Fisheries Fellows’ Program Presents at Global Conference
Fisheries Fellows, a Mexican based program which trains biologists and oceanographers to give local fishers tools to become sustainable, recently had one of its fellows speak at an international conservation conference. Salvador Rodriguez Van Dyke, a Rare Fisheries Fellow, talks about his experience working with fishers in Mexico and at the biannual conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons in England.
It was 9:47 in the morning this past July and room 208 was almost full, or at least it seemed to be. The themes presented at the “Managing Complex Commons” session attracted a good crowd. It was the last day of the biannual conference in Cheltenham, England, organized by the International Association for the Study of the Commons.I was the fifth and last presenter in that session and my turn had come.
I bet you can imagine my nerves: being at my first global conference and having a short 15-minunte presentation, in English, following all these researches, Ph.D students and academics — and me a beginner on the “Commons” topics. Fikret Berkes and E. Pinkerton, two of the most well-known international fisheries ‘gurus’, were in the room. Last year, I started reading some of their publications and since then I had become, kind of, a fan of theirs. So there was some excitement too.
In my presentation, I shared my experience of the Fisheries Fellows program — living for 18 months in the rural village of Agua Verde, Mexico, some results to date, and how important it is to focus on short-term goals so the long-term goal (i.e. sustainable fisheries) can become a reality.
Participants from Latin America who attened the conference
There’s an article that I’ll share with you soon that was created in collaboration with Amy Hudson Weaver, of the Mexican conservation organization Niparaja, and Cynthia Mayoral Brown, Rare’s Director of the Fisheries Fellows program. The presentation of this article in the conference was congratulated and some people were amazed about the time and resources we are investing in the Fisheries Fellows Program.
There were only two questions at the end. “How was your introduction to the community? …I mean how did the fishermen receive you?” and the other referred to the time when the fellow leaves the community “how are you going to ensure that the job you are doing keeps on…”.
My introduction into the community was easy. The community was expecting a fellow because the program did a survey and worked with the community before we arrived. But, I think the personalities of the fellows had a lot of influence. I can tell you now that I felt accepted from the very first moment I began. Now the fishers I worked with are like family to me.
Answering the second question was a little bit tough, but that’s something that we have been thinking about since the program started. We are trying to build capacities and increase knowledge so in the future the fishermen keep growing by themselves.
That week in England was one of the most interesting moments in my life, in my career as an Oceanographer and/or as a Fisheries fellow. I had the chance to talk to people all around the world, working in such different areas, like forestry, atmosphere, water, waste and even with the internet — but all regarding the common resources view. I think all fisheries fellows are just beginning, but we should be proud that we’re addressing one of the global challenges and hopefully, if it succeeds, the Fisheries Fellows Program can be replicated in another part of the world.
