Fish from the Arnavon Island Marine Reserve, Solomon Islands

by The Nature Conservancy

Partners:

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Ministry of Forests and Environmental Conservation (MFEC) Arnavon Islands Management Committee International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

Success Stories

Although we still have many difficult hurdles to overcome before the centers are commercially sustainable, the accomplishments to date have been welcomed by the communities involved and have generated much goodwill and support for the Arnavons project. In an area long neglected by "development" agencies, the fisheries project has, despite differences of opinion with the communities on control and funding issues, fostered better community relations and improved understanding of the project and its goals. Related to this, one of the most notable successes has been in the community attitude to the Arnavon Marine Conservation Area. Prior to the closure of the area in 1995, (on the AMCA Management Committee's decision), the islands were amongst the most heavily fished and hunted in the region. After two years of closure only three incidents of poaching have been reported by our Community Conservation Officers. Only one of these incidents involved the taking of endangered hawksbill turtles.

The completion of the construction and staffing the centers, as well as equipping and training the fishermen was accomplished in record time for the Solomon Islands. Because of the dedication and commitment of the staff, and the diligence of the AMCA Management Committee members in each village, we were able to move ahead at an unprecedented pace.

With the training completed, trial fishing was undertaken under the guidance of the master fisherman. The early results were excellent with an average of 110 kgs of high value fish caught on each trip by the fishermen of Seri, and 100 kgs by the fishermen of Wagina. The initial fishing trials proved that stocks of the target fish are plentiful. The training the fishermen received enabled them to target high value species with a minimum of lower grade fish being caught. The first month of fishing saw the Wagina center produce over 4,000 kgs of fish, which is in excess of the predicted break-even targets.

Another story which illustrates the importance of economic incentives as a tool in conservation involves the recruitment of one of the center managers. The community fishing committee called for names of potential candidates from within their communities. In one case, the list of potential applicants included one of the most outspoken critics of the Arnavon Community Managed Conservation Area who was eventually chosen for the position and is fast becoming an effective advocate for the project and its goals.

Challenges

Dealing with the expectations, pressures and community distortions related to the fisheries projects has overshadowed all other project activities pushing conservation management, monitoring and capacity building into the background. The challenge facing us is to make the alternative fisheries such as the deep-water finfish enterprise commercially viable and sustainable in the face of: deteriorating economic climate and infrastructure, uncertain prices and markets, weak human capacity and high community expectations. It is indeed daunting but in all probability, it is a pretty standard suite of challenges facing most conservation organizations engaging in enterprise development in remote areas of developing countries.

Our most pressing challenges are to try to solve the market access problems which have besieged the project, due partly to the national cutback of coastal shipping services which has reduced service to an ad hoc basis unless charters are arranged. The centers need a weekly shipping service for them to work to capacity and to generate the throughput of fish needed to make them financially sustainable. There is no simple solution to this problem in sight -- short of running our own shipping service which is an option under consideration.

Other challenges include the need for ongoing funding to support the center during this difficult period. Cost over-runs due to significant increases over the period between conception and actual implementation, together with flaws in the original budgeting have driven home the lesson that there must rigorous and realistic monitoring of potential and actual costs with significant funding for contingencies built into the project from the outset.

Looking to the longer term, perhaps the most important challenge we face is to find ways to strengthen the capacity of the local communities to maintain the project and make it financially sustainable. This will require a strong focus on capacity building with our community partners and the development of even stronger linkages between the local stakeholders including the fisheries centers, fishermen, women's and youth groups and community leaders.

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