Artisanal Fishing Comunities Need Your Vote

Artisanal snapper fishermen leave the dock for a night of work

Pretoma's ,"Development of economic partnerships between artisanal fisher folk and tourism operators", project (submitted by Andy Bystrom, Costa Rica, Guanacaste) has been selected as a finalist in the Ashoka Changemakers 2010 Geotourism Challenge: Places on the Edge - Saving Coastal and Freshwater Destinations.  Now it's up to the public to choose the winners.

You can play a role in marine conservation efforts in Costa Rica, and support coastal fishing communities simply by voting!

TO VOTE: CLICK HERE  

Bystrom's entry is based on Pretoma's ongoing work with small-scale artisanal fishing associations on the Nicoya Peninsula along Costa Rica's Pacific coast.  The project details how fisher folk are marketing locally produced, sustainably caught snappers to hotels and restaurants in neighboring resort communities, thereby taking advantage of the growing demand for sustainably caught seafood products by environmentally conscious visitors to Costa Rica. 

The fishing associations are also being evaluated by a third party certifier for a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) international certification. If successful, the snapper fishery will be the first small-scale MSC certified fishery in Central America and the Caribbean. 

Pretoma's project is one of 12 finalists chosen from the 250 entrants.  It underwent a rigorous selection process by a panel of scientists, policy advisors, and economists including Silvia Earl from the National Geographic Society and Julia Marton-Lefevre-Director General of the IUCN.  The competition is sponsored by National Geographic, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and Ashoka.  Voting ends February 2.

Please support these fishing communities with your vote.

For more information:

Andy Bystrom (506) 8978-5550
Fax (506) 2236 6017
email: info@pretoma.org
website: www.pretoma.org

Pretoma is a Costa Rican Civil Association of Public Interest and is an active member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature IUCN and the World Society for the Protection of Animals WSPA.