Lobster resources in the Galapagos Marine Reserve have declined markedly in recent years. As part of initiatives to support the fishing sector through sustainable fishing, an investigating in underway for the effectiveness of lobster traps.

Among the most interesting resource extraction in the Galapagos Marine Reserve are the spiny lobster; the red lobster (Panulirus pennicillatus) and green lobster (Panulirus gracilis), which is done traditionally by divers, who have semi-industrialized techniques with the use of the a diving system known as "Hookah".

The volume of lobster catches from 1998 to 2005 have had their ups and downs, but from 2001 production goes into a gradual descent, resulting in the lowest production in history in 2004, with only 25.7 tons. According to this data, over-exploitation is clear and management measures that allow recovery of the population of this species is recommended.

	Experts from the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park developed the traps locally.

While Galapagos fishermen, as part of their medium-term vision, expressed the interest to exploit resources based on principles of sustainability, at the moment they have few alternatives to get a better return from the lobster fishery without increasing fishing effort.

For this reason, this proposal plans to generate an alternative method for the capture of lobsters in the Galapagos Marine Reserve using traps, with which it is possible to capture a living species, creating opportunity for better income through virtue of live lobsters traded on the international market at better prices than just the tails.

Additionally, the use of traps, besides being an alternative method, is less harmful to the fishermen's health. In fact, the results of a study in the Galapagos indicate that 95% of divers show symptoms of decompression sickness, mainly in muscles and joints, presenting high risk for Osteonecrosis, leading to bone destruction and resulting in joint replacement with prosthesis.

Pilot Project

This pilot project led by the Galapagos Marine Resources of the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park, is a test of new fishing gear in the Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR), consisting of baited traps for catching lobster alive and whole. The main objective is to design a prototype for lobster traps according to oceanographic conditions and assess its operational feasibility and efficiency of capture, establishing specific locations for their use in the GMR.

This project began as a proposal of the artisanal fishing sector of Galapagos to the Inter-Institutional Management Authority, presenting the first draft in December 2007 to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in order to get financing to build the first prototypes.

	Placed in five strategic points from the island of San Cristóbal, favorable results were hoped for..

In late May 2008, the first traps were successfully built with help from the GNPS park rangers of San Cristóbal, and a presentation of the project was officially given at the Meeting of the Participatory Management in conjunction with an integral person from the fishing sector.

Since June 2008 the pilot project was initiated in San Cristóbal, with the collaboration of an artisanal fishing boat from Galapagos, and the support of Araucaria XXI and WWF. Tests were conducted at sea for 6 months, testing in different lobster sites with different baits and different depths.

In December 2008 a trip was made to Mexico, visiting the FEDECOP (Federation of Cooperatives of Baja California), involving artisanal fishermen from all the cooperatives in Galapagos. The purpose of the visit was to exchange experiences with regard to the lobster fishery, an art in which they were pioneers in this region of Central America, and show the Galapagos fishermen the type of work organization that occurs in Baja California cooperatives.

Results and future prospects

The results for capture in the first tests with traps in San Cristóbal were not positive.

Nevertheless, much interesting data regarding the handling of traps, materials suitable for construction and preferred sites for location, were collected. Following this proposal, some experiences of fishermen who have already used this method in the Marine Reserve with positive results have been compiled, and there are a significant number of them who are willing to continue conducting research in this direction.

	... which has yet to be achieved.

From the experiences in the exchange of Baja California (Mexico), new expectations and proposals to implement in Galapagos were generated.

A group comprised of both fishermen and specialists from different institutions lived closely to the whole process of commercialization of live lobsters, from the fishing to the arrival at their final destination, bringing back their experience for its application in Galapagos.

Since 2009 a new proposal has been developed to test the design of traps used in Baja California, applying the same methods used by artisanal fishermen in this region.

The idea for the future of this project, is not just finding new tools for fishing, but to see the feasibility of implementing a whole system of concessions and an internal organization for the cooperatives that allows fishermen to have a better quality of life, reducing fishing effort and increasing the benefits for themselves and their families.

We hope to work jointly with the fishing sector so that authorities and fisherman unite in the hour of conservation, for the Galapagos Marine Reserve, and that they are the same local actors who expose violations committed within the protected area.

This program has counted on the support of:

WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), is the largest conservation organization in the world, founded in Morges, Switzerland, with presence in over 90 countries.

Araucaria XXI is the Program for the environmental sustainability of human development in Latin America of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation Development (SAICD).