- Trawling has a long history in Asia dating back to the early 20th century and expanded rapidly starting in the 1970s. There are now an estimated 83,000 trawl vessels operating in the tropical Asia-Pacific region. - Trawling accounts for 25-52% of total marine catches in countries with significant tropical trawling and is one of the main reasons the Asia-Pacific region is the world's largest producer of fish. - However, many tropical trawl fisheries are now overfished or fully fished and ecological issues have arisen from overfishing, bycatch, and damage to habitats from trawling. New regional guidelines were developed to help manage these fisheries sustainably

1. Managing tropical trawl fisheries
Development of the APFIC regional guidelines
Simon Funge-Smith
Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission

2. Short history of trawling in Asia
• Earliest records beam trawls towed behind sailboats in Manila Bay. Industrial
trawling began in the early part of the 20th Century.
• Steamships, then diesel-powered vessels began to tow large nets. Early 1970’s
modification of otter board gear to suit small, low powered vessels
• Otter board trawling rapidly became a dominant form of fishing in the tropical
Asian waters .
– underwent a rapid expansion over a period of decades
– led to massive increases in the total catches of shrimp and finfish.
“Tongkol” first Malaysian steam trawler

3. Types of trawl
• Variety of trawl gears used in Asia’s
tropical trawl fisheries
– Bottom otter trawl (shrimp trawl and fish
trawl)
– Pair trawls (variously allowed or banned)
– bottom or mid-water, high opening etc
• Typically operated
– between 10 m - 150 m depth
– Usually maximum of about 70 m
• Trawling therefore remains a feature of
coastal fisheries
– results in significant overlap and interaction
with other gear type fisheries
• There are now an estimated 83,000 trawl
vessels currently operating in the tropical
parts of the APFIC region (Funge-Smith et al 2012).

4. Catch from trawling
• Trawl fishing one of the chief methods
responsible for placing the Asia-Pacific region as
the world’s largest producer of fish
• Asia catches ~50 % of the world’s wild fish
– 48.7 million tonnes
– Trawling > 6.6 million tonnes?
• 25-52% of the total marine catch in countries
with significant tropical trawling
– China south China sea area >50%
– Indonesia 25%
– India 50%
– Thailand 52%
– VietNam 43%
– Malaysia 48%
• China and four other Asian countries produce
~55 % of the global shrimp catch

5. What is being caught?
• Tropical trawl fisheries in Asia catch
approximately 800 species
• shark , fish crustaceans,
cephalopods, shellfish, echinoderms
• ~300 species contribute to the
fishery.
• This vast number of species are all
utilized
• Discarding is relatively uncommon
and low level except in targeted
shrimp trawling

6. Catch levels
• Increases in capture fishery production that
are being achieved in this region in recent
decades attributed to:
– increases in fishing effort
– expansion of the geographical range of fishing
activities
– retention of most animals caught (including
shorter-lived, small, fast-recruiting species).
• Tropical trawl fisheries a major driver of these
trends

7. Many tropical trawl fisheries in poor shape
7
Status of trawl fishery Typical features
High ecosystem
integrity
High diversity
Under fished
Fully fished
• Effective management
• Limits on effort
• Fishery operating close to maximum value for food fish
• Fishery operating at Maximum Economic Yield
Modified
ecosystem
Medium diversity
Fully fished
Overfished
• Some management in place,
• Probably excess fishing capacity/fishing effort
• Ecosystem changed by fishing, loss of higher value
species
• Producing a mixture of good, medium and low quality
fish for direct consumption, processing, surimi, and
animal feeds
• Capacity reduction, gear restrictions needed
Degraded
ecosystem
Highly modified
Overfished for
extended
period
• Little effective management - Over-capacity
• Fishery not very profitable - Subsidies
• Fished down
• Producing low value species that are largely directed for
surimi or processing and for feeds
• Management needed to improve efficiency and reduce
overfishing effects

8. Ecological and environmental
issues that arise from trawling
• Overfishing
– Trawling highly efficient but non-selective method
– Widespread trawling in Asia’s tropics contributes to
overfishing and long-term declines of stocks
• Bycatch of immature fish and small sized fish
– Bycatch is a common feature of any trawl fishery,
– landing of low-value fish common
– Dependence developed - aquaculture/agriculture
feeds & surimi processing
– Drives targetting of small fish
• Effects on habitat and ecosystem Function
– mobile gear, damage benthic habitats
– Impacts benthic habitats and changes
ecosystem/species interactions
– tropical benthic habitat recovery may be quick after
trawling

9. Social & economic issues that
arise from trawling
• Overcapacity & unprofitable Trawl Sector:
– > 83,000 trawlers working in tropical Asia
– probably too many vessels for the size/value of the
catch
– Rising fuel prices and labour costs
– Stable or declining catches
– many trawl fisheries unprofitable.
• Governments policy
– Focus on production, ignoring sustainability
– more fish for food security and job creation
– Subsidies - low cost fuel, develop port infrastructure,
low-cost loans, cheap foreign labour
– Ignoring/overlooking IUU
• These incentives/subsidies
– offset the real production costs and make fishing look
profitable
– Encourages increased fishing effort
– Encourage IUU fishing
– Undermine safety at sea, labour conditions

10. Policy & governance
• Management measures vs IUU fishing
– closed areas, seasons or other zones, mesh sizes, gear
restrictions
– Often poor compliance, illegal activity, over-capacity,
weak fishery control
– Constrains management, leads to significant conflicts
• Conflicts
– conflicts with other fishers (esp. artisanal)
– target the same species, encroachment in reserved
areas
• Impacts on supporting industries:
– Fish processing, surimi, fishmeal , aquaculture have
grown
– Availability of trawl products
– Limiting catch of trawl fishery may have negative
impacts
• Strong economic and social interests will affect
acceptability of management measures

11. Why we need to manage
• Expansion & increased production replaced
by over-capacity & over-exploitation
– Downhill from here
– Social, economic and trade implications
• Management, legal frameworks have taken
too long to adjust
– introduction of fishery management is never an
easy path.
• Looking for balance to satisfy demands
– for fish for human consumption (e.g. fresh/frozen
and surimi)
– for feeds and fishmeal for aquaculture
– for sustained ecosystem functions in the marine
fishery
– For improved capture fishery quality (value)

12. APFIC tasked by member
countries
Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission 32nd
Session agreed to focus on trawl
fisheries…
“…as a model through which to
directly address the management of
trawling and indirectly to build
capacity in fishery and ecosystem
management approaches with the
APFIC member countries in Asia”

13. Regional guidelines for the management of
tropical trawl fisheries in Asia
APFIC/FAO Regional Expert Workshop, Phuket, Thailand, 30 September–4 October 2013
• targeted primarily at
– fishery departments
– decentralized institutions tasked with
fishery management
• a practical and usable product
– uses an ecosystem approach
– support the development of management
plans for tropical trawl fisheries in Asia
• increase understanding to the issues
of tropical trawl fisheries and the
ways that they can be managed
– Provide an effective basis for the greater
engagement of relevant actors

14. A regional vision
“Effective management of the
tropical trawl sector, that balances
the demand for fish for human
consumption and for aquaculture
feeds, with the need to sustain
ecosystem functions in the marine
fishery and improve capture fishery
quality”
Complex, but can be addressed by
applying an ecosystem approach
to fisheries

15. Recognize that trawl fisheries are different
• Need clear management objectives
– try to maximize the existing utility for the fishery
even though it may not be operating at an
optimally level of diversity?
– attempt to return to the maximal ecological
function?
• Classify trawl fisheries into those which:
– have a reasonable chance of being restored to
provide MEY/high trophic index
– could be better-managed to improve the existing
services & profitability
– are heavily modified, there is little that can be
achieved without a major reform of the fishery
and its dependent industries
High ecosystem
integrity
High diversity
Modified
ecosystem
Medium diversity
Degraded
ecosystem
Highly modified

16. Practical management options
• The guidelines will need give practical
advice:
– assessment of needs for management
– area-scale interventions (spatial)
– temporal (seasonal) measures
– innovative MCS approaches
– gear–based methods
– creative use of incentives (redirect subsidies)
• Need to address how multi-gear multi-
species fisheries can be managed
– to yield catch from multiple trophic levels
– reduce impacts on other segments of the
fishery
– minimize growth overfishing

17. Diverse management goals and
objectives
• Typically:
– Sustain or improve fishery livelihoods
– Improve the economic performance of
the fishery
– Reduce conflicts between fleet
segments
– Improve nearshore fishery diversity
– Reduce impacts on nearshore
habitats
– Sustain supply of surimi species to
support on-shore industry
– Secure supply of fish meal/bycatch to
supply aquaculture
• Some of these may conflict or
require a trade-off

18. Impacts on dependent
industries
• Dependent industries may
suffer if trawl catches and
overall sector is reduced
• Management changes to trawl
sector are implemented
gradually, allowing support
industries to adjust
• May undermine management
efforts - demanding fish to
stay in business

19. Guidelines advice on management
• Initiate a process for managing trawl
fisheries
– Develop a fisheries management plan ,
establish consultative processes
• Reduce the impact of trawl through
spatial, habitat and temporal
measures
– exclusion zone, critical habitats, seasonal
closures
• Reduce the impact of trawl gear
– Regulate trawl specifications for lighter
gear, larger mesh size,
– improved selection gear designs with
industry (BRDs, JTEDs, TEDs, etc)
– reduced duration of trawl tows

20. Guidelines advice on management
• Strengthen Monitoring, Control &
Surveillance
– Clear vessel markings visible from a distance
– Get effective MCS working (port controls,
VMS, fishers’ volunteer watch/reporting)
• Manage fishing effort and fishing
vessel over-capacity
– Improve vessel registration and licensing
system
– Cap trawler numbers at existing levels
– Maintain horsepower and headrope length
– Stop or reform the use of subsidies
– Ensure all financial incentives in trawl fisheries
reward sustainable fishing practices

21. Conclusion
• It is possible to develop
pragmatic management plans for
trawl fisheries
• The APFIC guidelines offer the
options and approach
• Country pilots on some key
trawl fisheries would pave the
way for national
implementation

22. Thank youwww.apfic.org/training/apfic-trawl-management-guidelines.html