GGGI Small Grant (2023) - TUNACONS (Ecuador)
Project Summary
The mission of TUNACONS is to promote actions for the sustainability of the tuna purse-seine fishery in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Through the GGGI Small Grants Program, the Ecuador-based group TUNACONS successfully implemented the project “Taking Care of Galápagos for the Recycling of FADs from TUNACON Fleet with the Possibility of Stranding on Coasts.”
A main objective of the project has been to reduce the ecological impact generated by ALDFG by recovering FADs from the TUNACONS fleet that had an imminent possibility of stranding off the coast of the Galápagos Islands, and to deliver the intercepted materials to local environmental managers for distribution and/or proper disposal.
During the project participant captains have notified their fleet manager when a FAD buoy was identified within 15 miles from the coast of one of the islands in the Galápagos. The manager then has informed the project lead in the Galápagos, who has coordinated with Galápagos artisanal fishing cooperatives for the mobilization of boats to lift the FAD and take it to land, where the materials were then classified as recyclable and disposed properly.
For these operations, TUNACONS has engaged the participation of 30 artisanal fishers from four fishing cooperatives and 10 boats, and the fishing community has continued its commitment and support in this joint effort. The project has resulted in the successful recovery of nine FADs and two buoys, reducing the ecological impact of FADs stranded on the coasts of the Galápagos Islands.
