CAIUBBEAN SEA EcosYSTEM AssESSMENT The data in this study suggest, therefore, that fish catches by the Heels of the Windward Islands failed to keep pace with a dramatic expansion of lishing e!Tort in the last two decades of the 20th century, especially in oftshorc waters. This is consistent with international studies suggesting that oceanic pelagic stocks arc either fully exploited or over-exploited. A. declining CPUE also a!Tccls the economic viability of a fishery----since a smaller quantity of fish is produced fi-om the same investment of fuel, labour, etc. However, government financial incentives and increases in export prices may act to preserve or increase the economic gains from the fishery, despite obvious declines in stock abundance evident from declining catch per unit of efl'ort. The economic impacts of increasing onshore activity have not been investigated. Offshore resources arc shared regionally, in the case of large coastal pelagic fish. or with other lishing nations including developed countries, in the case of !urge oceanic pelagics. Although each country is charged with the responsibility for management of the resources within its EEZ, this study highlights the need for regional and intemational collaboration and governance to preserve the long-term viability of shared Caribbean fish stocks and the human livelihoods associated with them. 4.1.3.4 Fishiug Duwut!te Food Weh: El'ideucef!/'Decliuiug Trop!tic Lel'els ill t!te Caribheau Another indicator of unsustainable lishing patterns has been an observed change in the structure of the marine fbod web. as reflected in the composition of !ish catches over time_ A. landmark 1998 study by the lisherics scientist Daniel Pauly and colleagues demonstrated a gradual transition in global landings from long-lived, !ish-eating species higher up the !'ood chain (higher-trophic level), towards short-lived, plankton-eating !ish and invertebrates lower down the l'ood chain (lower-trophic level; Pauly ct al. 1998). The phenomenon, known as "fishing down the l'ood web,'' tends to lead !irs! to increasing catches, then to an ecosystem transition associated with stagnating or declining catches. The SA.UP has recently out the same analysis for the CLME, and the results indicate n decline in mean trophic level of !ish in the catch (shown in Fig. 4.2a). !i·om about 3.64 in 1950 to about 3.4 by 2004. Changes arc also evident at the local level. Analysis of data from the !'our Windward Island states mentioned in the previous section suggests a general shill of catch composition towards the bottom of the l'ood web between 1980 and 200 I (Fig. 4.3; Mohammed et al. 2002). This 27 decline in mean trophic level was most pronounced for the fisheries of Grenada and Barbados (0.17 and 0.22 per decade, respectively), and greater than the global average of 0.1 per decade estimated by Pauly et al. ( 1998). Fishing at lower trophic levels may, however, be a deliberate lishing strategy to harvest the increase in biological production associated with "lishing down the food web." As a result, a decline in mean trophic level alone is insunicicnl to confirm the negative impacts of fishing on the ecosystem. Pauly et al. (2000} introduced the Fishing-In-Balance Index (FIB) to identify cases where the expected increase in biomass at lower trophic levels no longer holds true. The FIB declines if the observed catchl'!s arc not consistent with expectations at the associated trophic level (Pauly ct al. 2000). Such an analysis indicates that the FIB index has steadily increased lor the Caribbean Sea since lhe late 1950s (Fig. 4.2b}, which may he the result of the expansion of Iishing effort to deeper and more remote waters. Mixed trends for the FIB arc evident in the !'our Windward Island stales (Fig 4.3). Taking these data together, the inescapable conclusion is that the phenomenon of lishing down the l'ood web by selective removal of top predators is well advanced in the Caribbean Sea and has already had a significant impact on the inshore lisheries of some counttics, including Grenada and Barbados. This strengthens the case lor managing the industry in an integrated manner to safeguard the entire ecosystem, including the establishment of new marine protected areas. 4.2 Tourism and Recreation 4.2. 1 Locatimwl Atfl'lmtage The natural setting of the Caribbean, a product of the marine, island, and coastal ecosystems of the region, constitutes an asset of immense value due to the positive associations it invokes around the world. People fi-om a wide range of nationalities and social backgrounds arc prepared to travel thousands of miles, and commit a signilicant portion of their income, to spend just a few days on vacation there. The attraction of the insular Caribbean is linked to a romantic perception of islands us "wann and sensuous" destinations, ol1'cring "stressed out visitors the much needed opportunity to relax, escape, recharge their batteries, and generally appreciate a way or lil'c that has been lost in the too-busy commercial environment of the globalizing, postindustrial Western world" (Royle 200 I; Harrison 200 I). -45-