Assessment of the social-ecological system of the Cittarium pica fishery and potential development of a sustainable fishery on an enhanced population on Bonaire.

Abstract

This thesis assesses the social-ecological system (SES) of the West Indian top shell Cittarium pica (‘Kiwa”) fishery on Bonaire and utilizes the recognized SES framework to investigate the feasibility of developing a sustainable fishery on an enhanced population of Kiwa. A combination of ecological baseline surveys and indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) gathered through semi-structured interviews were the methods used to map the current SES. The current SES was used to characterize the ecological status and examine community perspectives on the fishery/fishery on an enhanced population, such as the resource system, use patterns, governance, and feasible management pathways. Results reveal that abundance is higher in less accessible areas compared to accessible areas, localized depletion in accessible areas due to the small scale of the resource system, a juvenile-skewed size distribution, and significantly larger Kiwa individuals in the lower intertidal habitat compared to higher intertidal habitats. Furthermore, interviewees highlighted the importance of Kiwa in local traditional consumption and exchange, rather than in formal market commercialisation, and that the current fishery functions as open access without regulation, monitoring, or enforcement. However, informal norms (e.g., leaving very small and large individuals) exist but are insufficient to ensure sustainability, and increasing participation of non-local fishers complicates norm-based control, and community support of population enhancement projects provides as a beneficial basis for community-based/co-management. Overall, the SES analyses indicates that population enhancement alone would likely increase catchability and therefore increased effort/entry into the fishery and risk overexploitation. For this reason, the SES analyses concludes that a sustainable fishery on an enhanced population is only feasible if enhancement is paired with simple, locally legitimate, community-based/led rules/norms co-facilitated by trusted NGO’s (STINAPA, PISKABON), and backed by transparent fisher-based monitoring of catches and size frequencies. Measurements proposed include minimal sizes, seasonal/periodic closures of certain areas, undisclosed and less accessible release sites, and clear stewardship zones.