Bienesca: How is Conapesca redirecting fishing subsidies?

When Conapesca announced, in early April of this year, that it would advance the Bienesca subsidy, it also stated that these resources would be aimed at promoting the productive development of vulnerable fishing communities. In the last year, we have seen a radical transformation in fishing subsidies, a change in discourse, in the concepts of support and in the distribution of resources. However, there are still some doubts about the new concept of subsidies: How to ensure that the supports are really for the fishermen and aquaculturists who need them most? To what extent does a transfer of $7,200 promote productive development, improve employment opportunities and the well-being of producers?

So far, Conapesca has reported an increase of more than 92% in the distribution of Bienesca. The dispersion of this support is about to end, with this there will be no additional resources or other assistance at the federal level for fishermen and aquaculturists until 2021. For this reason, it is essential that the following months serve to review how the resource was dispersed, how fishing communities see this change of policy and, with a view to the next budget year, to open up public debate to ensure an appropriate budget and strengthen the Rules of Operation of Wellfishing. This time can be a great opportunity for fishing subsidies to be the tool that promotes the productive development that our fishing communities need.

How to ensure that the beneficiaries are the fishermen and aquaculturists who need it most?

There are more than 295,000 fishermen and aquaculturists in Mexico, however, this year the commissioner of Conapesca Raúl Elenes announced that there would be 193,000 beneficiaries of Bienesca. As a result, more than 100,000 fishermen and aquaculturists were left out of the program. If you wanted this subsidy to be universal in 2021, you would need a budget greater than $2.125 million pesos, equivalent to 1.5 times the current budget.

Faced with the difficulty of increasing the budget by 50% in 2021, Conapesca must be clear and open in how it selects beneficiaries. In other words, in addition to improving the construction of the register of Fishermen and Aquaculturists and in the coordination it has had with Bienestar, which is the target population of Bienesca, it is necessary to ensure that the subsidy will be received by the most vulnerable fishermen. To this end, the Rules of Operation must include selection criteria with scores where it is systematically decided to whom the resource is given and that there is no opportunity for discretion.

What is needed for Bienesca to promote productive development and improve the well-being of fishermen and aquaculturists?

The BienPesca component has PROPESCA as its predecessor. PROPESCA consisted of a transfer of $7,000 to fishermen during closed season or contingency. In addition, the beneficiaries had to take training workshops; these workshops were on good management practices, health maintenance and safety, administration, commercialization, fisheries and aquaculture legislation and regulations, cooperativism, mariculture and rural aquaculture.

Despite the fact that the previous administration never reported information about what workshops the beneficiaries took and the results of these, supplementing a transfer with training helps to develop more capacities in fishermen to obtain better yields in a sustainable way that complies with regulations. Without a doubt, in this metamorphosis that has taken place from PROPESCA to Bienesca, the program should keep the best of the previous program and improve implementation. In addition, it is essential that the fishing and aquaculture sector in Mexico receive training to adapt to new needs and opportunities.

Finally, it should be remembered that 73% of Conapesca's total budget is labeled for subsidies and transfers. Therefore, it is essential that the corresponding authority dimensions this work as the main public policy tool to promote the fishing and aquaculture sector. This year, Bienesca has been the only support for the sector, there are no other federal investments for training, promotion of consumption, improvements in infrastructure or in articulating production chains. Therefore, it is extremely important to have transparency in how it was distributed and to improve the mechanisms and implementation for 2021.