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### Viewing cable 05QUITO2184, GALAPAGOS: PROGRESS ON ALTERNATIVES TO COMMERCIAL

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
05QUITO2184 | 2005-09-23 15:10 | 2011-05-02 00:00 | UNCLASSIFIED | Embassy Quito

`

    This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

` `

    UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 QUITO 002184

    SIPDIS

    DEPT PASS TO USAID

    E.O. 12958: N/A
    TAGS: SENV EAID EFIS ECON PGOV PREL EC
    SUBJECT:  GALAPAGOS: PROGRESS ON ALTERNATIVES TO COMMERCIAL
    FISHING

    REF: Quito 1828

    ¶1.  Summary.  Despite lackluster efforts by the GOE, the
    search for sustainable alternatives to commercial fishing in
    the Galapagos is progressing.  Projects initiated by USAID
    and NGOs are beginning to generate new economic
    opportunities that could reduce the pressure on extractive
    fishing practices.  Although not ideal, these projects have
    brought the often-ostracized fishing community back into the
    consultative process.  End Summary.

    ALTERNATIVES TO COMMERCIAL FISHING
    ----------------------------------

    ¶2. Along with the stability of the Galapagos National Park
    (GNP) and the reduction of illegal immigration to the
    islands, the development of sustainable alternatives to
    commercial fishing is considered critical to marine
    conservation in the Galapagos.  Despite any complementary
    program support from the GOE (reftel), projects initiated by
    USAID and its nine-member alliance of international and
    local NGOs have registered initial success with micro-
    financing and technical assistance programs.  The programs
    help the fishing sector tap into the lucrative tourism
    market as a source of income and provide an alternative to
    other profitable but environmentally-damaging fishing
    practices, including the (frequently illegal) extraction of
    sea cucumbers and shark fins.

    ¶3.  Galapez, the first fish processing plant in the
    Galapagos, recently used technical assistance from the USAID-
    led Alliance to equip and administer the plant and to
    develop a commercial relationship with tour operators.
    Before, all fish served on the larger tour boats were
    purchased on the Ecuadorian mainland.  This practice
    bypassed the local fishing community and undermined their
    efforts to produce value-added products.  Fish processed by
    Galapez are migratory species whose capture does not
    undermine the viability of the marine environment.  As
    volume increases, Galapez, which has a relationship with the
    fishing cooperative COPESPROMAR, will provide an important
    source of employment to both women and men from within the
    fishing community on the island of San Cristobal.

    ¶4.  A grant made last week by USAID will allow COPROPRAG,
    the fishing cooperative on the island of Santa Cruz, to
    develop a similar commercial venture.  Earlier efforts to
    initiate a fish processing plant lacked the necessary
    infrastructure and technical planning that the USAID grant
    will provide.  CORPOPAG Director Kleber Lopez indicated that
    some 40% of the 240 members of the cooperative would
    directly benefit from the venture.  Lopez considers this an
    important step in their search for alternative sources of
    income for fishermen from his island.

    ¶5.  Meanwhile, a women's cooperative on the island of
    Isabella utilized USAID funding to develop a fish-smoking
    operation that sells to tourists on the island.  The
    operation is already commercially viable and no longer
    relies on USAID funding.  A parallel effort by USAID also
    has helped another women's cooperative develop artisan
    products for direct sale to tourists.  In both cases, the
    members of these cooperatives are the wives of fishermen.
    Participating in a tourism fair this week, both cooperatives
    are actively marketing their products to tour operators.
    Recent financial success for both of these projects has
    garnered a positive response from the island's initially
    suspicious fishing community.

    BRINGING FISHERMEN BACK INTO THE FOLD
    -------------------------------------

    ¶6. Buoyed by the success of these USAID-led projects, the
    fishing community has developed its own initiatives.  Most
    promising is their recent proposal to allow tourists to
    accompany fishermen and experience firsthand how artisan
    fishermen work and live.  This practice currently is not
    allowed under the Special Law that governs activities in the
    Galapagos.  Under the proposal, fishermen would adapt their
    vessels for tourists, limiting the vessels' use for
    extractive fishing practices.  A similar plan developed by
    the fishing community involves the use of fishing boats for
    scuba diving expeditions.  The Joint Management Forum (JMP),
    which incorporates other stakeholders such as the tourism
    sector, the scientific community, and local government
    officials into the Galapagos policy-making process, approved
    by consensus the artisan fishing proposal at their most
    recent meeting.  The JMP has since passed the proposal on to
    the Inter-Institutional Management Authority (IMA) for
    implementation.  The JMP and IMA together constitute a two-
    tier advisory and governing system in the Galapagos.

    ¶7.  The involvement of fishermen in the search for
    sustainable economic opportunities is a major positive
    development.  Over the past 18 months, representatives of
    the fishing sector had been refusing to participate in JMP
    meetings to protest what they felt was the excessive blame
    they received with respect to recent failures in the GNP's
    management.  Their absence effectively sabotaged the
    development of sustainable policies for the islands.
    Although the GOE failed to put pressure on the fishermen to
    return to the participatory forum, the success of the USAID-
    led projects brought the fishermen back into a productive
    dialogue.  The fishing community's change of heart also
    reflects a positive response to the attention paid to their
    community by these projects.  Historically, there has been
    little concern shown by other stakeholders to the fishing
    community's economic prospects.

    UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES?
    ------------------------

    ¶8.  While the effort to provide the fishing community with
    new economic alternatives is laudable, the success of these
    projects may inadvertently make the Galapagos more
    attractive to mainland Ecuadorians seeking employment.
    Mainland immigrants already are attracted by greater
    economic opportunities and a higher quality of life in the
    Galapagos.  Estimates of the current population suggest an
    unsustainable 25,000 inhabitants with annual growth rates
    from 6-10%, raising serious solid waste management and other
    environmental concerns.  Creating new economic opportunities
    could exacerbate these problems.  Although plans exist for
    robust immigration control to better manage and limit
    immigration to the islands, the GOE has yet to implement
    them.  The GOE's poor record with respect to controlling
    immigration to the islands suggests a worst-case outcome.

    ¶9.  In addition, these new projects and proposals do little
    to directly keep fishermen from maintaining their
    unsustainable (and sometimes illegal) fishing practices.
    Indeed, none of these projects actually provides training to
    help fishermen enter a different productive sector, that is,
    to leave their boats and their fishing world behind.  As
    long as the boats remain, a return to prior fishing practice
    is possible.  In this sense, the fishing community has
    expanded its economic options without taking steps to shut
    down operations that threaten the marine reserve.

    COMMENT
    -------

    ¶10.  The success of these and similar projects in reducing
    environmentally harmful fishing will depend on the sincerity
    of the fishing community and the willingness of the GOE to
    control migration to the islands.  Fishermen have for years
    been clamoring for alternative economic opportunities to
    allow them to leave their lucrative but destructive
    practices.  Now that these options are emerging, it is up to
    them to take the next step.  This should be easier with the
    active assistance of the other stakeholders, all of whom
    share responsibility for conserving the marine reserve.

    JEWELL

`