Global problems, local solutions: developing an integrated framework towards sustainable fisheries and aquaculture

Project Description

Crustacean wild fisheries are globally rising, with faster growth than any other group. This increase in fisheries is drastically contrasted by a significant decline in decapod populations worldwide. For example, crustacean mass mortalities occurred in England in 2021-2022; in October 2022 the snow crab harvest season was cancelled in Alaska, followed by recent shrimp disappearance in the UK and the Brazilian Amazon. The motivation to organize this workshop was initiated by the simultaneous request for help from fishers in both countries. The small-scale fisheries of the Amazon river prawn (the most harvested freshwater species in Brazil) sustains ~17,000 families in the Amazon basin, not even considering the larger production chain linked to it. Fisheries declines mean serious socio-economical consequences, as the majority of the population in this region relies on prawns for protein intake and as economic subsistence.
Addressing the critical and fast-developing situation in the Amazon will bring invaluable insights into global collapses for which causes are still unknown and inform the relevant stakeholder groups (fishers, ecologists, governmental bodies) and the wider public. We will develop a community-based framework for the detection, assessment and monitoring of current threats for crustaceans. This will subside future conservation and management measures, enhancing resilience of wild populations including sustainable fisheries. Implementation of small-scale sustainable aquaculture will be discussed with local communities.
The two applicants recently led a Newton Institutional Links project on crustaceans' supply and food security in Pará (Brazil), establishing a global network of collaborators, and promoting knowledge exchange and capacity building through workshops. This network will expand with the inclusion of ECRs, fishers, academics, and non-academic organisations to collaboratively promote local solutions for this global challenge.