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Solomon Islands

International Waters Project

Strengthening the Management of Bęche-de-mer & Coastal Fisheries in the Solomon Islands

What is the Solomon Islands IWP?

In the Solomon Islands the International Waters Project is working together with the villages of Mbili Passage and Chea in the eastern Marovo Lagoon to try and find cost-effective ways to improve the local management of important commercial coastal resources such as Bęche-de-mer .

Background

The Marovo Lagoon located in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands is the longest lagoon in the southern hemisphere and, possibly, the world. Once described by James A. Michener as the “eighth wonder of the world” the lure of its spectacular natural beauty attracts tourists from across the globe.

Bęche-de-mer numbers are rapidly declining in the Solomon Islands

The lagoon is also home to 12,000 people, residing in 70 villages and hamlets scattered along its coastline. In the Solomon Islands most of the country’s 500,000 people live in similar coastal or island communities . Solomon Islanders have one of the highest per capita seafood consumption rates in the world with over 80% of the population deriving their protein from marine resources.

Approximately 85 % of all land and marine areas are held under ‘traditional’ or ‘customary’ tenure systems as villagers rely mainly on fishing, trade and subsistence agriculture for their food security and livelihoods.

Bęche-de-mer is the name for sea cucumbers that have been harvested, cooked, and dried for consumption as. In Asia this product is highly regarded as delicacy with powerful qualities as a traditional medicine and as an aphrodisiac. In the Solomon Islands the Bęche-de-mer fishery is a multi-million dollar industry and is the second-most valuable marine resource, after tuna, to the national economy. However, because of the village-level nature of the Bęche-de-mer fishery, it has a direct impact to the economic well being of these communities.

What is the problem?

Because of the ease of harvesting and processing Bęche-de-mer has become one of the largest sources of cash in many coastal communities throughout the Solomon Islands. However the increasing demand, coupled with new and unsustainable harvesting practices, has led to a drastic decline in the number of these higher value species.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the diversity of Bęche-de-mer species in the eastern Marovo Lagoon is now being altered due to increasing exploitation. This represents a threat not only to community livelihoods, but also to the fishery itself and overall biodiversity.

The Government doesn’t presently have the capacity or resources to enforce regulations such as size limits, bag limits, gear restrictions, and seasonal closures. There are no national regulations or guidelines to safeguard the fishery, except for a 1998 ban on fishing for Sandfish - and this was repealed in 2000.

What is the IWP trying to do?

The IWP is a collaborative effort between traditional resource owners and the Solomon Islands Government. The project is managed in partnership with the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme and supported by non-government organisations (NGOs) and other stakeholders such as the dive and eco-tourism sector.

The IWP is promoting sustainable coastal fisheries by establishing a system of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and working to promote increased community involvement and responsibility for local resource management and conservation.

The IWP is working with the communities to gather information about social and economic factors to help develop plans to improve the management of this important marine resource.

Traditional carving is an important source of income in SDA communities such as Chea

It may be more practical to transfer management of these resources to communities and regulations - such as bag limits, gear restriction, seasonal closures, species rotation, and area restrictions - could be implemented in accordance with the local system of customary marine tenure. The national government could then develop policy and regulatory frameworks to support this community-based management.

The villages of Chea and Mbili Passage both have a population of around 300 people each and, as followers of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church, they are restricted from harvesting Bęche-de-mer . Despite these restrictions groups of young men continue to exploit the fishery. In fact surveys by the IWP in 2004 showed that Bęche-de-mer contributed to household income in 63 % of households at Mbili Passage and 27% in Chea.

Due to concerns of increased exploitation and lower abundances of Bęche-de-mer in the early 1990’s, some neighbouring United Church and Christian Fellowship Church (CFC) communities began to enforce an increasing variety of management measures on Bęche-de-mer harvesting in their own areas.

In most SDA communities Bęche-de-mer was not thought to warrant management because of church doctrine considered it to have no value. The Chea community was an exception to this, and in 1991, the community developed a Resources Policy Framework to control the collection of marine resources and to avoid over-exploitation.

In order to protect these resources the IWP is working actively to involve all the fishing communities and resource owners in developing and implementing management strategies. The IWP plans to now work to involve the surrounding United Church communities and build on the Marine Resource Policy Framework that Chea developed in 1991 to manage the Bęche-de-mer fishery and other marine resources.

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