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Sebastian Mathew International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF)

SCALES MATTER: Small-Scale Fisheries Perspective on Ecosystem-based Approach to Fisheries Management. Sebastian Mathew International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF). Ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management. Definitions:

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Sebastian Mathew International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF)

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  1. SCALES MATTER:Small-Scale Fisheries Perspective on Ecosystem-based Approach to Fisheries Management Sebastian Mathew International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF)

  2. Ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management • Definitions: • Fisheries Resource Conservation Council of Canada (FRCC) • National Research Council of the United States (NRC) • Ecosystem Principles Advisory Panel (EPAP) of the National Marine Fisheries Service of the United States

  3. FRCC Definition • Managing the behaviour of people in order to maintain or restore desired levels of diversity, abundance and productivity in the ocean system.

  4. NRC Definition • An approach that takes all major ecosystem components and services into account. • One that is committed to understanding larger ecosystem processes to achieve sustainability in fishery management.

  5. EPAP Definition • Interactions of a targeted fish stock with predators, competitors, and prey species. • Effects of weather and climate on fisheries biology and ecology. • Interactions between fish and their habitats. • Effects of fishing on fish stocks and their habitats.

  6. No distinction drawn between “small” and “large” • The effects of fishing on fish stocks and fish habitats are bound to vary from small- to large-scale fishing units. • Small-scale fishing units are individually less threatening to the marine ecosystems. • SSF are better adapted to the aquatic ecosystems. • Large-scale sub-sector employing non-selective fishing gear like bottom trawls often has a negative impact on fish stocks. E.g. Canada, China.

  7. Importance of small-scale fisheries sub-sector • Contributes 25 per cent of world catch, and account for 50 per cent of fish used for direct human consumption. • Employs about 25 to 30 million people in production, processing and marketing, especially in developing countries. • Plays an important role in poverty alleviation. • Contributes to foreign exchange earnings significantly more than small farming or peasant agriculture in many developing countries.

  8. What is “artisanal” or “small-scale” fishery? • A fishery that is not mechanized, and one that is opposed to mechanization. • an activity that is resident or migrant; occasional, seasonal, part-time or full-time. • “Traditional”, “small-scale” or “artisanal” as antonyms of “modern”, “large-scale” or “mechanized”, and “industrial” fisheries.

  9. What is “artisanal” or “small-scale” fishery (2)? • Includes a range of fishing activities targeting sedentary molluscs in the littoral waters to highly migratory tuna stocks in the distant waters. • Includes highly individualized fishing operations, small-crew operations and labour-intensive operations.

  10. What is “artisanal” or “small-scale” fishery (3)? Artisanal, small-scale fisheries refer to the smallest viable fishing units in a country or a province, with downward or lateral compatibility in fishing gear operation. They refer to a specific regime of fishing craft, gear—or both in combination—at the bottom-end of the fishing power hierarchy in a country or province.

  11. 1996 Eritrea-Yemen Arbitration Agreement • “Artisanal fishing does not exclude improvements in powering the small boats, in the techniques of navigation, communication or in the techniques of fishing; but the traditional regime of fishing does not extend to large-scale commercial or industrial fishing…”

  12. Impact of technical changes in artisanal fisheries • Gear-base losing its diversity • Expansion of fishing capacity • 42 per cent increase in the number of pirogues between 1994 and 1997 in Senegal • 300 per cent increase in the number of plywood boats in Kerala, India • Overfishing pressure • Break-down of traditional institutions • Increasing conflicts

  13. Why small-scale fisheries are better than large-scale? • Far more dispersed in a geographic sense; are better adapted to the aquatic milieu; cater to the livelihood interests of fishers; and are the most equitable in terms of distributing benefits of fishing to the largest number of coastal peoples.

  14. SSF industry perspective on EBA to fisheries management • EBA can valorize the small-scale and the ecosystem principles inherent in traditional systems. • EBA can broaden the scope of management to understand, and prevent, land/sea-based sources of pollution of fishing grounds. • EBA could help generate information on natural factors and their impact on fish stocks. • EBA could facilitate a better understanding of prey-predator relationships at sea.

  15. Problems in applying EBA to small-scale fisheries • Difficulty in negotiating adverse impacts on the ecosystem arising from factors outside the control of the SSF. • Poor institutional arrangements. • Need to address social issues in fisheries. • Lack of confidence in the feasibility of fisheries management programmes.

  16. Need for new initiatives in SSF management • Importance of dialogue with SSF. • Redistribute fisheries resources to the SSF: • Phase out large-scale, non-selective fishing units • Make SSF adopt responsible fisheries • Take into account social, economic, and ecological aspects.

  17. Need for new initiatives in SSF management (Cont.) • Institution-building for devolving power through building up strong fishworker organizations. • Build upon traditional community-based fisheries management initiatives with appropriate safeguards to regulate access to fisheries and to limit fishing capacity.

  18. Adopt a “crossword” approach to SSF Management • A realistic time frame to implement various components of an ecosystem-based fisheries management programme in a progressive manner, using available knowledge to solve bits of the puzzle, while simultaneously expanding the knowledge-base to fully address the locus of issues at the macro level.

  19. Need for international cooperation • To prevent transfer of excess fishing capacity from the North to the South. • To facilitate temporary migration of surplus fisheries labour-force from the South to the North. • To set up an international fisheries management assistance fund raised through Tobin Tax and consumption tax in fish importing countries in the North.

  20. Priority areas for assistance • To bring about better control over the input of fishing effort and the output of fish. • To introduce participatory/devolutionary management regimes. • To set up effective MCS systems. • To protect fish habitats. • To conduct research on marine ecosystems. • To build up fishworker organizations.

  21. To conclude: • Develop building blocks of an ecosystem-based approach with social sensitivity. • Broaden the artisanal knowledge-base to encompass ecological parameters hitherto not well understood or taken into account. • Transmute past traditions with new scientific insights to meaningfully address the needs of the present.

  22. Photo Credits • FAO • BOBP • ICSF • www.snap-shot.com • www.ecuadortours.com

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