not alone are these species subject to the rigours of the ocean but they are also directly impacted upon by changes on land and in freshwater. The successful management of these stocks requires a seamless, co-operative management framework, which regulates not alone the international aspects of their lifecycle but also the areas of national and regional competence. NASCO, the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation was established in the early 1980s to tackle a single international fisheries management issue, but has found the need to continually re-invent itself in an effort to tackle the ever- increasing level of complexity involved in the conservation and management of Atlantic salmon stocks. The precautionary approach to management of natural resources first came to prominence in the late 1980s and ‘90s. The basic tenets of the precautionary approach are, to a large extent, self-evident: • consideration of the needs of future generations and avoidance of changes that are potentially

irreversible;

• prior identification of undesirable outcomes and of measures that will avoid them or correct them; • initiation of corrective measures without delay, and these should achieve their purpose promptly;

• priority to be given to conserving the productive capacity of the resource where the likely impact of resource use is uncertain;

• appropriate placement of the burden of proof by adhering to the above requirements.

These are now widely adopted by a wide range of conservation groups and administrations. The concept was particularly popular amongst fisheries regulatory bodies but to a very large extent has remained as a high ideal rather than a functional management system.

NASCO adopted a more proactive and pragmatic approach and established a Standing Committee on the Precautionary Approach (SCPA) to examine how the work of NASCO might be carried out on a precautionary basis and how best to formulate decision structures which would be fundamentally precautionary in nature. The SCPA looked at the application of a precautionary approach to: the management of North Atlantic salmon fisheries; habitat issues; the formulation of management advice and associated scientific research.

A prime objective, for NASCO and its contracting parties, in the management of salmon fisheries is to promote the diversity and abundance of salmon stocks. For this purpose, it was agreed that management measures, taking account of uncertainty, should be aimed at maintaining all salmon stocks in the NASCO convention area above their conservation limit (currently defined by NASCO as the spawning stock level that produces maximum sustainable yield), taking into account the best available information, and socio-economic factors including the interests of communities which are particularly dependent on salmon fisheries. In order to achieve this a precautionary approach was deemed to be suitable to the management of both the fisheries regulated by NASCO and those on home waters. The application of the precautionary approach to salmon fishery management is an integrated process, which requires at least the following:

• that stocks be maintained above their conservation limits by the use of management targets;

• that conservation limits and management targets be set for each river and combined, as appropriate, for the management of different stock groupings defined by the managers;

• the prior identification of undesirable outcomes including the failure to achieve conservation limits, biological factors, instability in the catches and socio-economic factors;

• that account be taken at each stage of the risks of: not achieving the fisheries management objectives; not considering uncertainty regarding the current state of the stocks; not considering uncertainty regarding biological reference points and fishery management capabilities and not considering uncertainty regarding the formulation of pre-agreed management actions in the form of procedures to be applied over a range of stock conditions;

• assessment of the effectiveness of management actions in all salmon fisheries;

• stock rebuilding programmes (including as appropriate habitat improvement, stock enhancement and fishery management actions) be developed for stocks that are below their conservation limits. Fundamental to the achievement of the ideals espoused in the PA is the availability of quantitative scientific advice. The form of the advice provided by International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) to NASCO, through the Advisory Committee on Fishery Management, was examined in detail by the SCPA. The committee recommended that ICES or other scientific advisors to NASCO should be requested inter alia, to:

• provide stock conservation limits and management targets for all river stocks;

• advise on the risks of not achieving the objectives in NASCO or its contracting parties; • provide catch options or alternative management advice with associated risk assessment; • advise on a stock rebuilding programme;

• identify the monitoring and data collection required;

• advise on the impacts on salmon stocks of existing and new fisheries for other species, and of salmon fisheries on non-target species.

The management of marine fisheries under ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Seas) also operates under the precautionary approach. This involves the use of precautionary reference points that are set to take account of the uncertainty involved with marine stock assessment. Precautionary reference points relating to biomass and fishing mortality are used, which are broad enough to ensure that remedial action can be taken as required. However the problem with many of the marine stocks is that the status of the stock is uncertain making it difficult to formulate accurate management advice. In line with international best practice the Irish Government and agencies have in recent years introduced a range of stringent scientifically based management measures to curb excessive exploitation and to rebuild wild salmon stocks. These decisions were made against a backdrop of poor stock status and declining marine survival. Another important driver was Ireland’s obligations under the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), which states:

“If a species is included under this Directive, it requires measures to be taken by individual member states to maintain or restore them to favourable conservation status in their natural range”. From an Irish perspective, there are currently 32 Irish salmon rivers listed which fall specifically under the Directive. However, in applying the Directive the authorities were conscious that consideration must be given to all of the salmon populations and not just specifically to these 32 rivers. The conservation status of a species means the sum of the influences acting on the species concerned that may affect the long-term distribution and abundance of its populations within its territory (also defined) and this conservation status will be taken as ‘favourable’ when:

• population dynamics data on the species concerned indicate that it is maintaining itself on a long- term basis as a viable component of its natural habitats, and

• the natural range of the species is neither being reduced nor is likely to be reduced for the foreseeable future, and

• there is, and will probably continue to be, a sufficiently large habitat to maintain its populations on a long-term basis…

Stock Status

Wild salmon production nationally (i.e. returns to the coast) was highest from 1970 to 1975, peaking at approximately 1.8 million 1SW salmon in 1975 (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Estimated returns of salmon to the coast, spawning stock after fisheries and Conservation Limit for all individual rivers stocks combined.

0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000 1,200,000 1,400,000 1,600,000 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 No. Retur ns/Spawners Returns Spawners + SD All Rivers CL

From 1975, salmon production decreased significantly, with some recovery during the 1980s. However, since 1990, the national production has been much lower with on average just over 400,000 salmon being produced. There is now less than a third of the fish returning to the coast compared to the 1970s and only 4 districts are meeting their Conservation Limits consistently (Cork, Kerry, Connemara, Ballinakill). A recent study has shown that at least 49 Irish salmon populations may actually be threatened with loss. It is also likely that this is an underestimate as no data are available for approximately 80 small rivers or where the rod catch was insufficient to carry out an assessment.

Marine Survival

The survival of salmon from smolt to adult return to the home-water coast (prior to the operation of home-water fisheries) has been estimated for a selection of Irish stocks and rivers. This marine survival is presently the lowest it has been since the assessment programme commenced in 1980 and probably since the 1970s also considering the information available for the Burrishoole River index site. Although there has been considerable fluctuation, estimates of marine survival prior to 1996 for wild stocks were generally higher compared to more recent years with survival rates in excess of 20% (i.e. 20 adult returns to the coast for every 100 smolts migrating, Figure 2).

Figure 2: Marine survival (from smolt release to return to the coast) for wild and hatchery salmon.

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 Migration Year

Marine survival rate (%)

Hatchery Mean Wild Mean

The current estimates suggest that less than 10% of the wild smolts that go to sea from Irish rivers are surviving (i.e. less than 10 adults returning for every 100 smolts migrating). Survival rates from hatchery fish are usually lower than for wild fish. A major international programme is planned by NASCO’s, International Atlantic Salmon Research Board to investigate factors affecting marine survival of Atlantic salmon (www.salmonatsea.com)