Fishing For Life
Monday, October 10, 2016 Colombia 0 Comments

As much as I would like to see all of Colombia from North to South and East to West, explore the coastline and waters of the Pacific and the Caribbean, deep jungles of Amazonia, mountains of Sierra Nevada and much more I am here to work. In June I was successfully contracted as a visiting scientist by University of Manchester, UK for a half job half internship in the Colombian Caribbean.

I am participating in the international project of Newton-Caldas Foundation “Improving local management of tropical coastal resources in the face of climate change for economic wellbeing of local and vulnerable communities" which has been initiated with the support of coordinators Dr. Lina Barrios, Prof. Richard Preziosi of University of Manchester, Dr. Gabriel Navas of Universidad de Cartagena and other Colombian and Uk institutes.

I am based at University of Cartagena and for the following six months me and other 6 interns (4 Colombians, one from Germany and one from England) will be working on the socio-ecological project on the sustainable use of marine and freswater resources with the local fishing communities. This Project which is refered to as the "Fishing for Life" (Pescando para la vida) focuses on the coastal biodiversity, ecosystem services and resources management for sustainable development. It’s a research based programme that incorporates training and management and assists to communities of artisanal fishermen and aquaculturists inland around Canal del Dique (about 20 communities involved) and in the Afro-Colombian fishing communities around Cartagena Bay and surroundings.

Aquaculture farm

During the first two weeks we completed two different workshops organized by scientists from University of Manchester, Stirling University, Heriot-Watt University, CEFAS and University of Cartagena, and CEINER, FUPAC and Granja Lismar from the side of Colombia. Me and my colleagues (just for the information we are all girls...:) supported the activities on the workshop both in the Canal del Dique (freshwater) and Islas del Rosario (marine). It was certainly a unique experience and very productive meetings which resulted in 6 different project (with social, biological and economical aspects and benefits for the local communities). I will be personally supporting and supervising the proposal on the project of the restoration and conservation of the mangroves/corales/seagrass ecosystems on the Isla Fuerte.

Canal del Dique:

We did our first workshop at the "finca" Granja Lismar (very nice little farm, with aquaculture facilities, ponds with "bocachicos" and "tilapias", aquaponics with ornamental fish, lots of parrots and turtles) with different fishing communities from around Canal del Dique. It's important to mention the participation and high interest also from the side of women who depend on the fishing. How was it? Well, very enjoyable but also exhausting. Three intensive days of work in the extreme heat with great amount of mosquitoes, sometimes with no power due to evening storms. The guys from the fishing communities came very well prepared, with great interest to learn and also share the knowledge and their experience with us. They were introduced to different scientific topics and issues in the field of biodiversity, climate change, fisheries, aquaculture (fish reproduction) human impacts, ecosystem services tragedy of commons, sustainability, effects of El Nino and La Nina (both influencing Colombia in a significant way). During different group activities we received the information about the species they are catching, the methods, some of the biological information, we learnt about the concerns and problems of these communities. I really enjoyed this place although we were nowhere near the ocean but on the farm with lots of trees and green spots. I had zero signal and no internet but I didn't miss it at all as I could be fully present at that moment with no disturbances. There was literally no free time but during the breaks I walked around the place looking at those beautiful big dragoonflies that were flying around us all day long, searched for the spiders that looked like tarantulas or I talked to two little boys I quickly became friends with :)

With my new friend Jesus

With my group...

Islas del Rosario:

Quite the opposite environment to Canal del Dique is the marine one at Islas del Rosario. This archipelago is comprised of 30 islands that are within the municipality of Cartagena. For our second workshop we chose the main island Isla Grande although we worked with different communities from Bochachica, Isla Fuerte, Boquilla, Baru or Pasacaballo. The workshop was very similar in the context to the one in Canal del Dique although the whole environment, knowledge and experiences of the fishermen were a bit different. Obviously, the whole setting was nicer because we were on island and surrounded by the Carribean :) but the amount of work was comparable if not the same although it's true that island life is a bit more relaxed so we had this time when we just turned off and enjoyed the atmosphere breathing the fresh sea air, looking at the little waves and listening to the birds' songs. In a nutshell, it was a little piece of paradise. One evening we also went for an adventure that just took my breath away. Shortly after we finished our last activity in the evening we decided to wander through the island to reach a unique place, a little mangrove lagoon - Enchanted Lagoon (why enchanted?..maybe because it completly enchants you with its beauty :) We walked through the forests at night with two little torches in the company of a local boy. Some of the trees were so beautiful (like those from Avatar but in a smaller version), I felt like in a fairy tale. After about 40 minutes of the walk we finally came to the lagoon. There was nothing to see, just a platform and the water, we took our clothes off (sure, we did have bikini jaja) and didn't hesitate to jump in...that's when the beautiful theatre started to happen. Every single movement was lighting up the plankton producing the most beautiful bioluminiscence I have ever seen. It was like seeing underwater stars sparkling :) Unforgettable experience, I felt like a child filled with lots of happiness, without worries...I was fully immersed in that moment, floating in the darkness witht he stars on my body. That night was perfect for swimming in the lagoon and seeing the plankton because it was new moon and the only light that we saw was from the lightining (which was also very beautiful and only added to the beauty of that night).