Transcript Re-orienting Developing Country Fisheries Policies Towards

Re-orienting Developing Country Fisheries
Policies Towards Sustainability: A Role for
Subsidies?
Sebastian Mathew
International Collective in Support of
Fishworkers (ICSF)
Chennai, India
UNEP: Promoting Development and Sustainability in
Fishery Subsidies Disciplines: An Informal Dialogue
on Select Technical Issues, Geneva, 30th June 2005
FAO Review of the State of World
Marine Fishery Resources 2005

“Maximum potential of the world marine
capture fisheries has been reached with
some stocks and areas being
overfished and some stocks not
producing their full expected long-term
potential”
FAO Review of the State of World
Marine Fishery Resources 2005

“Of the 441 stock or species groups where
assessment information is available, about 3 percent
are under-exploited and 20 percent are moderately
exploited. An estimated 52 percent of the world
stocks are fully exploited, and are therefore
producing catches that are already at or very close to
their maximum sustainable production limit, with no
room for further expansion, and even some risk of
decline if not properly managed. From the remaining,
17 percent are over-exploited, 7 percent depleted
and 1 percent recovering.”
FAO: State of World Fisheries
and Aquaculture 2004

“From 1974 to the present, there has
been a downward trend in the
proportion of the under-exploited and
moderately exploited stocks”
Share of Developing Countries
in World Fish Production 1
68 per cent of inland capture and 90 per cent
of aquaculture fish production comes from
developing countries, mostly Asian
 All top ten inland capture fisheries producers
are from developing countries
 7 out of the top 10 producers in aquaculture
are from developing countries

Share of Developing Countries
in World Fish Production 2
Developing countries contributed to over
67 % of total marine capture fisheries
production in 2003
 Six of the top ten marine capture fisheries
producers in 2003 were developing countries
including China, Peru, Chile, India and
Thailand
 Developing countries also contributed to 50%
in quantity and 48% in value of international
trade in fish and fish products

Growing share of developing
countries in world marine capture
fishery production

The share of developing countries in
total marine capture fishery production
in the 1960s and 1970s was around 40
per cent. In the 1980s it increased to 50
per cent, and to 60 per cent in the
1990s. Now it is nearly 70 per cent.
1982 UNCLOS

Article 56: Sovereign rights for the
purpose of exploring and exploiting,
conserving and managing the natural
resources, whether living or nonliving…”
S.N. Nandan. 1987. The Exclusive Economic
Zone: A Historical Perspective. In Law and the
Sea: FAO, Rome

“In the exclusive economic zone a coastal state has
been given sovereign rights for the purpose of
exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing
the natural resources.…The coastal state has been
given considerable discretion in the management of
the zone; however, the Convention also imposes
specific management responsibilities on the coastal
state, especially as concerns the living resources of
the zone. In the light of these management
responsibilities, a coastal state which has claimed an
exclusive economic zone cannot pursue a policy of
inaction with respect to its living resources. “
Overfishing pressures in
Developing Countries
Changing composition of catch, catching of
small-sized and juvenile fish; decreasing size
of fish; expanding fleet size; use of large
quantities of gear; decreasing catch per unit
effort; decreasing mesh size; high by-catch
rates
 Problems of overfishing are reported from
many developing countries: Eg: China,
Thailand, India, Chile, Viet Nam, Sri Lanka,
Argentina, Senegal

WFFP Fisheries Policy 2005

“…advocates a global fisheries policy for
governance, effective conservation and
management of fisheries resources and fish
habitats, responsible fishing operations,
equitable sharing of resources across EEZs
…responsible post harvest practices, fish
marketing and sustainable fish trade for
nutritional security, and wise use of inland,
coastal and marine biodiversity.”
ITF Fisheries Policy 1991

“The primary objective of the fishing
industry is to manage and conserve fish
stocks efficiently. Regrettably, fish
stocks have not been administered in a
proper manner for decades. Some
stocks have become heavily depleted
which has resulted in a drop in
fishermen’s earnings as well as the loss
of jobs.”
Towards Capacity Building for
Fisheries Management 1
Register all fishing units; Introduce
limited entry regimes; Reduce fishing
capacity; Introduce gear selectivity;
protect coastal and marine habitats
 Build up representative organizations of
fishers who can undertake management
functions; Develop legal regimes that
are oriented towards management

Towards Capacity Building for
Fisheries Management 2
Build up coordination between local,
provincial and national governments in
conservation and management of fisheries
resources as well as in protection of fish
habitats
 Develop coherent legal frameworks and
enforcement capacity
 Generate political will to implement fisheries
management regimes
 Develop social safety nets

How subsidies regime should
meaningfully be employed?

retraining fishers; retirement schemes and
diversification; improving safety and working
conditions; switching to more selective fishing
techniques; scrapping vessels and withdrawal
of capacity; improving product quality;
research and development for better fisheries
management and conservation measures;
and assistance to move towards more
energy-efficient propulsion techniques in
fishing (e.g., to move from two-stroke to fourstroke obms).
Need for a paradigm shift

Recognize the importance of moving from a
‘development of fisheries’ mode focusing
only on increased fish production, to a
‘fisheries management’ and ‘habitat
protection’ mode for sustainable development
of coastal communities, consistent with the
UNCLOS, UNFSA, Agenda 21, CCRF, and
IPOAs (Shark, seabirds, capacity, and IUU
fishing)
Thank you