Small fishermen work harder for less fish catch. This was how small-scale fishermen from a host of nations who took part in a workshop held in Palawan on May 22 and 23 described fishing in the vast seas on Monday.
We work harder now to catch less fish than we used to, said Billy Atung, a fisherman from Tawi-Tawi. The sea is just not what it used to be.
Dubbed Steering Scale Fisheries Away From Rough Seas: Small Scale Fisheries, Aquaculture and Ecosystem Services in Developing Countries Workshop sought to develop strategies to improve governance, innovative tools for sustainability and stakeholder incentives.
The holding of the workshop was anchored on the belief that there is an urgent need to value and promote the services provided by the marine ecosystems like coral reefs, mangroves and sea-grass beds from which fisheries and aquaculture depend on.
The results of the workshop sought to provide small-scale fishers and the small-scale aquaculture business with a clearer road map to sustainability. The workshop took off from an earlier meeting in March in Mombasa, Kenya.
Our vision is for SSF [small-scale fisheries] and aquaculture in developing countries to be effectively and sustainably managed. This in turn contributes to local food security, livelihoods and overall ecological productivity, said John Tanzer, director of the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature-Global Marine Program.
With over 20 years of experience working with small-scale fishers across the globe, the power of the WWF network can make a difference in people’s lives, he said.
The definition of SSF varies depending on locale, but generally employs traditional low-technology techniques and vessels for either subsistence or commercial operations.
SSF currently employs 90 percent of the world’s capture fishers (half of whom are women) while providing 50 percent of global yields and 60 percent of wild-caught seafood.
Unfortunately, half-a-century of unsustainable fishing has led to the depletioneven the collapseof some of the world’s fish stocks. Often, chronic poverty and fledgling-management capacity impedes recovery, WWF said.
Aquaculture has now bypassed the amount of seafood caught from the wild, with an estimated 90 million tons produced annually.
2014 BusinessMirror