About 400 miles from shore, a small fishing community in Chile’s Juan Fernández Archipelago makes its living from a species unique to the islands: the Juan Fernández spiny rock lobster. The area is a national park, but in the 2000s, marine life was showing signs of stress. Catches started to dwindle, threatening the community’s livelihood.
Bottom trawling, an industrial fishing practice in which heavy equipment is dragged across the ocean floor, was permitted just a few miles offshore, tearing up coral banks and destroying habitats. In 2009, a group of scientists started working with the fishers to find a solution.
Their victory came in 2012 after extensive campaigning, when Chile’s Congress banned bottom trawling from all of its 118 seamounts, giving the lobster??and the local fishing economy??a chance to recover.
Chile has been aggressive in its efforts to reform its laws and institute more science-based management. Chilean fishers, and the coastal communities they call home, now benefit from the fact that 23% of the country’s waters are protected in zones where fishing and other commercial activities are restricted.
Chile’s success shows that conservation and a strong economy can go hand-in-hand throughout the region. By enacting science-based policies, the government has ensured that fishers can continue to support their families from the country’s rich ocean life.
AMERICAS SOCIETY/COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAS