We agree that dialogue or the sharing of experiences is the best way to understand how to help fighting industries and communities better manage their resources, improve their techniques, monitor overfishing and exploitation, educate actors at all levels, and finally out of this process, implement the SFF guidelines effectively as best suited to the conditions that characterize different fishing regions.
Too often, mechanisms such as the SFF Guidelines are top-down approaches fashioned at the global level then passed down to governments of countries who, having been cut of out process from the beginning, are expected to implement the measures against their own constituents. And, gov’ts that fail to promote effective management of fishing within fishing communities AMONG fishermen will inevitably scramble for bearings when the Guidelines are passed to them. When the dangers of overfishing- ¼ of the total fish stock caught is overfished- coupled with water pollution and climate change are imminent, and the deep levels of poverty associated with so many fishing communities are glaring, this approach dangerously marginalizes important actors, rendering the SFF guidelines implementation ineffective.
Fishermen within communities usually work within groups that form their own rule of law, rules for division of catch, penalties and so on. Because these fishermen are the breadwinners of these communities, this gives them the legitimacy to make these decisions on the communities’ behalf. CSOs also play a large role in communities by representing the marginalized and making them part of this process so for this reason, among others, all community-level actors should be consulted.
On information and communication:
We agree that dialogue or the sharing of experiences is the best way to understand how to help fighting industries and communities better manage their resources, improve their techniques, monitor overfishing and exploitation, educate actors at all levels, and finally out of this process, implement the SFF guidelines effectively as best suited to the conditions that characterize different fishing regions.
Too often, mechanisms such as the SFF Guidelines are top-down approaches fashioned at the global level then passed down to governments of countries who, having been cut of out process from the beginning, are expected to implement the measures against their own constituents. And, gov’ts that fail to promote effective management of fishing within fishing communities AMONG fishermen will inevitably scramble for bearings when the Guidelines are passed to them. When the dangers of overfishing- ¼ of the total fish stock caught is overfished- coupled with water pollution and climate change are imminent, and the deep levels of poverty associated with so many fishing communities are glaring, this approach dangerously marginalizes important actors, rendering the SFF guidelines implementation ineffective.
Fishermen within communities usually work within groups that form their own rule of law, rules for division of catch, penalties and so on. Because these fishermen are the breadwinners of these communities, this gives them the legitimacy to make these decisions on the communities’ behalf. CSOs also play a large role in communities by representing the marginalized and making them part of this process so for this reason, among others, all community-level actors should be consulted.