43. This agenda item was introduced by the Secretariat on the basis of documents ACFR/V/2004/3, and ACFR/V/2004/Inf.4, Inf.7, Inf.8, Inf.9, Inf.10 and Inf.13.
44. The presentation focused on: an evaluation of the importance, role and contribution of the sector, the draft research agenda on small-scale fisheries, and the ways in which the transition to responsible fisheries could be facilitated bearing in mind the developing paradigm of ecosystem approach to fisheries. The Committee was informed that the majority of the information had been generated by its Working Party on Small-scale Fisheries, which was convened by the Director-General and held under the joint auspices of the FAO Fisheries Department and the FAO Regional Office for Asia and Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand, from 18 to 21 November 2003. The meeting was chaired by Dr John Kurien, Vice-Chair of ACFR. Financial support for this meeting was also provided by the Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP).
45. The Committee commended the work that had been undertaken by its Working Party on Small-Scale Fisheries since the last session. The Committee acknowledged the practical approach adopted in assessing the contribution of small-scale fisheries to rural livelihoods in developing countries. It however expressed the view that the vision statement, although adequate for advocacy purposes, needed to be recast in a research context in terms of soliciting information for a better understanding and improved management of the sub-sector. The Committee pointed out that sufficient emphasis had not been given in the document to the interactions between small-scale and large-scale fisheries and the consequent conflict that arise from such interactions. Similarly the unaccounted contribution of women as well as issues related to safety at sea and safety of the products needed to be stressed.
46. The Committee expressed its appreciation of the elements of a research agenda on small-scale fisheries presented by the Secretariat. The Committee indicated that the material provided a good foundation for the elaboration of a concise strategy document on small-scale fisheries. Such a document should provide guidance on modalities of implementation as well as priorities in terms of geographical location. The Committee also noted the complementary nature of the Sustainable Livelihood Approach, the Ecosystem Approach for Fisheries and the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries in guiding the research agenda.
47. The Committee recommended that the research agenda needed to encompass the connection between human development issues including poverty alleviation and food security with natural science and technology aspects, especially the impacts of environmental variability and climatic change. Furthermore, international issues of small-scale fisheries, in particular migration of small-scale fish workers, migrant fishing vessels and management of shared stocks needed more attention. The Committee noted that there was also the need for gaining a better understanding of the historical development of small-scale fisheries in the context of the specific demographic, social, cultural, political and economic developments in the different regions and sub-regions.
48. The Committee also felt that the role of aquaculture in contributing to improved fisheries management needed to be given increased attention, especially with regard to its potential to allow for re-stocking and resource enhancement as well as serve as a source of alternative income and employment. The potential impact of the release of cultured specimens on the genetic richness of the wild population was of concern and needed to be further researched.
49. One area of priority accorded by the Committee was the strengthening of fishworkers organizations which were considered of central importance for greater participation of the small-scale sector in policy decisions and in the implementation of effective fisheries management and development programmes. It also considered important to gain a better understanding on the best ways and means to facilitate communication among small-scale fishworkers and between them and other stakeholders including government fisheries agencies. Whether or not communication strategies where needed specifically for small-scale fisheries versus the fisheries sector in general would depend on the particular conditions in a country. The Committee felt, however, that generalized communication strategies ran the risk of neglecting small-scale fisheries or assigning them too low a priority. The Committee recognized the increasing importance of fishworkers' organizations and civil society organizations supporting small-scale producers and their organizations in the areas of communication and exchange, and more broadly in empowerment.
50. The Committee noted the joined World Food Congress (WFC)-FAO project proposal on Integrated Assessment of Small-Scale Fisheries for which donor support was currently sought and whose concept included partnerships with academic institutions and national fisheries research agencies. It further noted that, especially with regard to natural science assessments, the approaches applied in large-scale temperate water fisheries were of little applicability in small-scale fisheries in tropical waters. More direct assessments of ecosystem health were needed that perhaps required a shift in paradigm. It also concurred with the desirability of developing a set of integrated assessment tools that are tailored to small-scale fisheries and which could then form the basis for training and capacity-building.
51. The Committee strongly recommended that a larger number of case studies of small-scale fisheries should be conducted in order to develop lessons-learned on the reasons for success or failure in sustained small-scale fisheries development and management. These case studies should be well designed and based on clearly articulated research questions or hypotheses including, for example, how the influence of globalization manifested itself in different small-scale fisheries, especially in relation to various characteristics such as the nature of fishing rights. Where appropriate, the critical research questions/hypotheses could be translated into research templates, perhaps with different emphasis for different regions and sub-regions.
52. The Committed recognized that safety at sea remained a particularly serious problem in small-scale fisheries. It recognized that FAO had many years of experience in providing expert advice and assistance on this subject and was well placed to continue to raise awareness of the problem among the various stakeholders and provide assistance for improved fishers safety in the fields of data collection and data management, training, education and the development of regulations, ass well as the designing and use of safer vessels and equipment. Given the importance of the issue, the Committee recommended that the Department continued its efforts to improve safety and working conditions of fishers and fishworkers.
53. The Committee noted that a significant amount of knowledge and experiences in small-scale fisheries were not communicated through existing journals including the findings of especially local level case studies and case-specific experiences. This was the reason why other means of knowledge sharing were especially important for small-scale fisheries. The idea was also mentioned of launching a new journal (traditional or electronic) that would focus on reporting the findings of fisheries case studies (see Appendix F).
54. The planning, organization and implementation process used for the FAO - Norway Fish Trade and Food Security Study was considered an excellent example that could be followed to advance the case study concept. The Committee also encouraged cooperation with existing projects and programmes that would allow for the conduct of a larger set of case studies at lower costs to FAO. It also recommended to draw upon past and ongoing information gathering, initiatives and research efforts on small-scale fisheries including, for example, the Support to Regional Aquatic Resources Management (STREAM) initiative of the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA) that is supported by the Australian Government's overseas aid program (AusAID), the Department for International Development (DFID), FAO and the Volunteers Sharing Organization (VSO).
