When sport fishing as an activity in Galapagos was being considered, it was highly contested. In a place where it was against the rules to simply feed a grain of rice to a bird, or to approach any wildlife closer than 2 meters, allowing people to get into boats to harass and ultimately traumatize, injure, and often kill big fish[1] for fun seemed at odds with the entire conservation and nature appreciation spirit of what Galapagos tourism has always been about.

Some will argue that fishing as a commercial activity is permitted in Galapagos (only by a limited number of licensed local fishermen, and restricted to a very narrow set of fishing practices) – so why not sport fishing?  

Indeed, fishing for food has been going on in Galapagos for centuries.  The waters are rich and fish are abundant.[2]    The sea is a critical source of food for residents and tourists (approximately 70% of the catch is consumed locally). Local fishers make a modest but sustainable living.    

Things changed in the 1990’s with the sea cucumbers and shark fins. 

The Chinese market for sea cucumbers and shark fins opened and a hitherto plentiful, ignored but now highly lucrative resource led to a gold rush environment.  First, the continental fishers harvested these species to near commercial extinction on the mainland – and then they set eyes on the Galapagos.  Large numbers of continental fishers moved to Galapagos to exploit the resource.  Local fishers found themselves competing with outsiders – resentment grew.  

Given that all this was taking place in in the Galapagos Marine Reserve (created in 1986), the Galapagos National Park Service (GNPS) had to step in. In an “after-the-fact” situation, it sought to impose a framework under which these new fisheries would operate sustainably (shark fishing was prohibited altogether).  Having operated in a wild west / no-restrictions environment, the fishers resisted the imposition of rules and regulations, sometimes violently, leading to the infamous Galapagos fishing war of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s[3]. 

Over the intervening 3-4 years, tempers calmed and joint efforts took place to find solutions that would work for as many stakeholders as possible.[4]

Today, commercial fishing in Galapagos is highly regulated. Only those permanent Galapagos residents having been engaged in it before the park established regulations for it were allowed to continue doing so.  They must have a license and can only fish from licensed fishing vessels.  Only certain low-impact fishing practices are allowed (no nets, no long-lines).  A limited number of licenses are in existence – and when one person retires, someone may apply for that license.  There is also a provision for the children of licensed fishers to obtain one.  

During the negotiations on how to regulate fisheries, avenues for giving fishers access to the lucrative tourism sector were explored.  These discussions led to the adoption of “artisanal fishing” as a permitted practice.

The concept of artisanal fishing was deliberately framed not as ordinary sport fishing, but as:

• an activity operated by Galápagos artisanal fishers;
• using their own boats and authorized fishing gear;
• demonstrating the traditional work and culture of the fisher;
• allowing tourists to participate;
• producing tourism income with substantially less extraction than commercial fishing.

 

The Charles Darwin Foundation described its original purpose as selling the culture and experience of the fisher, rather than making the capture of fish the principal objective.

While the concept was neat and attractive, in reality, traditional Galapagos fishers were very poorly equipped to engage with the tourism sector.  Very few spoke any English and their old and slow wooden ships were designed to accommodate 2-3 hardscrabble fishers spending several days at sea with no investment in comfort – not the kind of vessel that would appeal to tourists.  

Savvy locals who had the financial resources and knowledge of the tourism industry saw an opportunity.   Partnering with local fishers, they launched and crewed fishing boats that fit the sport fishing expectations of tourists (modern vessels with comfortable seating, fine finishings, an eating area, functional toilets etc.).   

In the end, the concept of “artisanal fishing” as allowed by the Galapagos National Park Service is what’s taking place in Galapagos on paper.  What’s actually taking place on the sea is a completely different story - it’s pretty much indistinguishable from the kind of sport fishing one will find anywhere else on the planet.[5]  You have tourism entrepreneurs running nice ships charging high prices for taking tourists out for the thrill of catching big fish.  The local fisher under whose name the activity takes place receives a share of the earning.  In the process, fish are invariably very traumatized, and not infrequently fatally injured. 

So, why don’t we condone sport fishing in Galapagos?  It comes down to what we see as an irreconcilable clash with the spirit of what Galapagos tourism has always been about – the kind of tourism that has put Galapagos on the top of the wildlife tourism pyramid of the world, shared with only a very small number of other places.  From Darwin’s insightful observations in 1835, Jacques Cousteau’s pioneering underwater videos (and subsequent documentary film) in 1971 to the countless documentaries since made, the world has come to understand Galapagos as a place where wildlife, so unaccustomed to human presence, shows no inclination to flee when we walk (or swim) among it, where it can go about its business undisturbed.  A place where humans are the intruder – where we are given the chance to see the world as it has been for millions of years.  

 

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[1] Bill-fish can be caught but must be released.  White fish can be kept for consumption. 

[2] Whalers were very active in Galapagos waters from the late 1700’s to the mid-1800’s.

[3] CNH Tours co-owners, then working at the Charles Darwin Research Station, along with other Station colleagues were trapped at the Station for two days as protesting fishers barricaded the only access. For further excellent reading on the fish war, see “In Galápagos, Clashes Between Fishers and Managers Jeopardize Conservation Efforts”

[4] Our colleague, Pippa Heylings, led a good part of this work.  She is now a member of parliament in the UK, sitting as a Liberal Democrat for a Cambridge riding.

[5] Reminding us of how the original Bed & Breakfast concept of staying in a room in someone’s house as a way to meet the locals, experience local traditions turned into AirBnB type of commercial accommodations service, where more often than not, there is no connection to local traditions when staying in an AirBnB accommodation.