Replacing Fishing-gear for Members of the “El Guadal” Association of Artisanal Fishing, Manabí Province, Cojimies Parish, El Guadal, Ecuador

15/06/2017

Project Code:  ECU/17/026

Objectives:

To replace fishing nets, lines and hooks that were lost or damaged in the earthquake which struck the region in April 2016. Replacing fishing gear for members of the “El Guadual” Association of Artisanal Fishing, Manabí Province, Cojimíes Parish, El Guadual, Ecuador 

Use of Funds:

Twenty four x

  1. 2.2 x 4 metre fishing nets (8 LBS) (USD 4631.52)
  2. Boxes of Youvella “J” number 11 galvanized fishing hooks

Boxes of mono line (0.40 x 1000 metres)

Beneficiaries:

180 members of the local community related to the 60 families directly involved in the artisanal fisheries association.  

Description:

The El Guadal Association of artisanal fishers, Cojimíes, Manabí Province, where the local economy is based heavily on natural resources and organic products including cacao, bananas, cotton and seafood, has requested financial support to purchase essential fishing tackle lost or damaged in the severe earthquake that struck the region in April 2016 (level VIII on the Mercalli scale). Ninety per cent of the fisher folk’s houses were destroyed by the quake. The Ecuadorian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries (MAGAP) has vouched for the “El Guadual” Association and has offered assistance in ensuring the material requested is equitably distributed to the members of the Association. The new fishing gear requested will enable the fisher folk to bring in larger catches and so generate greater income for their work. Generally, 40% per cent of the catch is sold to local restaurants and hotels and the remaining 60% is sold to buyers at the Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas fish market (including lobsters, “roncador, pargo, corvine, robalo and jaiba”). The local community will provide fishing boats, which were not destroyed in the quake, and labour, including that of local women who traditionally catch and prepare shellfish and blue crab for sale on the local fish market.

 

The request is to be seen in the context of the reconstruction currently under way in the Manabí region, including FAO TCP projects. Although the project was presented to the Fund by the MAGAP, the 1% Fund is in direct contact with the beneficiaries, who will provide monitoring reports on the project.