Technical feasibility and moral aspect of bycatch utilization in sub-Saharan Africa

by

Yahya I. Mgawe
Mbegani Fisheries Development Centre
Bagamoyo, Tanzania

1. INTRODUCTION

Global fish landings from capture fisheries seem to have levelled-off at about 100 million tonnes per annum. It might be due to the fact that various fisheries have reached their maximum potential yield, or due to changing environmental conditions. It could also be that irresponsible fishing practices such as over-fishing are taking their toll. With regard to the latter possibility, there are many propositions being put forward. These include the problem of bycatch, itself related to the question of fishing gear selectivity. In addition to capturing target species or sizes, fishing gears take out a wide range of other species and juveniles. A larger proportion of the latter group is more frequently than not thrown over board as discards.

The practice has remained the same since time immemorial, and even the Bible has a record of it:

"Again the Kingdom of the heaven is like a dragnet let down into the sea and gathering up (fish) of every kind. When it got full they hauled it up onto the beach and sitting down, they collected the fine ones into vessels, but the unsuitable they threw away." (Matthew13: 47 - 48).

One may suppose that in those good old days the impact of the capture of bycatch on fish stocks was negligible. This could be due to limited fishing effort, both in terms of the number of fishermen and technology employed. Today, however, the situation has changed, not only has the number of fishermen increased tremendously, fishing has adopted very efficient fishing gear and methods. For instance, the size of an Icelandic Gloria trawl net can accommodate the equivalent of twelve jumbo jets! (Safina, 1998). Such a huge gear is used together with effective locating devices like sonar and echo sounders. No wonder it brings on board tonnes of fish in one haul. In the process, the volume of bycatch that it brings with it becomes quite significant, with direct impact on fish stocks. In order to save the situation, there has been growing interest in the use of bycatch reduction devices and the promotion of bycatch utilization in situations where the former option is difficult to implement.

2. THE ECOLOGICAL IMPLICATION OF BYCATCH

The ecological implication of catching large volumes of bycatch could be explained by considering the impact of the practice on fishing mortality. In most cases, the amount of bycatch would tend to increase as one tries to fish his quota of target species. This may increase the exploitation rate to above 50 percent due to increased fishing mortality given:

Consequent to higher exploitation rate, the recruitment rate would be reduced, thus affecting the fish stocks at large. Again, in areas where trawling is practised in shallow waters, the bycatch tends to comprise large quantities of juveniles contributing to "growth over-fishing". This is defined as a fishing scenario in which young recruits entering the fishery are caught before they grow to be able to reproduce.

Furthermore, in a situation where the target species and bycatch species are equally susceptible to the fishing gear and the latter is present in a lower initial biomass the consequence could be very devastating. It could even result into the killing of the bycatch species to near extinction levels (King 1995).

It could as well be urged differently, that some of the bycatch species caught are small predators feeding on target species, say shrimp. Hence, avoiding catching them simultaneously may bring about a predator - prey imbalance in an ecosystem. The increased biomass of predators may overwhelm the prey. Also that, the discarding practice may have a positive impact by increasing primary production through nutrient regeneration.

All the same, in most cases the ecological disadvantages of fishing large quantities of bycatch tend to offset the benefits. As a matter of fact, in many countries catching large volumes of bycatch and or discarding them at sea is prohibited. The practice, however, goes on unabated since the cost of enforcement and the technical capabilities in a number of countries preclude the effective institution of regulations. It is worth mentioning that the criminality surrounding the whole exercise has rendered the collection of reliable data on bycatch and discard volumes extremely difficult. Based on information from different sources, Alverson et al. (1994) made an attempt to quantify the amount of fish caught as bycatch on a global level. They came out with a rather astonishing figure of 27 percent of the amount being caught. Nobody knows precisely the amount being discarded at sea, but it is reasonable to presume that more than 90 percent of bycatch is being flushed overboard.

3. SELECTIVITY INITIATIVES

Table 1: Examples of tested selective systems in trawl fishery

Source: Larsen, R.B (1999)

The ecological evil of catching non-targeted species cannot be over emphasised. Several management measures aimed at reducing the magnitude of the problem have been tried in different places. They include; closed area and season, placement of observers on board fishing vessels, limited licensing as well as institution of gear selectivity. Generally, the results from the measures vary remarkably between temperate and tropical regions. While in the former region, there are indications that the measures are gradually solving the problem, the situation is not very promising in the tropics. The temperate countries have two major advantages; Firstly the enforcement capability there is high, and secondly, the presence of a limited number of species in respective fishing grounds makes it easy to effect gear selectivity.

Current results notwithstanding, a search for effective solution to the bycatch problem goes on. At the moment most of the work is focused on solving the problem by instituting selective mechanisms into fishing gears. This would facilitate effective capture of target species without taking out large amounts of bycatch. Particular attention has been put on shrimp trawls, singled out as major bycatch contributors. Selectivity techniques are generally based on contrasting species behaviour and size. One finds an advantage when dealing with a few species that have remarkable differences in size and behaviour. That explains why it is more challenging to employ selectivity in multi-species tropical fisheries.

The selectivity initiative itself has included the use of square meshes rather than the popular rhombus or diamond mesh and the introduction of bycatch reduction devices BRD or TED (trawl efficiency devices, trash eradication devices, turtle excluder devices). Some of the techniques have proven ideal for specific fisheries and fishing grounds. As such, the use of certain selective gears and methods has become mandatory in some fisheries. For example, the use of Turtle Exclusive Device is now mandatory in the Gulf of Mexico, whereas in Norwegian shrimp (Pandalus borealis) fishery; fishers are required to use Bycatch Reduction Devices.

Larsen (1999) gives a general summary with regard to the performance of different selectivity techniques in the temperate (Table. 1).

Based on Table 1, it seems the Nordmore grid has proven to be a very effective method compared to other techniques, especially in reducing bycatch of fish larger than 15 cm. Whereas this could be easy in the temperate, the situation might be different when similar Nordmore grid is applied in the tropical ground (Mahika 1985). Generally, the fish caught as bycatch in the tropical region are usually small with total length less than 20 cm. For example, the major bycatch species caught in the shallow water shrimp fishery in Tanzania are Leiognathus sp. (pony fish) and Thryissa sp. (anchovy). These have maximum sizes of 15 cm, with common sizes below 10 cm; as such the Nordmore technique would not be much effective. The issue of the survival rate of escapees is another area, which gives rise to doubts/questions about whether such techniques should be introduced in the tropics. Furthermore, it ought to be remembered that any mechanism filtering away larger fish through such methods like the soft sorting panel (no 1) would appeal to people in a starving region.

With continued research effort, however, some of these selective methods may one day prove successful in the tropical region. But the question, which remains, is "what should be done, at least to minimise the magnitude of the problem at the moment?" The abandoning of bycatch producing fishing techniques such as shallow water shrimp trawling is altogether unaffordable to the impoverished countries. Hence, one is left with the issue bycatch utilization as the only remaining, viable solution. The moral here is that, bycatch could be unavoidable but discarding can be averted. FAO's code of conduct for responsible fisheries supports the endeavour, by calling states to "encourage those involved in fish processing, distribution and marketing to improve the use of bycatch to the extent that this is consistent with responsible fisheries management practices" (FAO 1995:28-29).

4. TRADITIONAL BARRIERS TO INCREASED UTILIZATION

There are several environmental and socio-economic reasons favouring bycatch utilization. On the environmental level, the drive would reduce pollution and possibly, reduce pressure on the fishery by engaging prospective small-scale fishers on bycatch trade. Socially, there would be increased employment opportunities and food fish consumption, especially in areas adjacent to fishing grounds. Meanwhile, the anticipated economic gain may include increased income to stakeholders that is trawlers owner, crew on board, the government and traders. Unfortunately, quite often it is alleged that high recuperation costs and technical snags overwhelm the seemingly good currencies. Usually the price of bycatch is low compared to targeted species, a factor that makes it economically reasonable for fishers to concentrate on the latter. Similarly, when a limit is put on the maximum catch permissible, it would be odd to expect fishers to care about bycatch. One has to remember; sometimes exceeding quota allocation attracts a deterrent penalty.

On the technical side, the limited space on board, together with time and labour required in handling bycatch are setbacks to increased retention of the product on board. In addition, tropical climatic conditions, especially high temperatures, reduce even further the retention prospects as these compel instant collection, in areas where collection systems are non-existent. In such situations, bycatch has to be flushed over board!

5. TRENDS IN FISH SUPPLY PER CAPITA

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the bycatch problem has now attained a different dimension. In this region, bycatch fish is in high demand, and selling of the product could be profitable to those participating in the trade. According to FAO (1997), only 10-5 percent of the estimated 1 million tonnes of bycatch are landed. This would suggest that the 800 000 - 900 000 tonnes being flushed overboard are a potential avenue for increasing income and food fish to impoverished coastal peoples. Several African countries have regulations that support bycatch utilization, including total prohibition of discarding it at sea. But more important is the fact that increased demand for bycatch utilization in Sub - Saharan Africa is a function of declining fish availability in the region. It is said, " When a lion fails to get flesh it can eat grass". Hardly, the declining trend can be reversed since the problem has a global dimension. While for years the share of Africa in world trade has continued to decline; Africa's fisheries exports have increased over time creating shortages in domestic markets. There are many other factors beside the export trade, which together contribute to scarcity of food fish (see box 1).

A report by FAO (1998) suggests that; "At present, 86 nations are defined as Low-Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDC), 43 are in Africa, 24 in Asia, 9 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 7 in Oceania and 3 in Europe. These countries are home to the vast majority of the world's 800 million chronically undernourished people". The LIFD countries mentioned above include 28 coastal states in Sub-Saharan Africa (Table 2). These have correspondingly low rates of fish consumption as estimated by Frederic (1999). As such the respective countries are in a position to benefit from increased bycatch utilization.

It ought to be emphasised that, the 1994 figures on per capita fish supply in the 28 LIFDC (Table 2) could be an inflation of the real situation today. FAO (1997) estimated that during mid 1990s per capita fish consumption in the region was 6 - 7 kg/person/year, whereas the global average was 13.5 kg. However, given recent developments in the fisheries, the global production and trade system, there is every possibility that the figures are lower today than what was the case in 1990s. For example, Tanzania had an average supply per capita of about 12.2 kg/person/year, but today it has sunk to below 7 kg/person/year (Fig.2).

As Holm (1999) concluded, since there is a shortage of fish in the world market and the best paying consumers are in the developed countries, there is no doubt fish would continue to be redirected from Sub Saharan Africa and other developing countries to developed countries. The whole scenario implies that all possible avenues for increasing fish consumption in the region have to be explored. As such, it gives moral justification and impetus to a bycatch utilization drive.

6. REMAINING SNAGS TO INCREASED BYCATCH UTILIZATION

As pointed above, the problem of bycatch under-utilization in Sub-Saharan Africa does not stem from a lack of market. The market is not only readily available but it is expanding rapidly. Today the problem is no longer how to produce added value products out of bycatch, it is rather how to get it to the market. One may wonder, if that is the case, why the promotional drive behind bycatch utilization in several African countries has not been that much fruitful? The answer to this question could be divide into three, to include technical, legal and institutional dimensions, all linking up together to constitute a constraint.

Table. 2 Per caput fish supplies in sub-Saharan Africa.

Source: FAO (1998), Frederic (1999)

With regards to legal and technical dimensions, the major problem is the conflicting arrangement of the two elements. In most African countries where bycatch utilization is encouraged, the regulations require that bycatch be retained on board a trawler for off-loading at the end of a fishing trip. In other words no transhipment of products at sea is allowed. Although this may sound, ideal and orderly, in practice landing the whole lot of bycatch at the end of say one month's fishing trip has not been easy. Retention of bycatch on board not only denies storage space and increases labour cost, but also leads to low market price due to quality degradation and over supplying the market. Usually bycatch is poorly washed, packed into polythene bags before being staked in cold room. When kept for a prolonged time, quality deterioration becomes so significant that the product fetches a very low and discouraging price. In view of this situation, the only which may result in a significant impact seems to be one in which the legal framework is modified in order to allow for collection of bycatch at sea.

This idea has been tried in different countries both in and outside the region. For instance, in Mozambique a government/donor funded project tried the collection of bycatch at sea (Kelleher and Musa 1995, Suluda 1998). Unfortunately, the successes achieved were short-lived due to financial and technical limitations. In Cuba and El Salvador the parastatal model was tried, whereby parastatal or government agencies collect and distribute bycatch. In the former, the strategy seems to have worked well and today Cuba has a high rate of bycatch utilization (Garcia 1995). In El Salvador, the model was not that successful and had to be abandoned (Lopez 1998). The reliance on government subsidies has made the parastatal option become a temporary, rather than a sustainable solution to bycatch under-utilization.

Simply, the problem of bycatch recuperation is largely economic; more often the cost of retaining it on board tends to be higher than the revenue it generates when sold out. The operation by small-scale traders on board their wooden canoes is rather simple and the fixed and overhead costs are less compared to larger collection vessels. Again, sending bycatch to the market in bits as is possible with the operations of the small-scale traders, provides the opportunity for attracting higher prices, unlike when a vessel off-loads its entire catch at the end of a month-long trip to flood the market.

In Tanzania, the government specified in the contracts that apply to shrimp trawlers that all bycatch be retained and landed at the end of one's fishing trip. However, despite the requirement and the existence of national observers on board, the situation could not improve (Mongi 1990). As a practical solution, the government started to issue permits to a few traders to collect bycatch at sea in agreement with trawler owners. Although the measure is paying dividends, it is rather the illegal collection operations by small-scale fish traders that account for the bulk of the bycatch being utilised. Unlike the legal (permitted) traders living in urban centres, the small-scale traders live in fishing villages adjacent to shrimp fishing grounds. They operate simple collection crafts propelled by small engines and or sail. Usually the crafts are meant for shuttling between the village and a trawler; otherwise from the village bycatch is distributed by other cheap means of transport such as vehicles and bicycles. In these cases, it should be easy to understand why they succeed where the parastatals have failed!

The practice by the small-scale traders seems to be all over Sub-Saharan Africa (Rakatandrosoa 1995, Akande and Tobor 1995, Eyabi-Eyabi 1995, Jallow 1995 Suluda 1998). However, these traders have failed to gain recognition in most of the countries involved, and their practice remains illegal. Consequently they are denied access to extension and other services such as credit facilities.

Since the collection of bycatch at sea seems to offer a viable and sustainable solution to the problem, it would be unreasonable to leave out of discussion the institutional dimension. Generally, there are four major players with direct influence on bycatch recuperation. These are the government agents, owners of trawlers, crew on board and bycatch traders. Whilst all the other players are institutionally well organised, the bycatch traders are disorganised living in different villages adjacent to shrimp fishing grounds. Their current disorganization is not, however, an irrevocable fatality, particularly if there is a strong determination to support the process.

At the moment, it would not be far-fetched to suggest that, the move towards increased bycatch utilization in the region will be realised only when the major stakeholders agree to collaborate. It entails the re-examination of existing perceptions being harboured by different stakeholders (Table 3). This would give some ideas on how to go about fostering the collaboration being cherished.

Table 3. Perceptions and problems associated with bycatch under utilization

Based on the outlined perceptions, the following scenario is obvious to occur once all the main stakeholders agree to collaborate:

• The government will gain increased resources.

• Trawler owner will have more revenue needed in offsetting production costs.

• Crew's morale would be boosted through increased incentive package.

• Small-scale fish traders living in villages adjacent to fishing ground will have increased employment opportunities, income and food fish available to them.

It is also evident that the collaboration can hardly be put in place if the small-scale fish traders are not organised. In this regard, a realistic pathway to increased bycatch utilization is to be found in institutional capacity building. It ought to start by assisting the traders in building the organizational capacity of their groups. Once organised, they would most likely comply with stipulated code of conduct and other legal requirements. In this regard, enforcement would take place by using the application of social (peer group) pressure rather than relying on the more costly and less effective conventional methods of Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS). For the move to work well, it is important for respective governments to put in place an encouraging and conducive legal framework for bycatch recuperation at sea. Hopefully, the measures would entice trawlers owner to collaborate.

Furthermore, the involvement of young men in bycatch trade would reduce the number of those joining the artisanal shrimp fishing. This is very important in the drive to minimise fishing effort on the limited stocks. It would also have the effect of reducing the heavy exploitation of spawning biomass.

7. CONCLUSION

There is no simple solution to the problem of discards, and no one can suggest a ready-made off-the-shelf solution to the problem of bycatch under utilization. The problem is rather situational, but in most cases economic considerations are vital to unfolding the problem particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Experiences suggest that the retention of bycatch on board up to the end of a fishing trip is a not practical solution. Not only does the practice deny storage space and increase labour cost, but it also leads to low market price for the product due to quality degradation and over supplying of the market. The outcome of the interplay of these factors is higher bycatch handling costs outstripping the revenue earned from the trade. Certainly, with this situation, there would be no incentive for owners of shrimp trawlers to retain increased amount of bycatch. Therefore, a workable pathway for enhancing bycatch utilization in the region lies in its collection at sea. This is both, technically and economically feasible, especially with the involvement of the small-scale fish traders using inexpensive recuperation methods. It does not, however, preclude the need for close collaboration of major stakeholders, led by respective government agencies for ironing out the existing legal and institutional problems.

8. REFERENCES

Akande, G. and Tobor, J. (1995). Utilization of bycatch of shrimp in Nigeria. In: Report and proceedings of workshop on the utilization of bycatch from shrimp trawlers. Nosy Be', Madagascar, June 1995. Rome, FAO.

Alverson, D.L., Freeberg, M.H., Murawski, S.A. and Pope, J.G. (1994). A global assessment of fisheries bycatch and discards. FAO Fisheries technical paper No.339. Rome, FAO.

Bianchi, G. (1985). FAO Species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Field guide to the commercial marine and brackish - water species of Tanzania. Prepared and published with the support of TCP/URT/4406 and FAO (FIRM) Regular Programme. Rome, FAO.

Eyabi-Eyabi, G. (1995). Utilization of bycatch from shrimp trawlers in Cameroon. In: Report and proceedings of workshop on the utilization of bycatch from shrimp trawlers. Nosy Be', Madagascar, June 1995. Rome, FAO.

FAO (1995). Code of conduct for responsible fisheries. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, FAO.

FAO (1997). Fisheries and aquaculture in Sub-Saharan Africa: Situation and outlook in 1996.FAO fisheries circular No. 922 FIPP/C922. ISSN 0429 -9329.

FAO (1997). The state of world fisheries and aquaculture. FAO Fisheries Department, Rome, FAO.

FAO (1998). Low-Income Food Deficit countries. http://www.fao.org/NEWS/FACTFILE/FF9607-e.htm

Friedrichs, S. (comp.) (1998). Basic indicators on the economy and fisheries of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries. Brussels, European commission, Directorate General for development. 79p (mimeo).

Garcia-Rodriguez, E. (1995). Utilization of shrimp bycatch in Cuba. In: Report and proceedings of workshop on the utilization of bycatch from shrimp trawlers. Nosy Be', Madagascar, June 1995. Rome, FAO.

Holm, P. (1999). Trade, Resources management and food security. NFH, University of Tromso (mimeo).

Jallow, A. M. (1995). Recent positive and negative experiences on the utilization of shrimp bycatch in the Gambia. In: Report and proceedings of workshop on the utilization of bycatch from shrimp trawlers. Nosy Be', Madagascar, June 1995. Rome, FAO.

Kelleher, V. and Mussa, A. (1995). Retention of bycatch for human consumption: The Mozambique experience. In: Report and proceedings of workshop on the utilization of bycatch from shrimp trawlers. Nosy Be', Madagascar, June 1995. Rome, FAO.

King, M. (1995). Fisheries Biology, Assessment and Management. Fishing News Books.

Larsen, R. (1999). Examples of tested selective systems in trawl fishery. Norwegian College of Fishery Science (mimeo)

Mahika, G.C. (1992). Bycatch reduction by rigid separator grids in panaeid shrimp trawl fisheries: The case of Tanzania. M Phil.Thesis. Department of Fisheries and Marine Biology, University of Bergen, Norway 53pp.

Mainke, W. (1974). The potential of the Bycatch from Shrimp Trawlers. In Kreuzer, R (Ed) Fishery Products. FAO/fishing News (Books) LTD.

Mgawe, Y. (2000). Trade-offs in Fisheries Development: The case of Lake Victoria in Tanzania. M.Sc. Thesis, University of Tromso, Norway.79pp.

Mongi, H. (1990). Management regime applying to the shrimp fishery in Tanzania. In SWIOP/MNRT (1990) Proceedings of the workshop on the management of the shallow water shrimp fishery of Tanzania. FAO/UNDP RAF/87/008/DR/58/90/E:94P.

Nkondokaya, S.R. (1992). Bycatch in Tanzanian shallow-water shrimp fishery, with special emphasis on finfish. MSc. Thesis. Norway, University of Bergen.

Rakotondrasoa, M. (1995). Récupération du poisson d'accompagnement de la pêche crevettière l'expérience malgache. In: Report and proceedings of workshop on the utilization of bycatch from shrimp trawlers. Nosy Be', Madagascar, June 1995. Rome, FAO.

Safina, C. (1998). The World's Imperilled Fish. Scientific American Vol.9 No. 3.

Suluda, S.L. (1998). Utilisation of shrimp bycatch from the Sofala Bank - Mozambique: current practices and trends. In Clucas, I and Teutscher, Frans (eds.) Report and proceedings of FAO/DFID Expert consultation on Bycatch utilisation in Tropical Fisheries. Beijing, China, September 1998. Chatham, UK, Natural Resources Institute.

Teutscher, F. (1995). Bycatch in tropical shrimp fisheries. In: Report and proceedings of workshop on the utilisation of bycatch from shrimp trawlers. Nosy Be', Madagascar, June 1995. Rome, FAO.

Vendeville, P. (1990). Tropical shrimp fisheries: Types of fishing gear used and their selectivity. FAO Fisheries Technical paper 261 Rev.1. Rome, FAO.

Watch Tower (1984). New world translation of the Holy Scriptures. Watch Tower Bible and Tract society of New York. Brooklyn, WatchTower.