Puerto Rico District Advisory Panel Report (182nd Reg. Mtng.)

Puerto Rico District Advisory Panel Report for the 182nd CFMC Regular Meeting On July 18, 2023 at our Advisory Panel Meeting, we talked about several topics such as: • How to Improve Data Collection • The Implementation Plan of EEJ • Status of Marine Reserve Areas in PR These were the most relevant comments and recommendations: • It is necessary to create a mechanism for the fishing community to provide reliable data that is considered when evaluating a fishery. • We all know that the results we currently have are not in tune with the reality of our fisheries. • The distrust that exists in the fishing sector with the scientific community is not a secret and it is necessary to increase the participation of fishermen when evaluating the fisheries and there must be feedback with the results of these collaborations. • Most of the time, the fishermen do not find out the results of these investigations and this contributes to mistrust. • You need to do something different to get different results. • The Caribbean Branch should be the leader in facilitating new data collection participatory forms and to be fair to the science and the fishing community, we ask to the Science Center for a balance to place numerical data on facts that could increase the opportunity to fish, in the same way that the collection of data that potentially closes a fishery is facilitated. • Although outreach is very important, there is a structural problem and for some time there has been a claim to do things in a new way including the industry. • To get the messages and priorities of the fisheries sector with numbers, the DAP should have an active participation deciding one or two scientific research priorities for each budget cycle. • It is necessary to develop workshops with the DNER, the PR Fisheries Research Lab, the Science Center and the CFMC on how to improve data collection, including the fishing sector.