Vibrant Oceans
Bloomberg Philanthropies supports
Rare’s nearshore fisheries work
Through its Vibrant Oceans initiative, Bloomberg Philanthropies
is making a five-year, $53 million commitment to promote
fishery management reforms and boost fish populations in
Brazil, the Philippines and Chile.
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ investment supports a unique
approach by funding multiple organizations to catalyze effective
management of local and industrial fishing simultaneously.
Through this initiative, Rare will focus on engaging nearshore
fishing communities.
Demonstrated success in the initial countries will allow the
Vibrant Oceans initiative to serve as a model for future global
reform efforts to protect the world’s fish supply and feed more
people.
The need is critical. Billions of people depend on fish as their
main source of protein and that demand is increasing while the
supply of wild fish is decreasing.1 Small-scale and industrial
fishers catch roughly equal amounts of fish for food, yet most
fisheries are unmanaged, overexploited or collapsed. Real
tragedy looms if action is not taken now to restore these
fisheries. Fortunately, solutions exist that will revitalize fish
populations.
With Bloomberg Philanthropies’ investment, Rare will address
overfishing in the Philippines and Brazil by empowering
nearshore fishing communities to sustainably manage their
fisheries to improve livelihoods, conserve important marine
habitats and bolster coastal climate resilience.
Rare and its local partners will:
• Engage local governments, organizations and coastal communities
to create areas reserved for nearshore community fishers to access
and manage.
• Establish and strengthen management of fishery replenishment
zones inside or next to the exclusive access areas where fish can
reproduce unharmed. Fishers reap the benefits as fish populations
recover in the reserves and swim into nearby fishing grounds.
• Work to improve the ability of small-scale fishers to tap into the
fishery supply chain and create more value from their catch.
• Build the capacity of communities, fishers and local governments to
manage, enforce and monitor their fisheries.
• Create an enabling environment for policies that support the
implementation and proliferation of community-managed fisheries.
• Train local leaders to build community support for the design and
implementation of this program using Rare’s signature Pride campaign
approach.
A model for success
Overfishing is a ubiquitous problem, but Rare’s solution is relatively simple—empower
local fishers with exclusive access to their fisheries and build their capacity to set up
and manage protected areas where fish can reproduce unharmed and repopulate the
surrounding area. Fishery replenishment zones boost fish stocks by an average of 445
percent inside the protected area and 207 percent outside of it.2
Increased community capacity to guard and manage their fishery helps ensure that
fishers reap the rewards of being responsible guardians of the sea and sustain their
efforts over the long term.
Rare’s signature Pride campaigns mobilize communities and build local capacity to
implement solutions that help people and nature thrive. Pride campaigns employ
proven marketing techniques to move the hearts and minds of local communities,
accelerating the adoption of new approaches and ensuring the change endures.
Fishery
Replenishment
Zone
1UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The State of the World’s Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012 (SOFIA). Rome, 2012.
2Lester, S. et. al. (2009). Biological effects within no-take zone marine reserves: a global synthesis. Marine Ecology Progress Series. Vol. 284: 22-46;
Worm et al., 2006. Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services. Science, 314, 787.
Exclusive
Access Fishing
Area
As a part of its five-year, $53 million dollar Vibrant Oceans Initiative, Bloomberg Philanthropies
will support Rare’s work with nearshore fishing communities in Brazil and the Philippines.
Philippines
Brazil
Why the Philippines?
• $3.32 billion in revenue is generated by fisheries in the
Philippines
• 47% of fish caught in the Philippines are caught by
nearshore fishers
• 85% of fishers are nearshore (1.3 million)
• 83% of fish caught in-country are consumed by Filipinos
• 56% of Filipinos’ animal protein comes from fish
Why Brazil?
• 98% of Brazil’s fishers are independent or small-scale
operators
• 60% of Brazil’s marine harvest is produced by small-scale
fishers
• Almost 70% of fisheries are at unsustainable levels
• Per capita, fish consumption has increased nearly 50%
between 2005 and 2010
A record of success:
• In Rare’s first 12 Philippines projects, fish recovery
vastly exceeded the original project goals, achieving a
47% average increase in fish abundance within fishery
replenishment zones in two years
• All 12 sites have significantly increased community
enforcement of their fishery replenishment zones, with
most sites maintaining 24/7 guarding
• Seven original partners have continued their Pride
campaigns with limited Rare support. Eighty-six local
organizations applied to be part of Rare’s second set of
nearshore fishing projects
• Rare signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources to
help communities establish sustainable fishing practices
in the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape
The opportunity:
• Existing fisheries management systems rely heavily on
community engagement and buy-in, and community
mobilization is an area in which Rare specializes
• The Brazilian government is particularly receptive to new
ideas to engage fishing communities
• Rare is developing strong partnerships with government
entities, universities and NGOs that have worked with
local fishing communities
• By 2020, the government has committed to increase the
amount of marine protected areas along its coastline
from 1.5% to 10%
Over the next five years Rare will:
• Reach 10% of coastal communities to establish exclusive
access areas within their fisheries
• Improve the management and protection of 140 fishery
replenishment zones
• Train 25% of coastal mayors or municipal delegates to
build demand and political support for exclusive access
areas and fishery replenishment zones
• Improve the livelihoods of up to 60,000 coastal fishers
who are sustainably managing their fisheries through
access to political capital, increased catch, and improved
social and community cohesion
• Increase fish biomass, abundance and coral reef cover
inside fishery replenishment zones at project sites
Over the next five years Rare will:
• Work with coastal fishing communities to strengthen
exclusive access areas (known locally as RESEX’s) and
set up fishery replenishment zones covering nearly
700,000 hectares
• Increase household living standards for approximately
7,500 families by helping them gain access to new
business opportunities
• Increase fish biomass and abundance at project sites
and improve catch management of critical commercial
species for the country such as skid, shrimp and lobster
• Contribute to Brazil’s commitment to the Convention on
Biological Diversity to establish protected areas in 10%
of its waters
Rare inspires change so that people and nature thrive. Rare looks for proven conservation
solutions and trains local leaders to inspire communities to adopt them and make them their
own through its signature Pride campaigns. Pride campaigns use proven marketing techniques
to move the hearts and minds of local communities, accelerating the adoption and increasing the
sustainability of the solutions. Visit Rare on the web at rare.org.