By Sivaja K Nair
One year ago, on World Fisheries Day, RISE UP called on global leaders to urgently recognize, endorse, and involve small-scale fishers, fish workers, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities in decisions to restore healthy oceans and inland waters. Supported by 55 RISE UP member organizations and allies, we stressed the need for transparent mechanisms that ensure their active participation in international meetings and agreements. Today, we reaffirm that call. While progress has been made, the challenges for small-scale fisheries (SSF) and their communities persist, and our demand for meaningful inclusion remains unchanged.
Last year, on World Fisheries Day, I presented on integrating Indigenous and traditional knowledge into the Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSA) process at a workshop in Oslo. This year, around World Fisheries Day, CBD COP16 concluded with landmark decisions benefiting Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs). Over the past year many have called for the inclusion, co-governance, and access rights for small-scale fishers and fishworkers (SSF), including, RISE UP’s joint letter urging global leaders to elevate IPLCs in ocean governance.
Despite Global events marking progress, significant challenges persist for SSF. This blog reflects on the year’s developments with perspectives from diverse regions sharing insights into both progress and gaps in advancing inclusivity, co-governance, and sustainable practices for SSF worldwide.
What do SSF representatives have to say?
Vivienne Solis Rivera, CoopeSoliDar, Costa Rica & ICSF
Over the past year, there have been some developments concerning the participation of SSF in decision-making spaces. SSF communities have organized themselves to ensure their presence and voice in such spaces, which is a positive step forward. However, the significance of international days like World Fisheries Day depends on their connection to regional, national, and local activities. In most Latin American countries, there is a lack of such activities tied to World Fisheries Day, meaning that the celebration of these international days doesn’t make much difference.
Herman Kumara, NAFSO, Sri Lanka, General Secretary, WFFP
SSF communities are in the harsh grip of economic crisis, blue economy developments and climate crisis. The people’s tribunals conducted on blue economy in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Thailand showed the ways in which blue economy developments in the region devastated the SSF communities, ecosystems, livelihoods and customary rights of the communities. SSF has become climate victims as well as development victims. The ground realities of SSF haven’t changed much in the last year. We need strong and immediate interventions from the government and policy changes based on the SSF guidelines.
Brian O’Riordan, Low Impact Fishers of Europe, LIFE
Changes generally come slowly in the SSF sector, with progress taking decades to happen. Here in Europe, it seems that suddenly SSF is on the cusp of momentous transformations – and not necessarily in a positive sense. The blue economy is taking up ever increasing policy and marine space, creating tensions with fisheries in general; economic woes and decarbonisation targets are creating greater uncertainties; impacts of climate change and warming seas are increasingly noticeable. We await to see how our newly elected European Parliament and Oceans and Fisheries Commissioner will deal with these challenges. But no-one is holding their breath.
Dani Setiawan, Indonesian Traditional Fisherfolk Union (KNTI)
Small-scale fishers in the South-East Asia region still grapple with issues of access rights and social development. In addition, we are also threatened by blue economy developments and the consequences of climate crisis that are displacing us from our traditional fishing grounds. Upholding food sovereignty, strengthening SSF’s resilience to the impacts of climate change and fulfillment of our basic right to education, health and housing are the needs of the hour.
Nana Kweigyah, Ghana Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association.
There has been some progress in SSF since the last World Fisheries Day. The day itself has become a period of awakening for local fishers in a sense that it ignited regional and national level celebrations bringing in enthusiasm among SSF fraternity. Ghana has implemented the co-management policy and established the mechanism, and this has tremendously improved SSF’s role in decision-making processes. However, we still face major issues on access to fishery resources in terms of marine pollution by chemicals and plastics, competition from industrial vessels for small-pelagic species and impacts of the climate crisis.
Experts agree that despite global advancements such as the establishment of a permanent body for IPLCs under the UN CBD and the G20 opening ocean dialogues where SSF shared key recommendations, the on the ground realities for small-scale fisheries (SSF) remain largely unchanged. Small-scale fishers are engaging themselves in key decision-making spaces; recommendations from the World Forum of Fisher Peoples to G20 is an example of such a coordinated activity. However, these global engagements must cascade to regional and national levels to impact SSF meaningfully. With major ocean events like the Our Ocean and UN Ocean Conferences around the corner, ensuring inclusivity and rights-based approaches remains crucial for sustainable progress.