The International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) has just published the latest issues of its journals on fisheries, SAMUDRA Report its triannual journal on fisheries, communities and livelihoods, and Yemaya, its newsletter on gender and fisheries.
The current edition of SAMUDRA Report, No. 89, dated August 2023, features a range of articles from Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands and the Amazon, as well as an analysis of climate change and fisheries, and a comprehensive look at the Illuminating Hidden Harvests (IHH) report, arguably the most concerted and comprehensive research effort so far to focus exclusively on small-scale fisheries (SSF).
Fiji, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Ghana, France, Sri Lanka, India — these are some of the countries covered in the latest edition of SAMUDRA Report. The issue also introduces the IHH report, a global study which mobilized over 800 contributors from around the world to generate and disseminate new evidence about the importance of SSF to inform policy and practice.
The IHH report is also the focus of the editorial Comment which, while welcoming and supporting the report, points to the need to go beyond a fuzzy and context-specific approach to defining SSF. For instance, the Comment argues, a universal c i r c u m s c r i p t i o n would allow for determining the contribution of SSF to food security and poverty eradication in a fair and equitable way.
The article from Sri Lanka cautions that while the country has incorporated the SSF Guidelines into its remodelled fisheries policy, it now needs to put it into action.
From Fiji comes an article that pleads for decent conditions of work for the Pacific Islander men who toil under frightening conditions in the longline fisheries. The issue is reiterated in another companion piece that calls for better maritime governance to ensure a fair deal for the offshore tuna fisheries’ workers of small island Pacific States.
Fish smoking, which is the most widely used method for preserving fish in West Africa, can be ramped up by adopting improved techniques and innovative technology, according to the article from Nigeria.
Continuing the focus on workplace conditions, the article from India shows how on-board bio-toilets even on smaller vessels can help minimize accidents at sea, prevent marine pollution and foster healthier ecosystems.
Biodiversity conservation is discussed in the article from Brazil, which details how a group of Indigenous Peoples of the Western Brazilian Amazon have organized themselves around the underlining principle of environmental conservation, which is backed by a cultural tradition of resource management.
Another article describes a new free online course, co-designed and led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the University of the West Indies (UWI), which offers frameworks and approaches for addressing the complex nexus between climate change and poverty.
India’s Draft National Fisheries Policy (Inland) was analyzed at a Training of Trainers workshop, held in December 2022 in Kolkata, where insights were derived not from data, facts, meetings or experiences but from many uncomfortable realizations. Among them was the need for dialogue that remains democratic and healthily dissenting but also works towards problem-solving with a collaborative orientation across the political and institutional bouquet necessary for fisher communities and fisheries development.
The possible role that India’s local self-government institutions can play in improving
sea safety and fisheries management through capacity building and institutional strengthening is addressed in another article in the current issue of SAMUDRA Report.
The article from Ghana emphasizes how efforts at providing social development, employment and decent work in its fisheries sector must focus on improving education, health and social protection in fishing communities.
Also from Ghana is an interview with Jojo Solomon, president of the Ghana National Canoe Fishermen Council (GNCFC), who calls on artisanal fishers to fish responsibly.
A review of the 15th edition of the Pecheurs du Monde International Film Festival, held in Lorient, France, highlights how the future of marine life and the sustainable management of fisheries resources by fishers go hand in hand.
The Roundup section of SAMUDRA Report No. 89 carries a summary of the IHH report findings, news snippets, event announcements, briefings on fishery-related matters, and more.
SAMUDRA Report No. 89 can be accessed at:
https://www.icsf.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SAMUDRA_89_August_2023_ICSF.pdf
Also released is the latest edition of ICSF’s newsletter on gender and fisheries, Yemaya, No. 67, dated August 2023. This is a Special Issue on the 8th Global Conference on Gender in Aquaculture & Fisheries – Shaping the Future: Gender Justice for Sustainable Aquaculture and Fisheries (GAF8), held from 21 – 23 November 2022 in Kochi, Kerala, India. The Conference attracted 198 delegates from 26 countries, and hosted 79 paper presentations as well as a range of expertly curated audio-visual media events.
The discussions led to common ground, such as the need for new approaches to document and analyse gender issues in aquaculture and fisheries, including human rights, intersectionality, and transformative, participatory, and gendered value chain approaches.
Yemaya No. 67 can be accessed at:
https://www.icsf.net/yemaya-articles.php?id=9790
ICSF is an international NGO that works towards the establishment of equitable, gender-just,self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector.
For more, please visit www.icsf.net