Honoring the “Consensual Fisheries Management Agreements” between fishing communities and the Fisheries Authority to move towards Participatory Governance in Colombia

For 15 years, and at a slow pace, an adaptive alliance has been built among three key voices of the fishing sector in Colombia. A developing country, where nine artisanal fishing communities (representing all coastal departments of the country), decided to work with the Academy (Universidad del Magdalena) and the National Authority of Aquaculture and Fisheries (in Spanish: Autoridad Nacional de Acuicultura y Pesca –AUNAP–), in order to identify fishery management measures that respond to local needs and thus create Consensual Fisheries Management Agreement (in Spanish: Acuerdo Consensuado de Manejo Pesquero – ACMP –). Each ACMP responds to the phases of diagnosis and formulation of fisheries management, based on the dialogue between scientific knowledge and the ecological knowledge of the communities in different stages of a participatory research process (Stage 1: 2008-2012; Stage 2: 2014-2015; Stage 3: 2020-2021). In this last Stage, and on behalf of the participating fishing communities, the Academy delivered each ACMP proposal to AUNAP, to be evaluated and transformed into public policy resolutions, which in turn are the baseline for the next phase of implementation and monitoring. To date, six democratically elected management measures have been formalized as a contribution to fisheries governance with the participation of the communities from the beginning to the end of the decision-making process. The lessons learned during these years have been compiled in the book/guide “Participatory Fisheries Management in Colombia” (open access: https://editorial.unimagdalena.edu.co/Editorial/Publicacion/4296), which provides the methodologies adjusted to the legal framework established by AUNAP for fisheries management in the country. It seeks to be an adaptive tool to the context and needs of each territory to strengthen fisheries governance in the country.