International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF)
National Commission for the Strengthening of Extractive Reserves, Traditional Coastal and Marine Extractive Peoples and Communities (CONFREM)
Linha Dágua Institute (LDA)
Latin America and the Caribbean Workshop IYAFA 2022: Celebrating Sustainable and Equitable Artisanal Fisheries
2-5 November 2022, Ilha do Cardoso State Park, Cananéia-SP Brazil
CANANEIA STATEMENT
We, the representatives of artisanal fisheries, from 16 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean: Argentina, Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis;
Gathered in Cananéia City-São Paulo State, Brazil, in the Caiçara community of Itacuruçá Pereirinha, on Cardoso Island, a traditional fishing territory, that resists against conservationist policies for decades while continuing to fish and working with community-based tourism;
Reaffirming our essential role in producing healthy and nutritious food from the seas, oceans, rivers and lakes, intrinsic in the fight against hunger and food security, as was attested during the Covid-19 pandemic, when we provided fresh seafood on the table to the country’s population;
Ensuring the international and regional cooperation principles, human rights standards, ancestral rights, as well as all forms of collaboration among fishers’ organizations and supporting institutions, guaranteeing their rights and ‘place of speech’1;
Recognizing the knowledge of traditional fishing communities, Afro-descendants, and of all indigenous peoples and the respect for their culture, ways of life and their different realities;
Recognizing the importance of women in the development of artisanal fisheries;
Recognizing the importance of both national governments and international organizations such as the United Nations and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO);
Concerned with the loss of rights, alongside adverse socioenvironmental impacts on artisanal fisheries territories and “maretories”2 arising from globalization, as well as predatory, exclusionary and polluting economic activities, encouraged by development projects announced under the label of Blue Economy in our region;
Also concerned about worsening climate change from anthropogenic activities and its negative impacts such as rising sea levels, the intensification and greater frequency of extreme weather events (hurricanes and floods), invasion of exotic species such as lionfish, and the outbreak of pandemics;
Drawing attention of all stakeholders interested in artisanal fisheries sustainability to the scant progress made to date in the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (the SSF Guidelines);
Reminding that the lessons learned from the pandemic that resulted in a greater network of solidarity between communities, and social movements of artisanal fishing and family farming workers, new marketing strategies, among other initiatives, not be forgotten;
Identify, after four days of intense debates, the following areas and priorities for action across Latin America and the Caribbean to ensure the continuity, development and well-being of our families, communities, and livelihoods:
EDUCATION, TRAINING AND COMMUNICATION
It is important that education be a priority. Encourage differentiated and contextualized education that incorporate traditional knowledge into formal education, and support adult literacy programmes;
Promote educational projects for fishers that take into account their local needs;
Strengthen the role of youth to improve the future viability of artisanal fisheries;
Undertake training and capacity building of artisanal fishing communities to improve their understanding of technology (e.g. satellite-based navigation and communication systems), social media, fisheries management, bookkeeping and accounting;
Develop and disseminate promotional material on artisanal fisheries at the national level to educate fishers;
Inform society about artisanal fishing related issues through the use of social networks, media and others;
Pay attention to local languages, translating communication material in order to democratize information and knowledge;
Promote science that recognizes the knowledge of fishers, both men and women, and is guided by their demands and needs.
Document the knowledge and history of artisanal fisheries.
HEALTH AND FOOD SECURITY
Foster preventive health, recognize relevant traditional medicine and promote fish and fish products as healthy food;
Develop database on occupational diseases in artisanal fisheries, implement public health programmes to deal with them, including through community-based health centres;
Adopt policies to fight violence, exposure to delinquency, drug trafficking and other pressures that affect our communities and artisanal fishers;
COALITION BUILDING
Promote coordination of different institutions, between fishers’ organizations, and between governments, universities, networks, and others at local, regional and international levels;
Strengthen the Latin American and the Caribbean representation of fishers in regional and global coalitions in artisanal fisheries.
MANAGEMENT AND RECOGNITION
Recognize and respect the ancestral rights of traditional communities (e.g., Language), and recognize, regularize and register fishers’ territories;
Build, strengthen, structure and recognize databases and information that can support decision-making and management of fishing activities by fishing communities;
Ensure the visibility and recognition of artisanal fishers in Latin American and the Caribbean public policies of relevance,
Empower fishers, both men and women, to manage fisheries resources;
Define small- and large-scale fishing at the national level;
Develop national action plans in all Latin American and the Caribbean countries to implement the SSF Guidelines
Call for more equitable distribution of time for fishers to make interventions on agenda items related to marine conservation and fisheries, especially during the sessions of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI)
Support the strengthening of fishers’ actions and initiatives such as the “A Call to Action” initiative, presented at the Ocean Conference in 2022 and develop an advocacy process in the various world meetings that influence our livelihoods.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Adopt social security protection in artisanal fisheries, independent of agriculture, including an early retirement age, and life and health insurance coverage for all fishers and fishworkers, including women, along the value chain under public and private schemes.
ENVIRONMENT AND PROTECTED AREAS
Implement closed-season insurance as a conservation strategy, where the State pays for the temporary fishing moratoriums to protect species during their reproduction.
Uphold shared governance and sustainable use marine protected areas based on the Extractive Reserves and the Sustainable Use Authorization Terms (TAUS) of Brazil and Responsible Fisheries Marine Areas in Costa Rica and other examples in the region of shared governance, fisheries co-management and territorial autonomy;
Request States to implement international instruments for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity such as ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ (OECM), or ‘ecologically or biologically significant marine areas’ (EBSAs), or to participate in international initiatives such as the High Ambition Coalition 30 x 30, by ensuring the effective participation of fishers, Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendants and local communities in decision-making processes related to their marine and coastal territories, and after obtaining their free, informed and prior consent, consistent with the ILO Convention 169.
Valorize marine conservation efforts carried out by ancestral, traditional indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, local communities and fishing organizations, and uphold other State governance models that adopt a diversity of Protected Areas, acting as a defence mechanism of territories, community and indigenous heritage, and to conserve resources under a human rights-based approach;
Ensure shared governance and the sovereignty of fishing and indigenous territories in protected areas established by governments, especially where proper participation of the communities have not occurred which resulted in fishers exclusion from their traditional fishing territories.
Regulate and supervise the removal of shellfish seeds by fish farmers from natural banks for aquaculture initiatives.
CONFLICTS AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Establish popular courts/tribunals to address conflicts that are collective in nature;
Strengthen fishing communities in the face of environmental licensing processes, monitored by fishers, both men and women, holding public hearings and others, applying the principle of free and informed consent, consistent with ILO Convention C169.;
Prevent eviction of artisanal fishers by development projects and tourism;
Promote alternative sources of livelihoods, such as family-based aquaculture and tourism, in consultation with fishing communities;
Review, in favour of artisanal fishers, unjust public policies that grant the concession of public waters for aquaculture;
Review and/or regulate sport fishing that competes with artisanal fishing in fishing and protected areas, especially without adequate measures to monitor their catches, and their destructive fishing methods and practices;
WOMEN
Recognition and dissemination of the importance of women in fishing and ensuring that women have freedom, attentive listening and equality to participate in the entire fish- chain from fish harvest to the organization and management of fisheries institutions;
Recognize the importance of women in fisheries and ensure that they have freedom and and equality to participate in all activities along the fisheries value chain;
Strengthen communication and partnership among women in fisheries (women’s networks, exchanges);
Recognition of female fishworker’s work by formal bodies such as Ministries of Labor and others and implementation of public policies aimed at women.
Differential treatment for women by designing productive projects and offering financial assistance to support entrepreneurship skills.
Recognize and respect the right to daycare facilities, considering long hours of work of women in fisheries;
Adapt productive and public health policies to address specific challenges faced by women in fisheries (e.g., sanitation facilities in fishing vessels);
Undertake campaigns to combat stigmas against fisherwomen (e.g., painted nails and makeup);
1 The concept of Place of Speech appreciates the speaker’s social, cultural and economic realities while participating in a debate on a specific topic.
2 “Maretories” are places of tidal flows, coastal and marine areas of collective use of natural resources, of food sovereignty, composed by people who traditionally live there. Based on the premise of consumer goods production,
sustainable economy, decent work, care for heritage/sociobiodiversity, recognition and valorization of knowledge/actions, discoveries and relationship of affection with nature and ancestry.
LAC workshop statement in Portuguese Download
For more details about the workshop, please visit: https://www.icsf.net/resources/latin-america-workshop-iyafa-2022/
