Re-orienting Developing Country Fisheries Policies Towards Sustainability: A Role for Subsidies?

1. Re-orienting Developing Country Fisheries Policies Towards Sustainability: A Role for Subsidies? Sebastian Mathew International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) Chennai, India UNEP: Promoting Development and Sustainability in Fishery SubsidiesDisciplines: An Informal Dialogue on Select Technical Issues, Geneva,30th June 2005

2. FAO Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources 2005 • “Maximum potential of the world marine capture fisheries has been reached with some stocks and areas being overfished and some stocks not producing their full expected long-term potential”

3. FAO Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources 2005 • “Of the 441 stock or species groups where assessment information is available, about 3 percent are under-exploited and 20 percent are moderately exploited. An estimated 52 percent of the world stocks are fully exploited, and are therefore producing catches that are already at or very close to their maximum sustainable production limit, with no room for further expansion, and even some risk of decline if not properly managed. From the remaining, 17 percent are over-exploited, 7 percent depleted and 1 percent recovering.”

4. FAO: State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2004 • “From 1974 to the present, there has been a downward trend in the proportion of the under-exploited and moderately exploited stocks”

5. Share of Developing Countries in World Fish Production 1 • 68 per cent of inland capture and 90 per cent of aquaculture fish production comes from developing countries, mostly Asian • All top ten inland capture fisheries producers are from developing countries • 7 out of the top 10 producers in aquaculture are from developing countries

6. Share of Developing Countries in World Fish Production 2 • Developing countries contributed to over 67 % of total marine capture fisheries production in 2003 • Six of the top ten marine capture fisheries producers in 2003 were developing countries including China, Peru, Chile, India and Thailand • Developing countries also contributed to 50% in quantity and 48% in value of international trade in fish and fish products

7. Growing share of developing countries in world marine capture fishery production • The share of developing countries in total marine capture fishery production in the 1960s and 1970s was around 40 per cent. In the 1980s it increased to 50 per cent, and to 60 per cent in the 1990s. Now it is nearly 70 per cent.

8. 1982 UNCLOS • Article 56: Sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living…”

9. S.N. Nandan. 1987. The Exclusive Economic Zone: A Historical Perspective. In Law and the Sea: FAO, Rome • “In the exclusive economic zone a coastal state has been given sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources.…The coastal state has been given considerable discretion in the management of the zone; however, the Convention also imposes specific management responsibilities on the coastal state, especially as concerns the living resources of the zone. In the light of these management responsibilities, a coastal state which has claimed an exclusive economic zone cannot pursue a policy of inaction with respect to its living resources. “

10. Overfishing pressures in Developing Countries • Changing composition of catch, catching of small-sized and juvenile fish; decreasing size of fish; expanding fleet size; use of large quantities of gear; decreasing catch per unit effort; decreasing mesh size; high by-catch rates • Problems of overfishing are reported from many developing countries: Eg: China, Thailand, India, Chile, Viet Nam, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Senegal

11. WFFP Fisheries Policy 2005 • “…advocates a global fisheries policy for governance, effective conservation and management of fisheries resources and fish habitats, responsible fishing operations, equitable sharing of resources across EEZs …responsible post harvest practices, fish marketing and sustainable fish trade for nutritional security, and wise use of inland, coastal and marine biodiversity.”

12. ITF Fisheries Policy 1991 • “The primary objective of the fishing industry is to manage and conserve fish stocks efficiently. Regrettably, fish stocks have not been administered in a proper manner for decades. Some stocks have become heavily depleted which has resulted in a drop in fishermen’s earnings as well as the loss of jobs.”

13. Towards Capacity Building for Fisheries Management 1 • Register all fishing units; Introduce limited entry regimes; Reduce fishing capacity; Introduce gear selectivity; protect coastal and marine habitats • Build up representative organizations of fishers who can undertake management functions; Develop legal regimes that are oriented towards management

14. Towards Capacity Building for Fisheries Management 2 • Build up coordination between local, provincial and national governments in conservation and management of fisheries resources as well as in protection of fish habitats • Develop coherent legal frameworks and enforcement capacity • Generate political will to implement fisheries management regimes • Develop social safety nets

15. How subsidies regime should meaningfully be employed? • retraining fishers; retirement schemes and diversification; improving safety and working conditions; switching to more selective fishing techniques; scrapping vessels and withdrawal of capacity; improving product quality; research and development for better fisheries management and conservation measures; and assistance to move towards more energy-efficient propulsion techniques in fishing (e.g., to move from two-stroke to four-stroke obms).

16. Need for a paradigm shift • Recognize the importance of moving from a ‘development of fisheries’ mode focusing only on increased fish production, to a ‘fisheries management’ and ‘habitat protection’ mode for sustainable development of coastal communities, consistent with the UNCLOS, UNFSA, Agenda 21, CCRF, and IPOAs (Shark, seabirds, capacity, and IUU fishing)

17. Thank you