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Mr Petri Suuronen FAO Lead Technical Officer for REBYC-II LAC and Mr Mario Rueda national project coordinator (INVEMAR) visited Buenaventura, Colombia on 19-21 April 2016 to engage and meet with stakeholders. Buenaventura is a main project working site in REBYC-II LAC. The REBYC-II LAC project is an opportunity or the shrimp trawl fisheries in the region since the overarching goal of the project is to help this industry to become sustainable. 

The Stakeholder meeting, the first for the project in Colombia was highly attended and spurred discussion over a range of issues affecting the sector.  Mr. Mario Quintero (representative of the mayoralty of Buenaventura) drew special attention on the need to strengthen the integrated governance of fisheries in the sense that environmental and fisheries policies are better linked and coordinated. This approach along with greater participation of key stakeholders in fisheries management received widespread approval.  Fishing industry partners also emphasized the high importance of shrimp trawling as a source of employment, food and income for the region, but they did express understanding for the need to protect the resources and the environment. Mr Pio Leon (trawl owner) thanked FAO and INVEMAR for selecting Buenaventura as the project pilot site and expressed fishing sectors willingness to actively participate in the project to strengthen the sector. He also noted the general need for the sector to learn more of new fishing technologies and best trawling practices to reduce environmental impact and fuel consumption.

Mr Rueda explained that INVEMAR is the national executing agency for REBYC-II LAC. INVEMAR’s approach is to promote an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) through co-management. All participants agreed that this should be the way forward.

The trip to Buenaventura culminated with a tour of various shrimp processing facilities and vessels. For example,C.I. Maquilas del Pacifico S.A., is engaged in processing and marketing of shrimp caught by Colombian trawlers in the Pacific coast in both shallow and deep waters. Species such as white shrimp (Litopenaeus occidentalis) and titi shrimp (Xiphopenaeus rivety) are captured in shallower waters. The white shrimp is processed, freezed and exported to USA and Europe while the titi shrimp is processed mainly for the local market. The deep-water species such as pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus brevirostris), chocolate shrimp (Farfantepenaeus californiensis) and cauliflower (Solenocera agassizi), are processed and headed on board, and exported to Europe and USA.  

Finally, a visit to “Sepulveda & Rogers”, a company that has among others four shrimp trawlers and which is manufacturing trawls, was conducted. During the visit, the general manager of the company, Mr. Pio Leon Sepúlveda, explained the challenges the trawler fleet in Buenaventura is experiencing including cyclical fishing and conflict between artisanal, semi-industrial and industrial fleets. The company is highly interested to develop their trawling practices and expressed strong support for the implementation of REBYC-II LAC in Buenaventura.