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Professional fishing can improve livelihoods, enhance nutrition and strengthen food systems, but fishery inclusion is required at local, national and international levels

More than three billion people depend on the sea for their livelihood, many of them in developing lands. About 17% of the world’s population, fishing and aquatic resources provide a major source of animal protein. In less developed countries, fish contribute about 29% of animal protein intake; in some developing countries, it is estimated at 19%.As the world’s population grows, the demand for seafood is expected to rise, too. Already, Africa and Asia have seen double fish production in the last few decades. Globally, fish consumption will increase by about 15% by 2030.Although the marine environment suffers from climate change, overfishing and more, research suggests that seafood can be further expanded to meet future food needs3. Last year, international efforts to improve the approach included Green Food Testing (a joint initiative of 25 research institutes) and the United Nations Food Program Conference.

Success will depend on small-scale fishers. Small jobs often bring both food and income directly to the people who need it most, and local people have a strong incentive to keep their actions going. In addition, these fishing grounds can be incredibly efficient. Almost everything taken by hand to the mouth is eaten. In contrast, about 20% of the fish caught in industrial vessels are estimated to be wasted, mainly due to unforeseen catch4. Thus, although large-scale fishers catch large numbers of fish, small-scale fishers provide a significant portion of edible fish.Small-scale fishers rarely have the resources to expand their activities, or livelihoods. As they grow older, they may lose some of their current benefits or engage in risky behaviors such as those used in large-scale fishing. However, if managed carefully, small-scale fishing may provide life and environmental benefits. Doing so should be at the top of the agenda at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon this month.As someone who has studied food security and policy making for decades, here I suggest ways to support and strengthen fishing activities with skills.

Sustainable small-scale fishers can help people and the planet

Professional fishing can improve livelihoods, enhance nutrition and strengthen food systems, but fishery inclusion is required at local, national and international levels.Women at the Ngor Dakar fishing ground in Senegal lowering part of the fish caught in a traditional fishing boat. More than three billion people depend on the sea for their livelihood, many of them in developing lands. About 17% of the world’s population, fishing and aquatic resources provide a major source of animal protein. In less developed countries, fish contribute about 29% of animal protein intake; in some developing countries, it is estimated at 19%.

The strength and importance of small-scale fishers has been increasingly recognized over the past decade. In 2014, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) provided voluntary guidelines to support small-scale fishers, aimed at improving food security and eradicating poverty. The upcoming FAO report, Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and the non-profit organization WorldFish, headquartered in Penang, Malaysia, will conclude a remarkable campaign to integrate courses, questionnaire results and data sets to help fishermen find a seat. at the policy makers’ tables. The UN General Assembly has declared 2022 the International Year of Handicraft and Aquaculture.

Many nations already have marine environment management policies that provide for subsistence fishers. In India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, for example, net fishing is about five miles [8 km] off the coast to prevent industrial fishermen from catching large fish, protecting those regions from local fishermen. Countries like Costa Rica have easy access to licensing small-scale fishers, and Angola exempts subsistence fishers from paying license fees.

Five key elements to a sustainable maritime economy

But this is not enough. The rights of small-scale fishers are often misinterpreted, improperly enforced or unfairly distributed4. The boundaries of special economic zones (EEZs) – coastal subdivisions – often have no proper police force, and large vessels often enter and take over marine life by fishing with bottom nets, something small fishermen rarely do. Large bottom-trawlers make up 26% of the world’s total catch of fish, more than 99% of what happens to EEZs in coastal countries6. Even with well-intentioned policies to protect local fishermen, foreign vessels can still benefit. For example, a 2018 study by the Environmental Justice Foundation in London found that nearly 90% of Ghanaian fishing vessels were linked to Chinese ownership, despite Ghanaian laws explicitly prohibiting foreign ownership or control of their vessels. Explicit definitions of the terms fisherman, fishing vessel and fishing to provide the services of subsistence fishers may help, in part, to avoid such abuse.

Grants also need to be changed. One estimate found that small-scale fishers receive three and a half times more subsistence than small-scale fishers. This expands the existing benefits of greater efficiency in terms of ships and equipment, infrastructure (including cold storage), processing capacity and access to cheaper fuel. By empowering large-scale fishers to catch even more, it can have a detrimental effect on promoting overfishing8. Instead, subsidies and other funds should be directed at small-scale fishers to allow them to expand their access to the market, while preventing them from adopting bad practices of big jobs.

The total amount of global losses and emissions from fishing grounds is estimated at between 30% and 35% per annum. This may grow as small jobs expand their markets. A 2015 estimate of West Coast’s Volta Basin states that 65% lost fish production due to a lack of technology and good production methods, as well as a lack of infrastructure such as decent roads and cold storage9. The study found that fish were less likely to lose physical damage during the procedure; much waste is caused by corruption. Such losses reduce the sale of fish locally and in remote markets.

Public and private investments in cold storage and processing equipment (such as drying, fermenting, quarrying or smoking) can help. Current funding for fish conservation projects comes from development partners, regional banks, the World Bank, NGOs and other entities – and some agencies also provide loans to small-scale fishers – but these efforts are inclusive and inadequate.Various efforts are needed to protect access to small-scale fishers and to improve land use and waste minimization, and must adapt to local local conditions. The 2021 UN Food Systems Summit was a ‘people’s conference’ that promoted the roles of indigenous peoples and community groups, yet the voice of fishing communities was not noticeable.

Few governments take an integrated approach to developing, implementing and strengthening policies. For example, policies governing urban development often do not take into account the impacts on the sea, fish and fishermen. In the late 2000s, for example, fishers were initially denied access to common coastal fishing grounds in Durban, South Africa, following the development of the port and the development of a private fishing and hotel. (Fishers later re-acquired some of the areas after the protests and negotiations with the authorities. Local communities can also be independent. For example, the actions of a group of 5,000 fishers in South Africa in 2004 opposed a policy that they said did not give them recognition or access to the food and fishing rights enshrined in the country’s constitution. The court ruled in favor of the group in 2007, and the resulting legal framework granted small-scale fishers to share community fishing rights, recognizing community members as true fishers.

The small-scale fishing industry does not operate alone. Unlike terrestrial resources, the oceans are a wide, normal global phenomenon with no clear boundaries. Various issues such as climate change, oceanic acidity, overfishing and pollution of nutrients and plastics and other chemicals all affect local fishermen. But such systematic interactions are overlooked when fisheries policies focus on a single marine stock or in a single fishery.

Communities, partners and governments have worked together

Although the concept of integrated land management has been part of the development agenda for a few decades, integrated marine management is now emerging. For it to work, it must include all relevant stakeholders, including small-scale fishers.Contextual strategy in the Seychelles is a prime example of such integration. Communities, partners and governments have worked together to form the Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan Initiative, which protects 30% of the islands’ waters and improves climate resilience. The Seychelles is facing significant threats from rising sea levels and rising air and water temperatures that threaten fishing, infrastructure, tourism and biodiversity.

For example in the Coral Triangle region (which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and East Timor), local communities gave their views on the maritime protection program. This has led to a greater understanding of how practices such as overfishing and small-scale livestock conservation of marine and coastal resources, and how managing this helps to address food security, climate change and various threats to marine ecosystems. Such cooperation between fishing communities and governments in the management of marine protected areas is essential for future fish conservation.

Fishers must be fully involved in the relevant meetings held by the UN and national and local councils, so that they can assess issues affecting fishing access, their health and environmental concerns. Both fishers and facilitators should help develop strategies for empowerment to ensure that their voices are heard, such as providing translation services and arranging meetings in accessible areas. This is important not only for the rights of fishers, but also because there is much to learn from the local knowledge of small-scale fishers.

Measures that may, for example, limit fishing season or areas in order for stocks or biodiversity to thrive should include compensation measures that will ensure fishery cooperation and livelihoods. Social protection measures such as food and income assistance can also help to sustain fishermen.When fish swim in schools, they thrive, eat better and are safer from predators. The same can be said of small-scale fishers, but such networks must extend to local and international communities, too. Collaborative problems with an integrated diet system can bring seafood protein, continuously, to the world you need the most.

Source Journal Reference:Sheryl L. Hendriks, Sustainable small-scale fisheries can help people and the planet, Nature News (2022), https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01683-2

READ ALSO : Scientific Database focus: The study says that the database is an integral part of any research and researchers always says the database will be shared soon but they hesitate in sharing the database. Know why?

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