News from the WWF Peruvian Mahi Mahi FIP

smseafoodIndustry News, Sustainability

We just received some detailed updates from the WWF Peruvian Mahi Fishery Improvement Project (FIP), one of our RSVP funding recipients. Here’s a summary of some of the great progress they’ve made recently:

Signing of Addendum No. 01 to IMARPE Convention with WWF

In July, Addendum No.01 to the Specific Agreement on Technical Cooperation was signed between WWF and the Instituto del Mar del Peru (IMARPE) with the aim of transferring funds to develop activities that strengthen biological information gathering with an emphasis on the impacts of El Niño in the Peruvian mahi mahi fishery.

Attendance at Expoalimentaria 2014

WWF-Peru attended and participated in Expoalimentaria 2014, the region’s largest international trade show, August 27-29 in Lima. Organized by the Exporters Association of Peru (ADEX), WWF-Peru provided information for the design of a sustainable fishing brochure shared in the fishing section of the expo. WWF also utilized the event to meet with the leading exporters of mahi mahi and report on FIP efforts.

Development of the first National Workshop on Mahi Mahi and the creation of the National Technical Group (NTG)

IMARPE and WWF-Peru designed and organized the first National Workshop on Mahi Mahi, held August 20-21st, in order to promote a better understanding of the biological and fishery characteristics of the resource. The meeting was attended by representatives of Ministry of Production (PRODUCE), IMARPE (from the headquarters and coastal laboratories of Paita, Trujillo,Chimbote, and Ilo), and the WWF-Peru Marine Program. One of the main results of this meeting was the formation of the National Technical Group on mahi mahi.

Participation in Peru-Ecuador Bi-national Workshop joint study of mahi mahi

The First Bi-national Workshop on mahi mahi was held between Peru and Ecuador in Guayaquil, Ecuador, September 8-10th 2014. Thirty five researchers from the Ecuadorean National Fisheries Institute, the Undersecretary of Fisheries for Ecuador, IMARPE, WWF-Ecuador, and WWF-Peru participated in the meeting. Key outcomes include:

  • The establishment of a partnership between the National Fisheries Institute (INP) of Ecuador and IMARPE for the mahi mahi fishery.
  • A proposed system to exchange scientific technical information, consistent with the Monitoring Committee provisions in the Peru-Ecuador bi-national agreement.
  • The planning of joint research under the Cooperation Agreement between INP and IMARPE.
  • A review of sampling forms used in both countries which concluded that while they report similar information, the short to medium term collection must be strengthened through the development of standardized sampling protocols.
  • A recommendation that historical information on mahi mahi dating back to 1996 in Peru and 1990 in Ecuador is stored in a compatible database.
  • The establishment of a review of the forms used by observers in order to standardize a single format for records in both countries within a period of three weeks.
  • Agreement that the second bi-national mahi mahi workshop will take place in Paita, Peru in May 2015.

Lots of great working going on, thanks for your support and we’ll let you know when we have more news!