The voices of small-scale, artisanal and subsistence fishing communities and indigenous peoples, and their perspectives and proposals, should be reflected in the development of International Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries (VG-SSF) being prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
This plea was made in a Civil Society Organization (CSO) Statement to the ongoing 13th Session of FAO’s Committee on Fisheries (COFI)at Rome on 11 July 2012.
The Statement was read out by Cairo Roberto Laguna, an artisanal fisheries producer and vessel owner from Nicaragua, who is also President of the Nicaraguan Artisanal Fishing Federation (FENICPESCA), Secretary of the Steering Committee of the Central American Confederation of Artisanal Fishermen (CONFEPESCA) and Latin American Representative of the World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fishworkers (WFF).
The Statement was made on behalf of the World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fishworkers (WFF), the World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP), the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) and the Internal Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC).
“The development of the guidelines on small-scale fisheries presents us with a unique opportunity: the opportunity to enhance the contribution of our sector to food security and poverty eradication, to socio-cultural diversity, to decent employment and livelihoods, to local and national economies, and to the conservation and sustainable use of fisheries resources, both inland and marine,” the Statement noted.
Welcoming the proposed guidelines, the Statement recalled the outcome of 14 national workshops and a regional workshop in Africa (which had representation from 16 countries)in which over 1,600 representatives took part. The outcome of these consultations have been synthesized in a draft report that has been made available to COFI.
Many steps have been taken in the past to enhance civil society participation in FAO processes, as during the development of the 1995 Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the Voluntary Guidelines to support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security.
The Committee on World Food Security-led negotiations also benefited greatly from the active participation of civil society in the development of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security.
In this context, to ensure that civil society voices are well represented at the inter-governmental technical negotiations on these guidelines to be held in 2013, the Statement requested COFI to:
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allow a specified number of nominated civil society representatives to make interventions during plenary discussions;
permit civil society representatives to participate in breakout sessions/working groups of the technical consultation; and
allow representatives to submit and present written contributions and proposals.
“Facilitating our active participation will ensure that the Guidelines adopted represent a shared vision, and that they are owned widely, particularly by small-scale fishing communities themselves. This is essential if the guidelines are to be implemented effectively,” the Statement stressed.
The full text of the Statement can be accessed at http://www.icsf.net/en/statements.html?radio=O
For COFI Session detail, please visit http://www.fao.org/cofi/cofi2012/en/
2012 ICSF