After an hour of flying in a small plane across the Pacific Ocean with no land in sight, we began to wonder how much farther it would be before we would see land again. About two hours into the flight, the peaks of one of the three volcanic islands rose above the local cloud cover, indicating that we were arriving at the Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of Chile. As we got closer, we saw the first and largest of the islands: Robinson Crusoe Island.
As we approached, the plane teetered within the localized winds from the massive cliff. Smoothly, we descended in the plane to the only runway serving the people on Juan Fernández and Desventuradas islands. After landing, we walked in a seemingly barren landscape down to an isolated bay to find the first of many Juan Fernández fur seal rookeries teeming with life.
On a small vessel, we began our journey around the island toward the only town inhabited year-round. Arriving on the north coast, Cumberland Bay sits in the shadow of the volcanic peaks that form the spine of Robinson Crusoe Island. Immediately you are surrounded by lush woods, streams and pastures, reminiscent of high-altitude meadows. Here is the island’s only settlement, San Juan Bautista, a community of islanders with rich traditions of perseverance and appreciation of the ocean.
The community that is the Juan Fernández and Desventuradas islands is an exceptional example of environmental stewardship for resilient people and marine ecosystems. The community has a rich tradition of managing the marine resources locally. Previous community-led management efforts have focused on lobster a globally important fishery exported to Asia, with the development of large marine protected areas, seasonal closures, size limits and restrictions on catching females with eggs.
Perhaps most important of the lobster regulations, the right to fish lobster cannot be bought and sold. Each of the 150 or so fishing families has its own marca, a designated fishing ground that is passed down from parent to child. Juan Fernández fishing has remained essentially unchanged, whereas the rest of the world has expanded its fishing fleet and access to technology into tracking down fluctuating fish stocks. Similarly unchanged with time in the archipelago is the hope of the community to be sustainable, as the islanders’ lives are defined by the ocean, and local fisheries are critically important for the future of the community. The fishery management practiced in the Juan Fernández and Desventuradas community can serve to inform other fishing communities around the planet about sustainability, especially among a changing climate.
Just like all marine systems around the world, the people living and fishing within the Juan Fernández and Desventuradas islands will acutely feel the impacts of climate change. As such, the community is being proactive and starting to plan for the known and potential unknown impacts of our changing world. This collaborative work has already begun in order to develop Chile’s first climate-adaptive multispecies management plan for the many other fisheries that this island depends on for sustenance and tourism, as well as for bait for the famous lobster fishery.
Long before sustainability became a lifestyle choice, the community has followed practical rules to protect their lobsters, ecosystems and livelihoods. The long-term benefits of proactive planning and fishery management practices of the islanders are an exemplary example of locally-implemented fisheries management practices; this can be replicated throughout the region for resilient fisheries. Fishers, community members, scientists, industry and the government are coming together to collaboratively collect information and set goals to develop a pathway for resilient fisheries, resilient ecosystems and resilient islanders in the face of climate change.
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