We promote the adoption of international standards for responsible fishing in collaboration with fishing organizations, governments, academia, and industry. We use the Fair Trade (FT), Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), and Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA) standards to frame our action plans. The four phases of the building block are:

1. Healthy stocks. We evaluate the status of the fisheries in order to determine the proper management methods and instruments to apply, depending on the fishery (e.g., catch shares, effort control, size limits).

2. Healthy ecosystems. We evaluate the effect of the fishery on

other species and habitats, as well as the effects of environmental change to fisheries and community. The latter to promote adaptation. 

3. Robust governance systems. We promote the formation of groups to

define management rules (both formal and informal) in a collective, transparent,

and democratic way. We also calculate investment costs in sustainable fishing and define sustainable financial plans.

4. Social justice.  We apply social justice principles and practices within the fishery: clear access rights, compliance with occupational, health standards, and access to fair prices.

We have three capacity building programs to pursue legal, sustainable and competitive fishing practices:

1. Capacity building for leaders: It focuses on human development at the individual level. We identify community leaders and provide the tools and knowledge to strengthen their leadership for the common good. The leaders develop sustainable fishing and marine conservation projects, to which COBI provides follow-up. We have had 38 fellows from 18 communities.

2. Capacity building for fishing cooperatives: It provides legal guidance and

training to fishing cooperatives to improve their operations, be more competitive, and ensure financial sustainability in the mid and long-term. 26 cooperatives have participated in the program.

3. Capacity building for fishery committees and alliances: Designed to increase collective action in working groups that represent different stakeholders

and interests within a given area or resource. The program provides guidance to define common goals, rules for decision-making and operations, working plans, and a follow-up strategy. Four committees and an alliance have participated in the program.

A trust fund provides a long-term funding source to finance activities defined in the Implementation and Monitoring Plan. The trust is founded on perpetuity, independence, simplicity, flexibility and transparency. The founding partners serve as trustors, while the beneficiary is the country’s national protected areas.

To promote voluntary participation and to achieve consensus among the key sectors involved, stakeholders including local authorities, fishermen, local residents among others, are identified through a previous mapping of actors. The different sectors then propose their representatives who are formally committed to the process by signing a document. A multi-sectorial dialogue platform is established and the interests of the stakeholders are discussed using an approach of collaborative facilitation and alternative dispute resolution. This platform addresses the issues of geographical delimitation of the management area, and the governance model with roles and responsibilities by sector and areas of use.

An Administrative resolution was made by the local conservation authorities to determine the technical, social, legal and financial feasibility of implementing protected areas in the sites of conservation importance. The resolution considers information from scientific studies and highlights the importance of establishing a participatory process through the creation of a multi-sector dialogue panel. At the same time, the local authority created a follow-up Committee with institutional representatives of the national protected area management authority to legitimize the process and ensure that it is documented and institutionalized.