10 years of Saba Bank fisheries research reveals new opportunities for fishermen

Recognising this high local importance of the sea and its biodiversity, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Safety has been structurally funding applied fisheries research in the Caribbean Netherlands since 2010. The purpose of the research is to support the development of a sustainable fisheries policy. Starting this year, the ministry increased its funding of the fisheries research, which is led by Wageningen Marine Research in the Netherlands.

To kick off this expanded initiative, the Saba Bank Management Unit (SBMU) organised a meeting with Saba fishermen on Thursday 29 June to present the main results of 10 years of fisheries data monitoring for Saba and jointly discuss the course for the expanded research programme for Saba.

During the meeting, Owen Clements MSc and Dolfi Debrot PhD, both from Wageningen Marine Research, presented some key developments and trends in fisheries and brainstormed with the fishermen on priorities.

Cooperation with fishermen

"Close cooperation with fishermen is essential in fisheries research from the start. Not only so that we can collect the right and as-complete data as possible, and also that any limitations in the data are clear early on. Trends often have many possible causes. Therefore, feedback from fishermen on the findings can be of great help in interpreting possible underlying causes for the observed trends." Says Debrot. He continues; "The experience of fishermen within their trade and on their fishing grounds also provide an opportunity for unique insights that can then be used in further research for protection and regulation improvements. These include, for example, unique knowledge about new opportunities in fisheries or as yet undescribed spawning grounds that should be considered for protection. Very valuable was hearing the support fishermen give to research on artificial reefs. According to them, a large part of Saba Bank consists of a 'sand desert' with no fish; an area where artificial reefs could possibly offer new opportunities in the long run."

Fishing trends

Based on data up to 2020, the principal fisheries trends suggest a slight decline in snapper populations following several years of recovery while lobster populations seem to have remained stable even though catches had declined in the years following hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 and the COVID19 pandemic. Population modelling further suggest that principal species are currently at maximum yield levels to possibly slightly overfished on the Saba Bank. Even so, the Saba Bank fisheries are still just about the healthiest in the Caribbean Netherlands. The fishermen indicated several possible new fisheries resources to investigate and develop in order to diversify the fishery. These include work on shrimp, crab and squid resources.

Continued income for fishermen

By diversifying the fishing possibilities, it becomes possible to shift fishing throughout the year especially in response to seasonal closures needed to allow sustainable stock recovery as well as to seasonality in markets or fish availability. With alternatives to choose from fishers can maintain their incomes even when certain fisheries might need temporary closure to protect breeding aggregations or allow stock recovery.

The meeting was deemed highly productive by both SMBU and Wageningen Marine Research and sets the stage for an invigorated fisheries research and development programme for the years to come.