Dear Lena,
Good of you to moderate this discussion. I am happy the guidelines have come this far and we are at a stage to look into how to implement the guidelines. The way to go is to build partnerships between fishing communities, non-governmental organizations and governments. The guidelines to a large extent have to be implemented by fishing communities and this can effectively be done by a proper partnership between fishing communities, local NGOs and government. Fishing communities in various countries can be selected to implement the guidelines based on their willingness to move forward to secure a better future for themselves and the resource on which they depend on. Local NGOs can take this up with local communities with the support of governments to move to develop workable local institutions for implementing the guidelines. A first step is to identify small-scale fishing communities in a number of countries and begin the process of engaging the communities with the help of local NGOs. The local NGOs can develop models on how to mobilize local communities to take up the guideline and develop mechanisms for implementing the guidelines. The government agencies in the locations can facilitate the process by helping the local NGOs by providing the level of legitimacy required to get communities on board. Since these guidelines are very much voluntary, developing dialog on many levels with communities, NGOs and government will be an important first step in realizing the implementation. Universities can play a key role in helping the process by working closely with NGOs and Government in selecting fishing communities that they are currently working with on various research issues on the fisheries. I am sure based on my work over the last 25 years in the fisheries, building these smart partnerships and developing them over the long term will be a definite requirement to implement the guidelines. The guidelines will have to be community centered and community based management approaches will be central for the guidelines to be implemented successfully.
Wishing all best on the initiative and I am sure the future of small-scale fisheries will be much better with the implementation of these guidelines by the fishing communities.
Regards,
Kuperan.
Kuperan Viswathan