The International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) has just published the latest issue of SAMUDRA Report, its triannual journal on fisheries, communities and livelehoods. The current edition, SAMUDRA Report No. 91, dated June 2024, is a Special Issue that runs into 110 pages and features a diverse range of articles from several countries like Japan, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, China, Chile and Brazil, among others. A special focus of the issue is the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (the SSF Guidelines) and the process of its implementation in different countries.
Also in the spotlight is the 2nd SSF Summit designed to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the SSF Guidelines. The Summit is expected to attract up to 300 people primarily representative of not just small-scale fisheries organizations and movements, but also inter-governmental organizations, NGOs and governments, taking into account regional, gender and age balances.
The editorial Comment in SAMUDRA Report No. 91 focuses on how a wide range of actors— from civil society organizations to grassroots activists and trade unionists—are rallying around a human rights-based approach to tackle issues plaguing the SSF subsector.
The 40th anniversary of the International Conference of Fishworkers and their Supporters (the 1984 Rome Conference) is commemorated in an article titled “Rallying for Collectivism”, while the implementation of the SSF Guidelines is detailed in various country reports that demonstrate how SSF combat poverty, enhance food security and promote sustainable resource use through National Plans of Action.
Tenure rights systems that are primarily responsible for the sustainability of fisheries are illustrated in reports from Japan, India, Sri Lanka and China, while a piece from the US shows how permit banks and collective ownership in Alaska return individual fishing rights to the collective.
The article from Brazil describes how artisanal fishing communities in the Amazon struggle to maintain traditional ways of life, while another article talks of how ‘parliaments of the sea’ in France can ensure both co-management of marine areas and protection of fishers’ rights.
Targeted initiatives can address the systemic inequalities in the fisheries sector of Bangladesh, argues another article, while climate change is the subject of the piece from Antigua and Barbuda which argues that the Caribbean island nation must make its SSF community resilient to the effects of climate-related occurences.
A report on a workshop on Latin America and the Caribbean highlights the participants’ global Call for Action for sustainable and equitable small-scale fisheries.
A piece on the SSF-LEX database provides information on the legal frameworks governing SSF, while another on the South Pacific Islands points to the relevance of parametric insurance in protecting SSF from the increasing risks of climate change.
From Ghana comes an article on the Sankofa Project which investigates the gendered socioeconomic effects of fisheries closures, while a scientific analysis of spawning periods of marine fish resources in India reveals crucial geospatial differences.
The recent instances of extreme flooding in Brazil highlights the vulnerability of small-scale fishers to climate-induced disasters, points out another article.
The last article in SAMUDRA Report No. 91 is on the L’orient Film Festival in France, a regular affair that stresses how fishing is vital for ocean biodiversity and community livelihoods.
The Roundup section of SAMUDRA Report No. 91 carries news snippets, event announcements, briefings on fishery-related matters, and more.
SAMUDRA Report No. 91 can be accessed at:
https://www.icsf.net/samudra-