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Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research Animal Sciences Unit and Social Sciences Unit
www.ilvo.vlaanderen.be
A soft transition pathway towards sustainability in Belgian fisheries: stakeholder involvement as a tool for the development and implementation of a certification
standard
Arne Kinds, Kim Sys, Eva Kerselaers, Koen Mondelaers and Hans Polet
Belgian maritime fisheries
A once thriving industry is now increasingly under pressure
Conflicts …Scientists Fishermen Government Fish buyers Fish auctions (Local) politics …
Sole (Solea solea) Principal species in value
Whiting (Merlangius merlangus) Main bycatch species Low market value
Fishing techniques Beam trawl (>75% of
vessels and 90% of landings) Otter trawl Flyshoot Bottom set gill nets Handline
Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) Principal species in landings
The Belgian fishery sector under pressure
Pressure 1Ecological impact of the beam
trawl and the reluctance to abandon this gear
Pressure 4Import of cheap fish
Pressure 2Decline of fishing
operations
Pressure 3Demand for sustainably
caught fish
Pressure 1Ecological impacts of
beam trawl
ca. 90% of total landings in Belgian fishery portsTarget species: sole, plaice and other flatfish
Criticized by scientists and NGOs
Unselective fishing
Negative impact on marine habitats and communities
High fuel consumption
© Karl VG
Pressure 2Decline of fishing
operations
High fuel prices
High investment costs
Shortage of professional crew members
Low market prices
Age of the fishing fleet
Overall lack of perspective
Decline of fishing operations in Belgium
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220 Decline of fishing operations in Belgium (1986-2011)
Number of licenses
Number of vessels actually fishing
Source: Aanvoer en besomming (2011)
Only 67 active vessels left!Reduction of ca. 70% in 25 years
Pressure 4Import of cheap fish
Pressure 3Demand for sustainably
caught fish
Mainly from retail
European: cod, haddock, mackerel Non-European: ‘white fish’ (pollock, hake, hoki, etc.) Aquaculture: pangasius, tilapia
Often work with labels and certificatesNON-EXISTING FOR BELGIAN FISH!
The need for a certification standard
Pressure 1Ecological impacts of
beam trawl
Pressure 2Decline of fishing
operations
Pressure 4Import of cheap fish
Pressure 3Demand for sustainably
caught fish Need for a Belgian standard for sustainably caught fish to support local economy
Use the standard as a tool to initiate transition towards a more sustainable fleet
Convert to less invasive fishing techniques
Create economic incentives for fishermen
Attract new investors
Development of an intermediate certification standardDevelopment of an intermediate certification standard
Data collection Developing indicators Visualization of scores in fish auction
PHAS
E I
PHAS
E II
Ecological
• Fishing method• Fishing area• Fishing vessel• Stock data, data on bycatch and
discards• Greenhouse gas emissions
Socio-economic
• Employment• Safety on board• Income of crew members• …
Holistic approach to score sustainability in a local settingwith an emphasis on learning and improving
Development of an intermediate certification standard
NOWSoft transition towards a sustainable fishery sector
Stakeholder participation is key to successSc
ienc
eSt
akeh
olde
rs
Scientifically sound reference system that is supported by a wide range of stakeholders (fishermen, producer organizations, government, fish auctions, NGOs, etc.)
February 2013Proposal for data gathering
and transparency
Feedback and approval
October 2014Implementation through
pilot project
time
Feedback and approval
Feedback and approval
December 2013Proposal for indicator
system and reference points
June 2014Proposal for
visualization of sustainability
scores in auction
‘Multistakeholder process’
‘Fisher’s café’
The participatory approach is explicitly integrated in the scientific process of standard development
Who does what?
Cooperation between two units of the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO)
Fisheries and Aquaculture Unit Social Sciences Unit
Kim Sys, bio-science engineerArne Kinds, marine biologist
Follow-up of the project on a daily basis Development of the indicator system Contact with stakeholders
Koen Mondelaers, bio-science engineerEva Kerselaers, bio-science engineerElke Rogge, bio-science engineer
Organization of participatory processes Scientific input on socio-economic matters
Stakeholder involvement as a tool for the development and implementation of a certification standard
Research questions
(i) Do the interviews reveal unforeseen bottlenecks?
(ii) Do the interviews offer possibilities to overcome perceived bottlenecks and differences in opinion?
(iii) Do these new insights influence the a priori views of standard developers on the development of the standard and the selection of stakeholders?
Paper submission for
Labels on sustainability: an issue for consumers, producers, policy
makers, and NGOs
134th EAAE Seminar, March 21-22, Paris
A soft transition pathway towards sustainability in Belgian fisheries: stakeholder involvement as a tool
for the development and implementation of a certification standard
Kinds, A.1, Sys, K.1, Kerselaers, E.2, Mondelaers, K. 2, Polet, H.1
1 Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Animal Sciences Unit, Fisheries and Aquatic
Production, Ankerstraat 1, 8400 Oostende, Belgium 2 Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Social Sciences Unit, Burg. van
Gansberghelaan 115 bus 2, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
Main findingsThe first participatory processes were capable of
accurately identifying the bottlenecks for the development of the standard and provided insight in
the actions needed to overcome them
The Integrated Sustainability Assessment (ISA) methodBohunovsky et al. 2011
A priori list of stakeholders and bottlenecks (standard developers)
Interviews
New bottlenecks / new stakeholders
Aligning bottlenecks and defining of the persistent problem
Qualitative analysis of interviews
Q 1 What is your concept of a sustainable fishery?
Q 2 How sustainable are the Belgian fisheries currently?
Q 3 Do you think that a certification standard can initiate and/or dddd accelerate the process towards sustainability? How?
Q4 Which bottlenecks do you expect to arise when designing this dddddstandard?
Interviews: structured around 4 questions
9 respondents in 3 categories: Policy and Management (4) Industry (4) NGOs (4)
Some results
1. General lack of knowledge about sustainability in fisheries = fishing activities that do not cause or lead to undesirable changes in the biological and economic
productivity, biological diversity, or ecosystem structure and functioning from one human generation to the next - National Research Council, 1998
2. Opposing views on the current state of Belgian fisheries
“Belgian fishermen fish sustainably” “Steps towards sustainability were taken”
“Beam trawl can be made sustainable”
“Abandon the beam trawl and convert to sustainable techniques”
Scientists, NGOs
Fishermen, PO, fish auctions, government PO, fish auctions, government
PO, fish auctions, government
BOTTLENECK: tendency of most stakeholders to hold on to status quo
Some results (2)
1. General lack of knowledge about sustainability in fisheries
= fishing activities that do not cause or lead to undesirable changes in the biological and economic productivity, biological diversity, or ecosystem structure and functioning from one human generation to the next - National Research Council, 1998
2. Opposing views on the current state of Belgian fisheries
3. Role of an intermediate certification standard
Industry players: a tool to promote current Belgian fisheries (potential risk of greenwashing)
Policy, NGOs and scientists: facilitate the adoption of new, more sustainable, fishing techniques and to make a soft, market-based transition towards a more sustainable fishing fleet
Interestingly, in subsequent informal conversations some stakeholders were more reluctant towards the standard
The interviews proved useful in fine-tuning the perceived bottlenecks and provided insight in the need for specific actions to counter these bottlenecks.
Misconception of the definition of sustainability may lie at the base of some of the bottlenecks.
More scientific information needs to be generated in order to support the need for transition towards ecofriendly techniques.
The ‘beam trawl’ should be split in sub-categories when designing the sustainability indicators.
Actively involve upstream market players to align incentives with those of the fishing industry.
Future: qualitative analyses of more in-depth participatory processes
Conclusions and final remarks
Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research Animal Sciences Unit and Social Sciences Unit
www.ilvo.vlaanderen.be
Contact information
[email protected]@ilvo.vlaanderen.be
