This women's cooperative is providing livelihood options for the women and men of the island of Isabela in the Galápagos Islands. This small-scale enterprise is simultaneously decreasing pressures on overexploited local fisheries by adding value, rather than scale, to its production of smoked fish. Fishermen in the region have traditionally relied on declining populations of coastal sea cucumber, lobster, and shark for their livelihoods.

Asociación de Mujeres de Isabela provides an alternative by creating a market for sustainably-sourced tuna, which is processed, smoked, and sold to tourists. Additionally, the Pescado Azul initiative contributes to the conservation of the Galápagos Islands' unique and endemic biodiversity by using guava wood, a destructive invasive species, to smoke the fish.

 

Key Facts 

Equator Prize Winner: 2006

Founded: 2001

Location: Puerto Villamil, Isabela, Galápagos Islands

Beneficiaries: 3,000 residents

Biodiversity: migratory pelagic fish species

 

Case Study

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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