Aquarium Fishery Project

Iwokrama, in partnership with the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB), has developed a sustainable, community-based aquarium fisheries business in the Rupununi Wetlands. The project is designed to generate revenue for indigenous communities and benefits from the area's extraordinarily high fish diversity.

Fish are highly sensitive to forest disturbance and therefore the trade also serves as an indicator and direct incentive for forest conservation. Funded by the Netherlands Committee for IUCN Tropical Rainforest Program, the project has implemented management protocols to ensure local ecological and social sustainability.

On a regional level, Iwokrama hopes to influence South America's aquarium trade by introducing a certified 'green equity' trade, resulting in regulation of the presently unregulated industry.

Why Aquarium Fish?

The project was developed as an economic alternative to an overexploited Arapaima (Arapaima gigas) fishery and the potential for increasing unregulated timber harvesting.

While timber harvesting in the region has been minimal, illegal harvesting of Arapaima, the world's largest scaled freshwater fish, has led to huge reductions in its population over the last 30 years. In recognition of this problem, Iwokrama and the NRDDB developed the Arapaima Management Plan. A major outcome of the plan was the need for new sources of fishery income; thus the Aquarium Trade in the Rupununi was born.

>Learn more about the Arapaima Fishery Business

Which Fish are Harvested?

The project concentrates primarily on Loricariid Catfish species which are categorized as high value, low volume aquarium species. The following species are mainly targeted due to their high numbers in the Rupununi.

• Lemon Fin (Hemiancistrus sp.)
• Red-Tailed Pleco (Pseudacanthicus leopardus)
• Bushy Nose (Ancistrus spp.)
• Cochliodon (Hypostomus cochliodon)
• Hypostomus (Hypostomus plecostomus)
• Other fish such as the cichlid, Sunfish (Crenicichla alta) are also harvested.

Monitoring

A database of harvesting statistics calculates fluctuations in CPUE (Catch per Unit Effort). This creates spatial and temporal data of off-takes used to estimate harvest impacts on wild populations. The data will be used for an aquarium fisheries management plan.  This plan will then be incorporated into a general fisheries management plan for the area.

Project Updates

For a detailed account of the development of the business from pilot project to a business, click on the articles linked in the text box at right.

Contact the Aquarium Fish Project Manager:

Michael Patterson