Case Study
FISHE
Latin America & Caribbean

Aristoteles Stavrinaky, a fisheries specialist, utilized the Framework for Integrated Stock and Habitat Evaluation (FISHE) Tool to build an ecosystem management plan for a multispecies lagoon fishery on the Gulf of California in Sinaloa, Mexico. Working alongside the fishers, government agencies, community groups, and NGOs, Aristo was able to use FISHE to guide the complex process. FISHE provided a step-by-step framework to work toward the shared goal of establishing an ecosystem management plan for the lagoon system.

grid decoration

FISHE is the perfect tool for a fisheries management plan because it guides you step by step through the full process.

Aristoteles Stavrinaky

Aristoteles Stavrinaky: "I am a fisheries specialist with extensive experience working on fisheries management projects, especially in Latin America. I’m originally from Venezuela but have been working with fisheries in Latin America for over a decade. I started out working with the fishers of Sistema Lagunar Altata-Ensenada del Pabellón, Sinaloa over eight years ago as a fisheries coordinator for EDF Mexico and have been involved ever since. My experience in this fishery led me to use FISHE for the development of their ecosystem management plan."

FISHE in Action

Expand All

For me the best part of FISHE was having a structure, having a process to follow that I knew worked and was effective and was leading toward the goal of a management plan.

Aristoteles Stavrinaky

Advice from the User

Aristoteles: "Anyone that is working towards a fishery management plan can use FISHE as a framework that will guide you step by step to create the plan. When you’re working through the FISHE process you realize the need to bring all available information to the table to help set common goals. My advice is to put in the time to identify and bring to the table all of the relevant stakeholders, even the ones who might not be so obvious initially, or might not be in official statistics. From there you can have dialogues and exchange information that will help you move through the FISHE steps with the best possible information. Obviously the more inclusive the FISHE process is, the more buy-in you’ll have down the road once management decisions are being implemented.

FISHE gave me a really good structure and framework to follow but was also flexible enough to easily be adapted to the fishery. Initially, it was difficult to bring everyone together – they all have their own way of seeing things or their own agendas. Some were apprehensive of the tool. But that was the great thing about FISHE, since the process is flexible I was able to work with the group to skip or adapt parts of the process that didn’t feed their interests. So don’t be afraid to adapt FISHE to the group you’re working with and focus on aspects of the tool that the stakeholders are comfortable with."