| Summary | The British government established the Falklands Interim Conservation and Management Zone (FICZ) in 1986. The zone was created to regulate foreign fishing vessels and to raise revenue for the Falkland Islands through fishing licenses. The zone extends from a central point in the Falkland Islands out to 150 nautical miles. The L. gahi fishery takes place only within this zone. |
|---|
| Project | SESMAD |
|---|
| Subtype | Formal Governance System |
|---|
| Sector | Fisheries (Stock-specific) |
|---|
| Begin Date | 1986 |
|---|
| Explanation | Established by the Falkland Islands Government on October 26 1986 (Barton et al. 2004). First official fishing season was in 1987 (became effective February 1 1987) (Joint 1990). |
|---|
| End Date | current |
|---|
| Explanation | |
|---|
| Governance Scale | State-based policy |
|---|
| Explanation | As a British Overseas Territory, the Falkland Islands is a dependency of Britain, but has its own currency and government. The Falkland Island Fisheries Department oversees the fisheries within the waters of the Falkland Islands Conservation Zones. |
|---|
| Governance System Description | |
|---|
| Explanation | The Falkland Islands are a British territory, but are also claimed by Argentina as the Malvinas. However, since the war of 1982, the British increased their control of the islands. Fisheries management began in 1986 with the FICZ and licenses, with an extension in 1990 and the FOCZ expanded the managed region. Prior to the FICZ becoming effective in 1987, the Falkland Islands had no control of fisheries resources beyond its 12 nautical miles. (Harte and Barton 2007a). Subsequent fisheries policy statements, culminating in the 1997 policy, promoted greater involvement by the private sector in fishing activities (Harte and Barton 2007a). A major new fisheries law was introduced in 2005; the Fisheries (Conservation and Management) Ordinance 2005, which introduced fishing rights and the FITQS This system provided for the allocation of quotas in each established fishery for up to 25 years, giving recipients (or shareholders) a major stake in the fishery and its future management and development. The ITQ in most fisheries has been allocated for 23–25 years. Companies were provided with a secure environment to make investment decisions and take long-term business views (Harte & Barton 2007, Arkhipkin et al. 2013b). |
|---|
| Governance Trigger | Sudden disturbance |
|---|
| Explanation | The Falkland Islands Government gained momentum after the war of 1982. Around this time, trawlers from Spain, Poland, and the Soviet Union began to exploit squid stocks and there was significant worry that foreign vessels would overfish the resources, and the new local body would not gain anything in the process. However, governance was mostly a way to claim the waters for the UK. They called in the "conservation zone" because the term "EEZ" was not politically available, but by calling it the conservation zone they claimed authority over it.
After the war, fishing squid in the region almost reached maximum, where overfished populations were expected by 1986. As such, the Falkland Islands convinced the UK to set up the conservation zones in 1986. |
|---|
| Type Of Formal Governance | System of laws |
|---|
| Explanation | Fisheries are managed based on a number of laws and ordinances (FICZ, 2005 ordinance, etc). The FICZ set up the jurisdiction for future laws and regulations. |
|---|
| Governance Knowledge Use | ["", "Scientific knowledge"] |
|---|
| Explanation | Scientific Mostly. The governance system heavily relies on the best available scientific information. However, much of the data is fishery dependent, thus relying on local knowledge, mostly from the Spanish masters and their 30 years experience. Not a long history of traditional knowledge to access, some whalers and Russian sheep herders. |
|---|
| Centralization | Highly centralized (4) |
|---|
| Explanation | The Fisheries Department is a government agency based primarily in Stanley and oversees the entire territory's fisheries. While they consult with local users, mostly up to the management body. |
|---|
| Distance To Markets | More than 1000km (4) |
|---|
| Explanation | A predominantly European market (over 11,000 km away) - 93% is exported to Europe (mostly Spain). 7% is exported to South Africa is over 6,000 km away. 0.46% is exported to Asia (mostly India) (OEC 2014) |
|---|
| Horizontal Coordination | Both formal and informal |
|---|
| Explanation | Formal: Meetings, Organizations
Informal: Everyone knows each other and talks to each other, very small community |
|---|
| Metric Diversity | Medium: Few metrics for success (2) |
|---|
| Explanation | “At the introduction of the Fisheries regime in 1987, the management objectives were stated (Anon., 1989) as being: 1) To conserve the resource, and thus ensure its continued productivity. 2) To maintain the economic viability of the fisheries as a whole. 3) To enable the Falklands to enjoy greater benefits from the resource. These objectives are still relevant today.” (Barton 2002) ITQ goals include: diversification, economic performance, research and development investment, increased international competitiveness, government income increases, environmental stewardship (Harte and Barton 2007a). Primary goal: Stability. Achieved. |
|---|
| Social Ecological Fit | High (3) |
|---|
| Explanation | The FOCZ was limited due to Argetina's 200nm territory. "Since 1990, the fisheries policy has specified grounds reserved to L. gahi fishing. The “Loligo box” extends over some 9,700 square nautical miles. It covers the entire fishing grounds for L. gahi on the shelf edge around the islands from the north-northeast of East Falkland to the south of West Falkland (fig. 1). The original purpose of the Loligo box was twofold. The main purpose was to keep trawlers licensed to catch finfish out of the squid fishery. This has been very effective; exemptions have been granted rarely and only to semipelagic trawlers targeting spawning aggregations of southern blue whiting. The second purpose was to confine vessels targeting squid, for which there are no prescribed minimum mesh sizes, to fishing grounds where there is the least likelihood for incidental capture of juvenile finfish.” (Hatfield and DesClers 1998) Squid are most abundant in the Loligo box, but key life stages are protected. The Falkland Islands Government has jurisdiction over this entire area. Containing fishing activity to one area which is generally one habitat ensures more effective enforcement. |
|---|
| Governance System Spatial Extent | 33270 |
|---|
| Explanation | Since 1990, the fisheries policy has specified grounds reserved to L. gahi fishing. The “Loligo box” extends over some 9,700 square nautical miles. (Hatfield and DesClers 1998) (33270.07 kilometers square)
FICZ and FOCZ = 497,714 square kilometers |
|---|
