At a side event on the ongoing Rio+20, the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development, the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) organized a session on “Dialogue on the Human Rights Approach to Fisheries”, which addressed, in particular, access rights to resources and territories.
The side event was held on Tuesday, 19 June 2012 in Tent 1 at the Peoples Summit, Aterro do Flamengo Beach, Rio de Janeiro.
Rene Scharer, Member, ICSF, made a presentation on the Voluntary Guidelines for Small-scale Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). He spoke about the objectives of the guidelines and the expectations of civil society organizations, based on reports of civil society consultations on the guidelines in different parts of the world over the past 18 months.
The meeting was also an opportunity for sharing and learning. Marizelha of MPP, the Brazilian movement of artisanal fishers, talked about conflicts with oil and gas and tourism industries, which fishers confront in coastal and marine waters in Brazil.
Naina Pierri, Member, ICSF, and Professor, Federal University of Parana, Brazil, talked about the territorial rights of Brazilian fishing communities, in both land and sea.
Rovina Mauhmus of the Masifundise Development Trust, South Africa, shared news about the recent successful struggle of South African artisanal fishers for fishing rights in nearshore waters.
Vivienne Solis from Costa Rica talked about how creation of marine protected areas (MPAs) impact artisanal fishers and indigenous peoples in Central America.
Sherry Pictou talked about indigenous peoples’ issues in Canada in relation to marine fisheries.
The ICSF Side Event at Rio+20 was attended by fisherpeople’s organizations from South Africa, Venezuela, Brazil and Honduras, as well as representatives of indigenous peoples from Canada and Costa Rica. It was also attended by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the academic community in Brazil.
The participants at the ICSF Side Event expressed support to the FAO guidelines and sought a greater role for civil society organizations to continue engaging with the formal process of developing the guidelines.
In this context, they sought improvement in modalities for civil society participation in the technical consultation. They also sought support from their governments to ensure greater participation of NGOs in the technical consultation to develop the guidelines.
The meeting was also addressed by Rolf Willmann of FAO, who spoke about how the guidelines would help communities to address some of their concerns.
The event was organized with the support of a wider network, including the Lonxanet Foundation (or Fundación Lonxanet), Spain; Instituto Terramar, Fortaleza, Brazil; RECOPADES; Groupers of Brazil; Fisher Solidarity Network, Brazil; Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, Brazil; CoopeSoliDar; Costa Rica; WFFP – World Forum of Fisher People, Global; and World Forum of Fish Harvestors and Fish Workers (WFF).
2012, ICSF