Estrategias de Gestión para la Pesca Costera y Marina en los Alrededores de Buenaventura

The berberechos are located between the roots of the mangroves, buried approximately 15 centimeters deep in the estuary mud. The piangua is collected by hand in the mangroves when the tide is low. The collectors walk through the mangroves and identify the signals of the piangua hidden in the mud by locating a siphon hole; this siphon acts as an air supply to the buried mollusk. The collectors press their hand into the mud, locating the piangua by touch before extracting it. The collection of piangua is generally a communal activity led by groups of women who search for piangua together, often accompanied by their children. The piangua provides a low-cost fishing option, as no specialized equipment is required, making it particularly important for rural communities with low incomes. The piangua also provides a high-quality source of protein for families and complementary income for coastal communities. The collection and consumption of piangua provide an important safety net for food security. The piangua is a unique species, collected through a precise method, without accidental catches, habitat damage, or other negative impacts of fishing. The sedentary nature of the piangua favors the development of simple management proposals, compared to the complex life cycles, habitat changes, and migratory behaviors of many commercially important species. Unlike free-swimming fish, which can move from nearshore areas to offshore zones or migrate along the coast through various fishing communities, the piangua, once established in the mud of the mangrove root, does not move to another area. This makes it relatively simple to connect the fishermen with the "inventories" of piangua and focus work on supporting them to establish sustainable management strategies for the area and its population. The piangua also represents a fishing activity with a relatively high margin of profit. Despite the low unit price of the piangua, the collection costs are very low, and there are no initial costs to enter fishing. The collection of piangua is relatively elastic to increases in fuel costs, as there are no fuel costs for collection, and the fuel costs for reaching the fishing area are minimal. The costs of transportation to reach the market would be affected by increases in fuel costs, but these increases are absorbed by the commercial chain and not by the piangua collector. These economic considerations are important, as piangua collectors would not be willing to become indebted as a result of the fishing excursion. Debt in fisheries is a significant problem that leads to overfishing and poor fishing practices, as fishermen try to recover from accumulated debts assumed when travel costs exceed the income from the fishing trip. The data from BIOREDD show the connection between communities and their areas of collection. The communities of Bazán, Bocana, Puerto España, La Plata, Encanto, Área Piangua, Estero Bazán, Estero Barrial, Manglar de piangua grande, La Marcela, Estero Cojón, Estero Grande Agüero, Estero Pital, Luisico, Guachalito, Manglar de la Pajarera, Audón, El Cucho, Aguacaliente, Manglar Santa Rita, Guachal, Manglar de Dos Peñas, El Pipón, Manglar de la Quincha, La Herradura, La Peregrina, Posita, Zambrano, have a strong fidelity to their territories of collection, as well as a clear separation between communities, so that the areas of piangua collection are rarely shared by different communities. These attributes provide a perfect basis for promoting community-level management with a focus on rights. A new approach is needed to manage the piangua fishery, as the current vertical management approach has been ineffective in addressing the concerns of overfishing to meet the high demand from Ecuador. The vertical management approach has been promoted to implement minimum size limits and policies to encourage domestic consumption, while establishing controls on informal exports to Ecuador. However, achieving these management objectives through a centralized and vertical approach seems difficult and costly, as the costs of management could easily exceed the total income from fishing. The remote locations of the fishing communities, the ease of maritime transportation, the established commercial chains to reach the Ecuadorian markets, and the low presence of government institutions responsible for fisheries management make it difficult to develop this approach. However, it is essential to note that the piangua fishery offers an unusual opportunity to reverse the approach, from a vertical management (top-down) to a participatory management (bottom-up) that can align economic incentives with sustainable fishing objectives. There is a close relationship between fishing communities and their territory. Working to formalize these relationships under a rights-based management framework (RBM) that grants exclusive use