At the annual meeting in Istanbul, the WFFP Coordinating Committee (CC) met and discussed the multiply crisis affecting the lives of its members across the world. In response, the CC endorsed the below resolutions. These are aligned with and elaborate on the resolutions endorsed by the 7th. WFFP general assembly in Delhi, 2017.
Criminalization: Fishers are increasingly criminalized for defending their rights, their fishing grounds and their livelihoods. The Governments around the world are cracking down on human rights activists. Marine Protected Areas and in particular the new 30by30 agenda of the new Global Biodiversity Framework are leading to the expropriation of fishing communities from their territories and resources. Furthermore, the multiple forms of Ocean Grabbing (see resolution nine) is further acceleration expropriatio of fishing communities. In effect, fisher peoples are labelled as trespassers and met with repression measurers by increasingly militarised authorities. The different forms of criminalisation spans from denial of fisher peoples livelihoods, imprisonment, physical violence, sexual harassment of women, and killing of fishers entering territories from which they have been expropriated as well as killing of fisher peoples who stand up to defend their human rights…
The resolutions is available at: https://worldfishers.org/2023/10/14/wffp-resolutions-adopted-by-the-wffp-coordinating-committee-at-the-coordinating-committee-meeting-in-istanbul-turkey-20-27-september-2023/
