Photo by Crhis Eche Zapata
The objective of the new TBTI Global project is to establish national networks, or hubs, of researchers and stakeholders in support of small-scale fisheries in five Latin American countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru.
“Young Futures” is a call to youth around the world, inviting them to express their thoughts and ideas about the future of the ocean, the fisheries, the coast, the communities and the society that they are part of. Check out the TBTI Peru contributions for the ‘Young Futures’ call for 2025 World Day of Social Justice.
Two-part TBTI Global Webinar for World Day of Social Justice, February 20, 2025 will feature a presentation on ‘Sustainable small-scale fisheries: Why it is not possible without social justice’ by Fikret Berkes and Nicole Franz and a presentation on ‘Blue Justice Alert: Oil spill and swell in Lobitos, Peru’ by Emi Koch, Tulio Chapilliquén and Henry Espinoza Panta.
On December 20, 2024, Peru’s state-owned petroleum enterprise, Petroperú, was performing pre-shipping operations from the Talara Refinery’s underwater terminal when technicians detected a leak. The resulting oil spill rapidly spread north along the coast, blanketing the ocean and beaches with crude oil.
Emi Koch is a social-ecologist who utilizes community-based participatory research approaches to understand fisheries scarcity’s impact on small-scale fishing communities’ well-being and resilience. Emi co-founded Coast 2 Coast, a nonprofit based in Lobitos, Peru, that combines investigation with imagination, working with rural students from fishing villages using storytelling tools + participatory research approaches for young learners to explore and communicate their small-scale fishing importance. She is a Fulbright Fellow and National Geographic Explorer from San Diego, California, living in Lobitos, Peru.
Milena Arias-Schreiber is a Researcher and Project Leader at the Swedish Institute for the Marine Environment, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden. With a background on marine ecology and doctoral studies in the social sciences from the University of Bremen (Germany), her research focuses on institutional challenges for sustainable fisheries management. On this topic, she has worked with commercial anchovy fisheries for fishmeal production in the Peruvian Upwelling Ecosystem and with small-scale fisheries in the Baltic Sea.