FIP Stage

Implementation

Species

Mahi mahi (Coryphaena hippurus)

© Diego Perez / WWF Peru

Fishery Background

• Volume – 58,961 mt (2012)
• Gear type – Surface longline
• Location – Territorial waters of Peru (Economic Exclusive Zone) and international waters

FIP Stakeholders

Some of the stakeholders in this FIP include: WWF, the Ministry of Production (PRODUCE),the Peruvian Institute of the Sea (IMARPE), the Integration and Unification of Peruvian Artisanal Fishers Federation (FIUPAP), , ADEX (Peruvian Exporters Association) and the Artisanal Vessel Owners Association for Direct Human Consumption Paita (AAARCUDIPA).  WWF and IMARPE have signed an MOU to work together to advance sustainable fisheries in Peru, including the mahi mahi fishery.

Project Background

The Peru mahi mahi FIP process began in 2012 with the completion of a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) pre-assessment (December 2012). Following the pre-assessment, a FIP scoping document was developed, which includes potential strategies for addressing the deficiencies identified in the pre-assessment. In March 2013, WWF in coordination with PROMPERU held a FIP stakeholder meeting in Lima, Peru to discuss the pre-assessment and to develop a FIP Action Plan, which describes the necessary FIP activities, with associated responsible parties and timeframes, required to meet the MSC standard.

A FIP Action Plan Proposal was developed for the Peruvian mahi mahi fishery in July 2013 based on the results of the FIP Stakeholder meeting. WWF Peru conducted a stakeholder consultation process to share the Action Plan Proposal with relevant stakeholders and incorporate their feedback into the plan. In September 2013, WWF held workshops in Paita, the main mahi mahi fishing port in Peru, and in Pucusana, another important mahi mahi port. Fishers, government and private sector representatives, and NGOs attended the workshops and provided input on the Action Plan Proposal. The workshops also helped to strengthen relationships with key stakeholders in the FIP. Based on input from stakeholders, the Action Plan was finalized in November 2013, and implementation of the FIP began. 

Deficiencies Raised in the Pre-Assessment (completed in 2012)

In the pre-assessment, a number of MSC performance indicators (PIs) were scored such that the fishery would likely either fail under an MSC full assessment (score less than 60) or pass with conditions (score between 60 and 80), including the uncertainty regarding the status of the mahi mahi stock; lack of a formal harvest strategy; lack of data regarding catch and discard of incidental species; lack of data on interactions with endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) species; lack of an effective management strategy at the national level; and lack of an international management system in place for the mahi mahi fishery, which is important, given the highly migratory nature of mahi mahi. For more information, please see the pre-assessment summary.  

The FIP Action Plan includes activities designed to address these deficiencies in the fishery to achieve a level of sustainability consistent with an unconditional pass of the MSC standard.

Key Accomplishments

The work done by FIP stakeholders to date has resulted in the following accomplishments:

• WWF Peru and IMARPE developed a log-book that was distributed to fishermen in Paita (one of the main mahi mahi ports) in January 2013 to test as a pilot project during the 2013-2014 fishing season;
• WWF Peru launched a video in collaboration with the Peruvian film company Taller.pe that highlights the mahi mahi fishery in Paita and promotes the sustainability of mahi mahi. The video, called “¿Qué pasa perico?” (“What’s up, mahi mahi?”), is in Spanish with English subtitles and is being distributed widely in Peru. A press release about the video as well as a link to it can be found here: http://peru.panda.org/en/?214035/whatsupmahimahi; and
• WWF and IMARPE finalized an agreement in February 2014 in which IMARPE will collect biological and catch data from the mahi mahi fishery in the ports of Paita and Pucusana for the remainder of the 2014 fishing season.

Next Steps

Several FIP activities still need to be completed by FIP stakeholders in order for the fishery to be ready to enter MSC full assessment. Some of these activities include:

• Establishing an international Working Group for the Assessment of Mahi Mahi to develop stock assessment procedures to assess the mahi mahi stock;
• Developing monitoring procedures to collect fisheries independent and fisheries dependent data at the Peruvian national level and at the international level to inform the stock assessment;
• Implementing an international management commitment for mahi mahi, conducting an international stock assessment, and establishing a consistent harvest strategy and harvest control rules based on reference points and limits;
• Implementing a long term observer program to monitor fishery interaction with endangered, threatened, protected (ETP) species, retained species, and by-catch species;
• Training fishermen in sea turtle and sea bird bycatch handling procedures and implementing a code of conduct detailing handling procedures at the fleet level that should be monitored through the observer program;
• Developing a management strategy to ensure the fishery does not pose an unacceptable impact to ETP species;  
• Strengthening and enforcing the monitoring, control, and surveillance mechanisms that currently exist;
• Developing a national and international research plan for mahi mahi; and
• Implementing an internal auditing system and external review cycle for monitoring and evaluating the performance of the fishery specific management system.