BACKGROUND
The focus of national and international assistance is increasingly directed towards small-scale fisheries vis-a-vis the production from small-scale fisheries. It is devoted almost entirely to domestic consumption and represents about half the world supply of fish for consumption. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the World Fisheries Conference in 1984 drafted the "World Charter for Fisheries", embodying the consensus prevailing on the best courses for the management and development of the fisheries sector. In its charter for determining the special role and needs of small-scale fisheries and rural fishing and fish farming communities, the Conference enacted several important principles and guidelines when establishing policies and implementation programmes for the development of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture:
· since the problems of rural fishing and fish-farming communities are not related solely to fish production, the development of this sector can often be best approached within the context of Integrated rural development. The principles adopted by the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development should therefore find wide application in small-scale fisheries and aquaculture development.
· as a rule, the interest of the national economy may demand simultaneous and harmonized development of both small-scale and industrial fisheries. There is a need for a well defined overall strategy, based on economic, social, biological and other factors, clarifying the role to be played by each type of fisheries.
· special attention should be given to the choice of objectives vis-a-vis small-scale fisheries development as it will not be possible simultaneously to seek to improve the incomes of the fishermen and to increase employment opportunities when stocks are in danger of over exploitation.
· in planning for the development of small-scale fisheries, due considerations should be given to the needs for and provision of shore facilities, adequate marketing and distribution infrastructure, services and financing.
· the reduction of post-harvest losses through improved handling, processing, transport and distribution systems should be given high priority as it will make an important contribution to the betterment of the small-scale fisheries sector.
· education and training and other fortes of social investment should be made an essential part of small-scale fisheries development. More extension workers should be trained within cooperatives and small-scale fishing communities, in particular in fisheries technology, social welfare and community development and in the management and operation of small-scale enterprises and organizations. The link between extension and practical research should be strengthened. Due consideration should be given to the special role of small-scale fisheries in the economies of island States where they are often the major source of employment and foreign exchange earnings.
· active participation of small-scale fishing communities in the planning and formulation of development activities should be encouraged so as to ensure their successful implementation. To achieve these aims, it would be useful to provide such participation in some countries through coordinating bodies such as councils or unions of cooperatives.
· fisheries development programmes should recognize that women play an important role in fishing communities, both in trading and processing, and provision should be made for enhancing that role.
· the cooperation and participation of fishermen is necessary to ensure the success of small-scale fisheries management schemes. Fishermen's organizations should be considered as a channel through which management decisions can become operative and technical/financial assistance delivered.
· to ensure the well-being of small-scale fishermen on a sustained basis, it may be necessary in many cases to secure supplementary or alternative sources of income and employment for fishermen so as to reduce pressure on limited fishery resources, possibly by engaging in aquaculture.
· the adaptation and modification of locally developed methods and equipment for use in small-scale fisheries should be carefully considered before directly transferring technologies developed elsewhere, especially the introduction of capital-intensive technology.
· attention should be given to make credit facilities available for small-scale fishermen on terms and conditions equating with their generally weak economic positions and special needs.
· governments should ensure, through their fisheries department, planning ministries and other agencies concerned, that the interests of small-scale fisheries are given due considerations in plans concerning water and land use.
· new and better methods of evaluating small-scale fisheries activities should be devised, taking into consideration not only technical and economic but also less easily measurable factors such as amenities of life, health, education and communications.
· optimum resource utilization and upgrading the socio-econornic status of the fishermen require a proper definition of small-scale fisheries, taking into account the technical means and methods utilized, spheres of action and the specific system of enterprise involved.
· vessel safety is a very important factor to keep in mind for small-scale fisheries. In absence or lack of proper crew training, life-saving facilities and on-board communications, and the incorrect use of gear are frequent causes of accidents and must be eliminated.
· training programmes must provide for instruction in the best fishing techniques for catching existing species and for the distribution of fishing charts indicating the location of fishing grounds. Top priority in training should be accorded to fishing communities. Training should be adjusted to the renewal of the fleet and to the characteristics of the new types of vessels, so as to improve both yields and safety and ensure a rational utilization of the exclusive economic zones.
· the developing countries should plan their aquaculture bearing in mind their national potential and opportunities for the exchange of programrnes, knowledge, experience, technical assistance and training, through the mechanisms of regional cooperation.
Prior to the World Fisheries Conference, in 1979, the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD) laid special emphasis on the role of women in rural development activities and underscored the need for initiating appropriate prograrnmes for their economic and social upliftment. In line with WCARRD recommendations, development of disadvantaged social groups with special focus on women became one of the priority areas of ClRDAP's action research programme activities. On the basis of the information gathered from the review of literature, women groups in fishing communities in different parts of the Asia-Pacific region were identified as one of the most disadvantaged groups that did not receive adequate attention and were by and large alienated from the mainstream of national rural development programrnes. While these social groups needed immediate attention, it was also recognized that there was significant information gap on women in traditional fishing communities. In view of this, pilot scale projects combined with information collection was thought to be the best strategy to approach the problem.
FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT IN THE THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES
The production-oriented and capital intensive technologies employed by international assistance programmes and equally shared by national policy makers primarily in their desire to increase export earnings often generate negative impact on employment, nutrition, changing values, ethics, resource use rights and policy implications in many of the third world countries.
The conventional wisdom of providing more effective technologies to shift the production function does not consider the basic questions of resource availability and allocation and other interdependencies. In the context of fisheries, an open access resource and competition among sectors resembles a "zero-sum game" where technological advantage favours the minority and limits the ability of the majority to earn adequate income, employment and food.
The same conventional wisdom rarely considers local community values and the impact of technological innovation on community social structures. Broadly, to become effective and legitimate, an innovation must be locally-relevant, locally-specific and rooted to the community's resources and needs.
On the basis of the above premise, CIRDAP launched the Action Research Project on Rural Women in Fishing Communities (RUWFIC) in four selected CIRDAP Member Countries (CMCs), namely, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. With financial assistance from the Government of Japan along with technical assistance provided by FAO, the project was launched in 1984.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The action research project on RUWFIC entailed two long-term objectives: first, to help rural women and their families in fishing communities improve their living and working conditions by providing required inputs and services to help meet their basic needs on the basis of collection of relevant data and information on their role and activities in community development; and second, to enhance the participation of rural women in development efforts by involving them in decision making and in implementing those decisions.
The "short-term" or ''immediate" objectives of RUWFIC were to:
(a) develop a model of participatory data collection on women's role and activities in fishing communities as a basis for planning, monitoring and evaluation for eventual replication in other fishing communities;
(b) assist participating member countries in establishing pilot projects for promoting traditional income-generating activities for women, especially in the fields of fish processing and utilization of fish, marketing, fish farming or breeding as deemed appropriate in the country settings;
(c) help strengthen linkages of women's groups and their access to support services that were available in their respective communities; and
(d) assist rural women in undertaking economically viable income generating activities.
The programme was operationalized through: (i) conducting socio-economic surveys to construct a primary data base on households and the activities of women in the selected villages; (ii) formation of target groups based on the collected data; (iii) providing on-the-job training of women participants; (iv) organizing village seminars and in-country workshops; (v) identification of potential leaders of women's groups; and (vi) monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the project.
