Kicking off our beneficial insect program and other updates
JBA Executive Director Jamie Stanton inspects agricultural pests on an organic family farm with Asociación Mangle agroecology specialist Victor Gómez.
Hello all!
We are thrilled to be able to bring you good news and updates from the Jiquilisco Bay.
This summer we launched our Beneficial Insect Project with the communities of the Bajo Lempa — the first of its kind in El Salvador. Beneficial insects are a pest management tool used in agriculture around the world. Native predator insects are commercially cultivated and then released at specific intervals in the growing season to control and prevent pests. They’re much more effective than traditional chemical pesticides and safer for both the environment and communities. For decades, the communities of the Bajo Lempa have been making the switch to organic agriculture in effort to improve the health of their crops and communities, but still struggled with serious pest issues. Bringing beneficial insects to El Salvador and working with Asociación Mangle will ensure long term sustainability for small-scale farmers!
We are working with a California-based insectary, Associates Insectary, to source the insects, provide the technical recommendations, and handle all the bureaucratic aspects of the import and rearing of the insects. In late September, Integrated Pest Management Technical Expert, Zach Slaughter, accompanied us to the Bajo Lempa to tour the project sites and consult on operationalizing this work. Our goal is to move toward community managed insect production on a small scale, with local farmers learning how to manage their own populations of the predators they need for the pest management on their specific parcels.
Please check out our social media channels (links at footer of this email) for videos from our recent trip. There’s a lot of interest in this project and these tools and we look forward to sharing the growth of this project with you!
Jamie Stanton
Executive Director
None of this work is possible without your support! For a small nonprofit like the Jiquilisco Bay Alliance, every donation, no matter how small, has significant impact. Donate today to support our work and these communities!
Marilou Inzunza tours the Jiquilisco Bay while visiting Puerto Parada.
Validating feedback from JBA Board Member’s first trip to El Salvador
In October we were also able to host JBA Treasurer, Marilou Inzunza, in El Salvador for the first time. She was able to meet our community partners, tour the project sites, and get true first hand insight into the reality of the work on the ground. Here are some of her takeaways:
“What stood out to me most was seeing how you've empowered these organizations to not only do work for their communities, but to have the work be led by the communities themselves. I've worked in the nonprofit sector my entire career, and this is the first time I've experienced something quite like this. It's refreshing and inspiring to see organizations working not just for their communities, but by and with their communities. I think there's so much that other nonprofits could learn from this approach.”
Welcoming David Helvarg to the Board of Directors
We’re excited to welcome David Helvarg to the Jiquilisco Bay Alliance Board of Directors! David is an author and executive director of Blue Frontier, an ocean policy group, co-host of the Rising Tide Ocean Podcast and a contributing writer for the Los Angeles Times. He has written seven books, the latest ‘Forest of the Sea’ (2026). He co-founded the Peter Benchley Ocean Awards and is a Senior Fellow with the Center for the Blue Economy.
An award winning journalist, Helvarg has been a war correspondent in Northern Ireland and Central America and covered issues ranging from the military to the climate reporting from every continent including Antarctica. He’s produced documentaries for PBS, Discovery and others. His print work has appeared widely including in The New York Times and National Geographic. He's done radio reporting and commentaries for Marketplace, AP and Pacifica and workshops for fellow journalists around the world. He is also a licensed private investigator, body-surfer and scuba diver.
We’re thrilled to have him on the team!
Puerto Parada fisherman unhooks a red snapper caught with a low-impact handline.
Fishery Improvement Project — Phase 2
The Jiquilisco Bay Alliance and Asociación Cincahuite kicked off El Salvador’s first Fishery Improvement Project on the Jiquilisco Bay in 2024. In the first phase we created partnerships with Salvadoran academic institutions, developed a Human Rights and Social Responsibility Policy with the eight artisanal fishing cooperatives Puerto Parada, and began the third-party verification process. We’re now looking forward to the second phase of the five year project. We have secured a $25,000 matching grant and are looking for a foundation partner to contribute another $25,000, helping us move the project forward to Phase 2.
Expected Phase 2 Deliverables:
Completion of the environmental needs assessment in partnership with ICMARES, the marine science institute at the Universidad de El Salvador
Supply-chain analysis for baseline data, looking ahead to market development a
A socioeconomic needs assessment for the eight artisanal fishing cooperative in Puerto Parada
Multi-year workplan to meet the FIP requirements while also meeting the socioeconomic needs of Puerto Parada
Finalize third-party verification
We have identified potential grantmaking partners, but if anyone in our network has foundations to recommend that fund sustainable fishing projects in Latin America, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
