Guidelines For Small-Scale Fisheries Research Articles

Energy efficiency and economics of small-scale fisheries (SSF) in India: A VIKOR based multicriteria decision-making model for sustainable fisheries management

The present study addresses the crucial sustainability concerns in small-scale fisheries (SSF) against the backdrop of escalating anthropogenic activities and climate change impacts on marine fishery and ecosystems. Our study focused on a traditional fishery exploitation area spanning 12,646.12 km2 along the Southwestern Coast of Kerala, India, and explored four widely used fishing gears. We established an integrated decision-making VIKOR framework, and preferential modelling by incorporating techno-economic and environmental aspects to draw the optimal solutions. Leveraging 10 sustainability indicators, the boat seine emerged as the most sustainable gear, showcasing significant profitability (US$ 16,126/year−1 net profit) and remarkable energy efficiency, surpassing gillnetters, longliners, and shore seiners by 8.4, 4.9, and 3.0 times, respectively. The Fuel Use Intensity (FUI) and CO2 emissions analysis (F value = 58.37, P < 0.0001) emphasizes the ecological implications. The developed VIKOR sustainability index, introduced in this study, effectively assesses gear efficiency and sustainability. Further, the study revealed that gear selectivity, technical specifications, and operational trajectories considerably influence the index dynamics. This research aligns with the global commitment to the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines) and contributes scientifically to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By bridging empirical rigor with international frameworks, the study could aid in sustainable fisheries management and environmental stewardship, deemed essential for the global pursuit of ecological, economic, and social sustainability in small-scale fisheries.

Managing change to implement the Small-scale Fisheries Guidelines: perspectives from a Caribbean fisheries policy process

Managing change to implement the Small-scale Fisheries Guidelines: perspectives from a Caribbean fisheries policy process

The Politics of Ocean Governance Transformations

Recently, oceans have become the focus of substantial global attention and diverse appeals for “transformation.” Calls to transform ocean governance are motivated by various objectives, including the need to secure the rights of marginalized coastal communities, to boost ocean-based economic development, and to reverse global biodiversity loss. This paper examines the politics of ocean governance transformations through an analysis of three ongoing cases: the FAO’s voluntary guidelines for small-scale fisheries; debt-for-“blue”-nature swaps in the Seychelles; and the United Nations’ negotiations for a high seas’ treaty. We find that transformations are not inevitable or apolitical. Rather, changes are driven by an array of actors with different objectives and varying degrees of power. Objectives are articulated and negotiated through interactions thatmayreassemble rights, access, and control; however, there is also the potential that existing conditions become further entrenched rather than transformed at all. In particular, our analysis suggests that: (1) efforts to transform are situated in contested, historical landscapes that bias the trajectory of transformation, (2) power dynamics shape whose agendas and narratives drive transformational change, and (3) transformations create uneven distributions of costs and benefits that can facilitate or stall progress toward intended goals. As competing interests over ocean spaces continue to grow in the coming decades, understanding the processes through which ocean governance transformations can occur—and making the politics of transformative change more explicit—will be critical for realizing equitable ocean governance.

Unpacking legal and policy frameworks: A step ahead for implementing the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines

The endorsement of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) in 2014 created a new ‘space’ in the international fora, where the protection of rights of small-scale fisheries (SSF) people is promoted, and where indifference, unfairness and injustice within and against SSF are placed under the world’s purview. Implementing the SSF Guidelines, however, requires unremitting work by researchers from across disciplines, in collaboration with government authorities, civil society organizations and fishers. It is argued here that the involvement of all relevant expertise, with a focus on legal practitioners and policy-makers, in an engaged and collaborative process, can effectively put the implementation of the SSF Guidelines another step ahead. This paper presents a rapid appraisal approach as a ’step zero’ towards the required transdisciplinary work, to evaluate the extent to which existing national laws and policies align with principles and objectives of the SSF Guidelines. The appraisal was conducted in 25 countries, as illustrations of how certain issues outlined in the SSF Guidelines are considered by national laws and policies in different contexts. The results are compared and discussed in terms of governance implications.

‘Fishers’ rights are human rights’: George v Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism 2005 (6) SA 297

In 2004, artisanal fishers, community-based and non-governmental organisations representing ∼5,000 artisanal fishers from various fishing communities sought relief inter alia under the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000 as a result of the unfair discrimination against them because of the fisheries legal framework. This case note focuses on this unique class action brought by the fishers in the Equality Court and the decisions resulting from the case. The relief sought by the fishers to remedy the discrimination and inequity was to compel the then Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism to make proper and adequate provision for artisanal fishers in terms of the fisheries legal framework, giving them equitable access to marine resources alongside other marine resource users. This note evaluates the impact of the order of the Equality Court, as it served as the trigger to transform small-scale fisheries in South Africa. The note also discusses the human-rights-centred themes reflected in the South African Small-Scale Fisheries Policy and considers the extent to which this policy is aligned to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines of 2015.

Shedding a Light on the Human Rights of Small-scale Fisherfolk: Complementarities and Contrasts between the UN Declaration on Peasants’ Rights and the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines

The UN Declaration on Peasants’ Rights (UNDROP) underscores the need for a coherent interpretation and application of existing international human rights to the specific context of small-scale fisheries (SSF), including small-scale marine and continental capture fishing, small-scale aquaculture, related preparatory works and cultural practices. It complements the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the context of food security and poverty eradication (SSF Guidelines), which were the first international instrument entirely dedicated to SSF. The two instruments originate from forums that frame issues and respective responses differently, involving individuals and specialised international bodies with distinct interests and areas of expertise (human rights and fisheries, respectively), and having garnered differing levels of intergovernmental support. The two instruments thus offer their own particular perspectives on how international law currently relates to the challenges and contributions of SSF. Against this backdrop, this Chapter will analyse and compare the contributions of the UNDROP and the SSF Guidelines to the recognition, protection, respect and full realisation of the human rights of peasants involved in SSF and to the sustainable use of natural resources in SSF, with a view to supporting the relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Assessing the Brazilian federal fisheries law and policy in light of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale fisheries

The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines) endorsed in June 2014 by the member States of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was a landmark for the recognition, promotion and protection of the subsistence and artisanal small-scale fisheries (SSF) sector in the world. This instrument is part of contemporary International Fisheries Law, integrating management and development of fisheries with a range of other relevant matters such as human rights, gender and climate change, following a human rights-based approach (HRBA) and taking into account the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF). In this context and with a view to contribute to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this article provides an analysis of the SSF Guidelines and informs on how its’ implementation can be supported by the Brazilian Federal Law No. 11,959/2009, which provides for the National Policy for the Sustainable Development of Aquaculture and Fisheries in Brazil. It is seen that certain issues of the SSF Guidelines are better addressed in other federal legal instruments, which should be read, interpreted and applied in combination with that legislation. This analysis aimed at assisting legal practitioners and policy-makers in the implementation of the SSF Guidelines in Brazil.

Aligning the sustainable development goals to the small-scale fisheries guidelines: A case for EU fisheries governance

Since the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, several countries, funding organizations, environmental groups and research communities have pledged support and made commitment to help achieve these goals. SDG14: Life Below Water, for instance, has been embraced as the global goal for conservation and sustainable uses of the oceans, seas and marine resources. Among its many targets, SDG14b speaks directly to small-scale fisheries, calling for secured access to resources and markets for this sector. We argue that achieving SDG 14b requires a holistic approach encompassing several SDGs, including livelihoods, economic growth, community sustainability, strong institutions and partnerships. It is also important to align the SDG targets with the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines), as the mutuality that exists between the scope and nature of the two instruments can help guide the formulation of appropriate governance tools. Yet, the alignment of these two instruments alone does not guarantee sustainability of small-scale fisheries, especially without an official mandate from the governments. The case in point is the European Union where small-scale fisheries are not sufficiently recognized within the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), despite being the largest sector (75% of the fleet). Through an examination of the CFP in the context of the SSF Guidelines and the SDGs, we discuss options and possibilities for inclusive consideration of small-scale fisheries in the upcoming policy reform, which might then lead to both achieving fisheries sustainability and the SDGs in the EU.

Multi-scale policy diffusion and translation in Pacific Island coastal fisheries

Multilateral consensus forged among heads of states must be value-additive and relevant at the national level to facilitate on-ground implementation. Yet, despite general optimism and advances in policy understanding, multi-scale diffusion remains a challenge with little certainty in outcomes. This study focuses on examining intermediary dynamics occurring within national policy apparatus that can influence domestic uptake of policy innovation. We analyse the anticipated spread of two supranational policies on coastal fisheries in the Pacific region – the ‘Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines’ and ‘the New Song’ – in three countries: Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Our approach combines instrumental perspectives on ‘policy coherence’ with cognitive–normative perspectives on ‘policy image’. Accordingly, we use two methods: a document-based comparison of the policies produced at different levels and interviews with national government officers in charge of policy deliberation and delivery. We find supranational-to-national policy coherence across most prescribed policy themes, except for emergent social themes such as ‘gender’ and ‘human rights–based approaches’. The views of government managers substantiate, and further augment, this finding. Crucially, managers' images (encompassing judgements, aspirations and convictions) represent personal and practical attributes involved in policy interpretation and implementation. Multi-scale policy diffusion is thus a translational process mediated by national-level staff, and managers' policy images offer nuanced and dynamic insights into why some policies are slow to take root while others take different shape to their agreed meanings. Analysts and policymakers must consider and mobilise translational approaches and policy images in order to understand and facilitate successful domestic implementation of international agreements.

One Realm: Thinking Geoethically and Guiding Small-Scale Fisheries?

This essay explores common features of the ‘FAO Guidelines for small-scale fisheries’ and ‘geoethical thinking’ (geoethics). These two approaches to governability stem from communities/environments that habitually do not interact. Small-scale fisheries are socio-environmental systems heavily pressured by anthropogenic global change. The FAO Guidelines for small-scale fisheries propose how to address this challenge. The concept of geoethics has emerged amongst geoscientists as a way of thinking to understand the societal implications of geoscience professions. When comparing these approaches, they both turn out to be actor-centric and aim to further a path/context-dependent development that respects interests of all actors mutually. Supposedly, such guidance to handle socio-environmental systems may also apply to other communities/environments. To that end, ‘geoethical thinking’ may offer a helpful ‘meta-order’. In turn, geoscientists may like to enrich geoethics from experiences outside their community, e.g. from managing small-scale fisheries.