Transcript Artisanal Fishing: Its Future and Solvency as an Economic

By Audun Lem
11/7/2011
Official of FAO Division, Rome
Objectives
 Background
 Defining small-scale artisanal and its role
in the fisheries sector
 How to strengthen the sector
 Examples
 Conclusions
World Fish Production
Million t 2009
2010e
2011e
Capture
89
87
89
2011/
2010
1.8%
Farmed
56
58
60
4.0%
Total
145
145
149
2.7%
3
World Fish Production
aquaculture
catch
FAO
4
Per Caput Food Supply
Kg/year 2009
2010
2011
2011/10
Food
fish
17.2
17.3
17.4
0.3%
Capture
9.1
8.9
8.8
-2.1%
Farmed
8.2
8.4
8.6
2.8%
5
Employment in Fishing
 In 2008, 44.9 million people engaged in capture
fisheries or aquaculture worldwide.
of 167% since 1980
 Majority of increase in developing countries, mostly in
Asia

 In developed countries, employment in fishing
decreasing
 In 2008, ~ 1.3 million people employed in developed
countries

of 11% since 1990.
How do we define
artisanal small-scale fishers?
 Artisanal can be characterized as labor intensive
 For small-scale, there are numerous highly diverse
definitions
 Spatial categories exist but problematic as substantial
regional differences
 Lack of a clear definition make it difficult to
demonstrate the role of small-scale fisheries
Size distribution of motorized fishing vessels
(FAO State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2010)
The hidden harvests: the global contribution of
capture fisheries
(World Bank, FAO and WorldFish Center, 2010)
 Small-scale capture fisheries contribute > half of the
world’s marine and inland fish catch
 Nearly all used for direct human consumption
 Employ > 90% of the worlds fishers
 Substantial underestimation of the small-scale sector
Pauly, 2006
FAO and the Small-Scale Sector
 Creating international voluntary guidelines on
securing sustainable small-scale fisheries
 Will establish definition within various criteria
 size, type
 ownership
 time commitment
 disposal/utilization of catch
 others
 Guidelines will provide recommendations, and
information to assist states
Future and Solvency as an Economic Activity
 Focus on market differentiation:
 Must add value to differentiate their product in the
market place
 Clearly differentiating product will educate consumers
 Focus on capacity building:
 Organization of fishers
 Access to infrastructure
 Support of labeling and certification costs
 Diversify income streams
 More data
Local, Direct Sales
 New strategy borrowed directly from the small-scale
agriculture farmers
 Farmers face similar trends, turned to selling directly
to obtain a higher price
Local, Direct Sales
 Increases income and adds value to product
 Allows fishers to build up customer base
 Consumer gets interaction with fisher
 Higher quality product
 Collaboration of agriculture and fishing sector in
Malaysia to create new markets
Community Supported Fishery (CSF)
 Farmers created community supported agriculture
(CSA) shares that functions as a buy-in club
 Consumers or “shareholders” pay the farmer for a
share of the harvest in advance
 For farmer, payment covers seasonal start-up
production costs
 For consumer, get a regular share of fresh produce
during production season
 Model has now been adapted for fish
Community Supported Fishery (CSF)
 Prepayment is the shareholder’s investment in “their”
fishers
 Variety of fish species are provided on a seasonal basis
 Fishers are able to sell their products at a premium
CSF Businesses
 At least 12 CSFs in France and possibly others in EU
 20 total in the U.S.
 Offer weekly/biweekly options and 1-3 kg size shares
Community Supported Fishery
 Shareholders learn about new fish
species, seasonality in seafood, enjoy
supporting local
 Tells the story behind the fish
Cleanfish, Wholesale Distributor
 Distributor of sustainably caught fish from artisanal
producers
 Focus on transparency, traceability and high quality
 “Stewards of the Artisan’s Stories”
Cleanfish, Marketing Techniques
 Profile upstream (who is catching fish and how) and
downstream (places to buy fish, celebrity chefs)
 Have ecological advisory and vetting committee
 Established CleanFish Index as a sustainability
assessment tool
Upstream
Downstream
Labeling Strategies
 South West Handline Fisherman Association, UK
 Label their hook and line caught sea bass
 Label also includes a number, which identifies the
fishers who caught it on website
TAG04 - Richard Tomlinson
name: Richard Tomlinson
age: Born 1944, Age 63
how long fishing: from age of 8
favorite lure/bait: Rod & Line
fishing with natural & artificial baits
home port: Falmouth
main market: Newlyn
boat name: Storm Petrel FH683
Labeling Strategies
 pescadeRías – a quality brand created by Xunta de
Galicia
 Requirements for label:
 must come from artisanal fisheries
 captured a maximum of 24 hrs prior to sale
 must comply with a series of legal prescriptions for
sustainability
 no chemical preservatives or artificial additives
Labeling Strategies
 Label Rouge – French certification programme
 Denotes super quality
 Now for a variety of seafood
 Market for Label Rouge products growing
Promotion of Underutilized Species
 “Switch the Fish” campaign in UK
 387 store grocery store chain will offer customers
asking for one of the “big five” (salmon, tuna, cod,
haddock, prawns) an alternative for free
Promotion of Underutilized Species
 Suppliers will pay cost
 Alternatives = coley, pouting, megrim, rainbow trout
and mackerel
 Will it be successful?
 43% of fish eaters do not want to try a new fish if unsure
of taste
 31% admit they would not try a new fish if unsure how to
cook it
Consumer Education through Media
 Publication of magazine “Côté mer” in 2000-2001
 Developed in partnership between biggest distribution
chains in France
 Included sections on fisheries news, gears, culture,
children and fish, practical guide for consumers,
gastronomic section with recipes
 Reached one million consumers throughout France
Promotion Considerations
 Define the concept and priorities of a promotional
programme beforehand
 Ascertain whether purpose is to consume more, less or
differently
 Plan for the financial aspects for promotion and
communication
 Better document the implementation and results of
the programme
 For labels, must be accessible to fishers while still
upholding standards
Capacity Building, CFC
 Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) project in
Honduras, Mexico and Cuba with fishing cooperatives
 Aimed to increase contribution of artisanal fishers
communities to supply of domestic and international
markets and increase income
 Purposes:
 training
 equipment
 value addition
 dissemination of results
 investments
Results of CFC Project
 Informal and formal courses developed in all three
countries, benefited ~ 300 people directly
 Four ice plants installed, received fish boxes, working
tools and clothes
 Promotional material for seafood created
 Assistance in application for loans
 Dissemination of results through Fish Info networks
Aquaculture Societies, NACA
 Since 2000, Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-
Pacific (NACA), organized small-scale shrimp farmers
in India into 712 aqua societies
 Covers > 15,700 farmers, production of ~ 16,000 tons
 Resulted in reduction of disease and cost of
production, improvement of yield and shrimp quality
Certification of Aquaculture Societies
 Access to a higher value market
certification
 Prohibitively expensive and impractical for individuals
 NACA helped create guidelines for aquaculture society
certification
 Society manages and documents an internal quality
assurance system, provides a legal mechanism for
granting recognition to a group of farmers
 Pilot testing has been successful
Conclusions
 Focus is too often on the negative
 Artisanal fishers bring important value to their
product that they must market!
 Fishers need help to build capacity
 Consumer education is vital