Iluminar el Mar: Combatting Fisheries Bycatch of Endangered Marine Species

As the Ecuadorian Artisanal Gillnet fishing sector hosts the highest recorded bycatch rates in the South Pacific, if small, inexpensive and pilot tested LED lights are deployed in at least 25 percent of the fishery through outreach, community relationships, and market incentives, fisheries bycatch will decrease significantly in the East Pacific. This will allow for the recovery of threatened and endangered marine species populations, a resulting increase in these species’ ability to fulfill their ecosystem services, an increase in the health of coastal fisheries resources, and an enhancement of the livelihoods and lives of local fishing communities. Using the Eastern Pacific leatherback sea turtle as a sentinel species, Iluminar el Mar seeks to prevent the extinction of this population while also protecting threatened and endangered sea turtle, shark, ray, dolphin and whale species as well as empower and improve the livelihoods of the marginalized artisanal fishers along coastal Ecuador.

Our specific objectives to do this are to engage hundreds of fishermen, government representatives, and sustainable food cooperatives and to establish a responsible artisanal fishing brand and technological innovation, supported by a coalition of artisanal fishers implementing sustainable fishing practices. We have already begun this work in our pilot fishing port of Jaramijó, where we have over 30 fishers who receive training on sustainable fishing practices, participate in initiative co-development workshops, and are currently participating in strategic fishing trials with LED lights during their regular fishing practices. During our most recent survey, 98% of these fishers have committed to work alongside us as we expand outreach across coastal Ecuador.