Can Sport Fishing be Ecological Sustainable in a Marine Protected Area? – A Case Study from the Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR), created in 1998, covers 133,000 km², making it one of the largest marine protected areas in the world. Situated at the confluence of major ocean currents, it is home to a large number of endemic marine species. Since the implementation of the Galapagos Special Law in 1998, fishing rights in the GMR have been given exclusively to local fishermen and only small-scale fishing is permitted producing approx. 800 t/year. As tourism is exponentially increasing in Galapagos, and several fisheries resources have almost collapsed, fishermen have been seeking alternative work in the more profitable tourism sector. A new form of recreational fishing called “Pesca Artesanal Vivencial” (PAV) was established in 2005. Tourists are being taken out by local fishermen on their fishing boats to experience an authentic day at sea with a Galapagos fisherman. Unfortunately, this activity turned out to be less lucrative than anticipated and instead sport fishing activities are being carried out under the banner of PAV. Regulated sport fishing with catch and release practice can be a profitable and an ecologically sustainable alternative to commercial fishing and reduces fishing effort. The question is if a marine reserve which was until just recently on the IUCN red list of endangered natural World Heritage Sites can support an activity such as sport fishing. A monitoring, including onboard observations, in collaboration with the fishing sector and the National Park of Galapagos was carried out to understand the impact on the marine reserve both ecologically as well as socio-economically. Main problems are for example the lack of capital from traditional Galapagos fishermen to start of a recreational fishing activity and the fact they do not have an aptitude to be tourist guides. Therefore most profit is made by tourism agencies in mainland Ecuador and abroad, consequently there is little benefit for the local economy.