ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ފާނަ މަސްވެރިކަމުގެ މެނޭޖްމަންޓް ޕްލޭން

Abstract

The Grouper Fishery Management Plan for Maldives aims to establish agreed steps to ensure that the fishery is biologically sustainable and that people who depend on the grouper fishery for their livelihood continue to get this benefit. The Plan has been developed based on stakeholder consultations, field surveys and results of previous research conducted on the fishery. Research on the grouper fishery of the Maldives has been conducted by the Marine Research Centre on several occasions since the early 1990s and more recently in collaboration with the Marine Conservation Society through the Darwin Reef Fish Project. Furthermore, the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture has on a few occasions tried to establish schemes for long term continuous catch data of groupers, but these have proved ineffective both in terms of type of data collected and fishermen cooperation. Efforts to formulate and implement a grouper fishery management plan have been undertaken twice before, whereby recommendations for management had been made and the plans had been finalised. But these plans were never implemented. This Plan was developed with active participation and joint decision‐making about management measures by all stakeholders, inclusive of non‐fishery stakeholders such as enforcement agencies (eg. Marine Police, Environmental Protection Agency) and other related non‐governmental organisations. Management measures to be implemented are based on fishery survey data combined with the knowledge and perceptions of fishermen and exporters. Hence the Plan aims to bring about a participatory approach rather than a top‐down approach. The Management Plan addresses a combination of multispecies management and ecosystem management measures, which considers the fishery within the context of other uses of the marine environment, especially tourism. A precautionary approach is taken so as to deal cautiously with risk, uncertainty and irreversibility of impacts. A combination of approaches such as size restrictions, fishery reserves and time area closures, quotas on catch and exports were considered. The Plan promotes adaptive management whereby it will be reviewed annually. This will include a workshop with all stakeholders to discuss scientific and other data and findings, issues. Management measures will then be revised if deemed necessary based on the findings of the workshop and studies.