Cristián Suazo
2022 IVLP Impact Award Project: People of the Sea and their Seabirds - Recovering Links for Best Practices in Chilean FisheriesChile
Cristián Suazo is a Chilean marine biologist focused on the conservation of threated seabird species. For the last 16 years, he has been dedicated to the study of the biology and fundamental ecology of marine sentinel species such as albatrosses and petrels. His work is geographically distributed in the South Pacific, Humboldt Current System, and sub-Antarctic waters. In these contrasting regions, he works at sea applying science-based solutions for at-sea environmental issues. Cristián studies seabird bycatch in small-scale and industrial fisheries, marine pollution and ghost fishing. He also works for the adoption of best practices and compliance with mitigation measures onboard.
On land he works with albatross breeding in the sub-Antarctic islands of Diego Ramírez, south of Cape Horn. This work helped Cristián to understand and recommend actions for the conservation of threatened albatrosses in face of climate change, invasive species, marine protected areas, and best practices-seabird bycatch mitigation applied to key periods and areas beyond seabird colonies.
IVLP Impact Award Project: People of the Sea and their Seabirds - Recovering Links for Best Practices in Chilean Fisheries
The overall objective of this project was to generate a theoretical and practical training package on best fishing practices for fishers and authorities based on unpublished evidence from albatross colonies in southern Chile.
Through standardized material based on local conservation evidence, this project built bridges of content between fishers, compliance officers and decision makers through the delivery of a replicable and freely available training kit. The target audience was more than 6,000 industrial fishers, about 120,000 artisanal fishers nationwide and around 400 government and Chilean Navy compliance officers. Some 135 people were directly involved in the trainings and material development, including fleet coordinators, fishery assistants, and crew members. The infographics, presentations and teaching tools in the training kits will be used by future instructors. A pilot training plan also was developed for the annual event of the Chilean Congress of Marine Sciences for “instructors for best practices in fisheries. The best practices training videos from the project are available for download in both English and Spanish.
"The way of fishing is changing in the world, and we must move towards a more committed and responsible work at sea." - Fleet Manager
IVLP Exchange Experience
Cristián participated in the IVLP Project Combatting Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing, organized by the U.S. Department of State and the Mississippi Consortium for International Development, in partnership with Global Ties Miami, World Partnerships Inc and GlobalJax.
Cristián's exchange experience led to the development of his IVLP Impact Award Project: "Although I had already been working for several years in the search for environmental solutions linked to fisheries, this was one of the first experiences that helped me to get to know the diversity of conservation leaders from different countries and cultures."
U.S. Communities Visited Virtually
Washington, DC; Miami, FL; St. Petersburg, FL; Tallahassee, FL