ILO STANdAR

ISSN No. 0973·1121

INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIVE IN SUPPORT OF FISHWORKERS

ILO STANdAR<k fOIl FisliiNGSAfETY AT SEA

INdUSTRiAl FisHERi~ iN PERUP05T~T5UNAMi REI-lAbiliTATiofll

STATE INTERVENTiONS iN NfTHERlANdsNEWS ROUNd~up

ContentsSAMUDRA Report No. 41 July 2005 TRIANNUAL REPORT OF ICSF

COMMENT 1

REPORTA sea of women 3

INDIAWhose responsibility? 11

NETHERLANDSCapitulate, dodge, protest... 17

SRI LANKAA few houses here, boats there 24

PERUOn the verge of collapse 29

REVIEWCulture of prevention 34

UPDATEFrustrating private agreements 36

DOCUMENTSufficiently flexible and protective 38

DOCUMENTWell-balanced, timely and relevant 40

DOCUMENTThe ideal model 42

REPORT A lost opportunity 47

NEWS ROUND-UPSt. Kitts and Nevis, US, Malaysia, Uganda, UK 50

Comment

The price of imprudenceIn the end, the irony was not only unforeseen, but also unfortunate and bitter for fishers all overthe world. At the final record vote on its adoption at the 93rd Session of the International LabourConference (ILC), the proposed Convention on Work in the Fishing Sector did have the requiredtwo-thirds majority but the vote was declared invalid because it did not attain quorum (see pg47). It is doubtful if there has ever been such a precedent in the history of the InternationalLabour Organization (ILO)—that a draft Convention and Recommendation adopted by therelevant Committee have not been adopted by the ILC for want of quorum.

These instruments could have been the handles for developing countries to lift the lids off theirfishing sectors and look at current developments in fishing from the perspective of labour andwelfare. They provide the structure for creating standards for an occupational sector that isamong the most hazardous on earth.

Intriguingly enough, despite these manifest benefits to fishers, some developing-countrygovernments, especially from Asia, and almost all Employer representatives, decided to abstainfrom voting, cleverly defusing a Convention that had actually won a clear majority at the recordvote.

The short-run acquiescence to the Employer group could ultimately cost dear. In the long term,developing countries would possibly be forced to comply with far stricter forms of labourstandards dictated by developed countries that are important markets for fish and fish productsfrom developing countries. (It is worth remembering that 50 per cent of fish entering the worldexport trade comes from developing countries.) The non-tariff measures currently confined tofood safety and environmental standards can tomorrow be extended to labour as well.Prudence dictates that developing countries should voluntarily move towards labour standardsin fishing, considering that it is one of the most globalized industries today.

ILO is undoubtedly the best forum to negotiate a standard that can act as the lowest commondenominator for labour in fishing. It is in the interest of developing countries, especially Asiancountries that account for most of the world’s fish production, fishing capacity and fishers’population, to be proactive and sincerely engage with ILO processes that recognize theimportance of adopting international labour standards that are set with “due regard to thosecountries in which climatic conditions, the imperfect development of industrial organization, orother special circumstance make the industrial conditions substantially different” (Article 19,ILO Constitution).

Considering that over two-thirds of global fish production originates from developing countries,any improvement in labour conditions will benefit mainly the nationals of developing countries.In any case, labour standards in most developed countries are already at par with, if not above,those proposed by the ILO instruments. Developing countries can also use the provisions forexclusions and exemptions to progressively improve living and working conditions on boardfishing vessels, both in small- and large-scale fishing.

The governments of developing countries have a responsibility to provide sustainableemployment for their coastal fishing populations. Rather than indulge wastefully in policies thatpromote fishing capacity and ‘boom-and-bust’ fisheries, they should aim for labour-intensiveand sustainable fishing, along with better labour standards that they themselves can designand implement.

The proposed ILO Convention and Recommendation should be seen as an opportunity toaddress the most neglected aspects of working and living conditions in the fishing sector. Weurge all governments, employers’ and workers’ groups to work towards the adoption of theseimportant instruments at the 96th Session of the ILC in 2007.

COMMENT

SAMUDRA Report No. 41 July 2005 1

Conference

A sea of women

A conference in Spain sought to place on centre stage women’s role and status in fisheries and aquaculture

What the organizers hadenvisioned came true. Theinternational AKTEA

Conference, “Women in Fisheries andAquaculture: Lessons from the Past,Current Actions and Dreams for theFuture” (http://conference. fishwomen.org), which took place during 10-13November 2004 in Santiago deCompostela, Spain, was a true meetingplace for women working in fisheries andaquaculture from all over the world toexchange experiences, ideas andstrategies.

It was also a unique opportunity for thewomen to meet with researchers fromdifferent disciplines of social sciencesworking on women-in-fisheries-relatedissues, and for the researchers themselvesto expose and discuss their work.

The initiative for the internationalconference came from the researchers ofthe programme “FEMMES”. Thisprogramme aims to promote networkingof women’s associations in fisheries andaquaculture in Europe. It is funded by theEuropean Commission under the 5thFramework Programme for Research.Under the FEMMES programme, threeworkshops were held for fisherwomenfrom European countries, where activenetworking took place. An internationalconference was seen as a challengingopportunity to extend the networking andassociation linkages from Europe to otherparts of the world as well.

The success of the conference was evident,in the first place, by the number anddiversity of participants, who came fromall over the globe, from thetop—Norway—to the southern tip ofMozambique and from the coast of Chilein the far west to the coast of thePhilippines in the far east. There were

more than 170 participants—fisherwomen, shellfish gatherers, fishprocessors, fish sellers and researchers,administrators, social workers andwomen organizers.

For three days, the participants exchangedexperiences and reflections about currentdevelopments, and the changes neededfor the future. To allow everyone anopportunity for expression, theconference was organized into differenttypes of events. There were plenarysessions with oral presentations,discussion forums in smaller groups oninvited subjects, and also a posterexhibition where women could show theirwork, experiences and ambitions in avisual way.

During the plenary sessions and forums,the researchers could test their theoriesagainst the reality of the women workingday-to-day in fisheries, while thefisherwomen were offered analytical toolsto put their personal and local experiencesinto a broader and systematic framework.They could also familiarize themselveswith concepts like production andreproduction, participation andorganization, privatization andglobalization, diversification and coastalresource management.

Due to the diversity in culture and fishery,the topics also varied widely.Nonetheless, there were many similaritiesin the issues raised by the women.

Invisible rolesA major concern shared was the‘invisibility’ of women’s roles in fisheries,leading to their exclusion fromdecision-making processes, and lack ofaccess to (shell)fish resources,information, formal training, credit, socialinsurance and welfare benefits, and so on.

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Many of women’s traditionalactivities, like net mending orrepair, are disappearing. Many

women work for the family enterprisewithout remuneration. Women’senterprises are mostly small-scale andhave to compete with large-scale (ofteninternational) corporations and chains.The burden of crises often falls on theshoulders of women of fisheryhouseholds, forcing them to take uplonger working days, a wider range ofincome-generating activities and harmfulworking conditions.

While discussing their situation, womenalso clearly expressed their concernsabout the degradation of the resourcesand the threats faced by theircommunities. All over the world,traditional fisher communitiesexperience the negative effects ofglobalization, such as the intrusion ofmass tourism in coastal areas, thereinforcement of sanitary standards forfish products that favour the large-scale(international) companies over thesmall-scale producers, and also thecentralization of fishery managementpromoting the expansion ofcapital-intensive modernization andprivatization of fishing rights through theintroduction of transferable quotas.

The share of the fish stocks for traditionalfisher communities is becoming smallerand smaller, and the social consequences

are adverse. Traditional fishercommunities in Europe and NorthAmerica also struggle with the problem ofdeclining incomes, unemployment anddepopulation, even as the fishing capacityhas increased enormously. And incountries around Lake Victoria in eastAfrica, the traditional fisher communitiesare left with only the bones of the Nileperch for personal consumption, as theentire fillet of the fish is exported to theEuropean market.

Where, in earlier times, capture,processing and trade were integratedactivities of a local community, todaymore and more quantities of fish caught inone part of the world are processed inanother part and consumed in yet anotherpart. Local communities are increasinglylosing control over the management oftheir resources and the price and qualityof their product. It was felt that a linkshould be seen between themarginalization of traditional fishercommunities and the marginalisation ofwomen in fisheries, between the lack ofrecognition of traditional or artisanalfisheries as a way of life and the lack ofrecognition of the productive as well asreproductive roles of women in fisheries.

Women’s roleThe forums gave an opportunity toexplore in greater depth the issues ofparticular concern for women’s role andstatus in fisheries and aquaculture. These

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4 SAMUDRA Report No. 41 July 2005

dealt with the legal recognition ofwomen’s work; their productive andreproductive roles; access todecisionmaking and economic resources;working conditions and safety at sea andon shore; networking among women’sorganizations; strategies for resourcemanagement; diversification; andtourism.

The forum on “The LegalRecognition of Women’s Work”discussed the importance of the

formal status of women for accessingdecisionmaking and resources such ascredit, training, information and alsosocial welfare.

Surprisingly, in the eyes of some, it wasseen that in some countries of the South,women working in fisheries are betterrecognized and better organized thantheir sister-colleagues in the North.

In Senegal, for instance, women fishvendors are officially recognized and dohave access to micro-credit schemes andprofessional organizations. And in thePhilippines, an Act providing for theMagna Carta for Women was passed bythe House of Representatives in 2003, bywhich women directly engaged inmunicipal and coastal fishing areaccorded equal access to the use andmanagement of marine resources, andenjoy all the rights and benefits accruingto stakeholders in the fishing andaquaculture industry.

In contrast, the only status Italian or Dutchwomen who work in the family fishingenterprise have, is that of wife of thefisherman, without an interest of her own,and her work is primarily seen as ancillaryand a sort of extension of her domesticactivities. Since 1986, there has existed aspecial European Union (EU) Directive(86/613) regarding the application of theprinciple of equal treatment for men andwomen in a self-employed activity, whichapplies to situations where spouses arenot employees or partners, and wherethey habitually, under the conditions laiddown by national law, participate in theactivities of the self-employed worker andperform the same tasks or ancillary tasks.

However, practically no member State ofthe EU has integrated the Directive in its

national laws. In France, the status ofcollaborating spouse is recognized in theFishery Law of 1997, and she now has theright to represent the family enterprise, beelected to the boards of fishermen’sorganizations and also to join a socialsecurity scheme. But the French legalstatus has many limitations still, inparticular for the spouses of thesmall-scale sector and the crew. InPortugal, the collaborating spouse has,since 1999, been partially legallyrecognized. Women must be registered ascrew members even if they do not go outto sea.

The conference forum on “Women inFisheries and Aquaculture: Productiveand Reproductive Roles” discussed thedifference of women’s role in small-scaleand large-scale industrialized fisheries.

In small-scale fisheries, people are usuallyself-employed, and production andreproduction are directly linked andoverlapping. In industrialized fisheries,production and reproduction areseparated as people have becomewage-workers.

The dilemma in small-scale fisheries isthat the woman’s position is definedaccording to her role in reproduction. Awoman is seen as the husband’s wife andas a caretaker. Women lack legal statusand are invisible when it comes to theirrole in production. The dilemma inindustrialized fisheries is that people havelost control, both over natural resourcesand their own labour.

Two forums covered the issue of woman’saccess to decisionmaking. In the firstforum, “Women’s Participation inFishermen’s Organizations”, it was feltthat women should not wait to be invitedby men or politicians to participate indebate and decisionmaking concerningfisheries. They should rather decide ontheir own. “Men know how to usewomen’s timidity”, it was felt, and theconsequence is that women are keptoutside the decision-making process.

OrganizationIt was also noticed that organized womenhave better chances for recognition thanwomen who are not organized. This wasalso the case where women had the benefit

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of support of government workers ornon-governmental organizations (NGOs).It was also felt that women should lobbymore with politicians and administrators.

Another forum, “Women’sOrganizations in Fisheries”,created a general feeling among

all that the ongoing organization ofwomen in fisheries and aquaculture hasnot only been empowering but has alsobeen vital in gaining visibility, access torights and the valorization of fishingcommunities. To mention a fewsuccessful women’s organizations:Penelope (Italy), Fishermen’s WivesSupport Group and Mna na Mara(Ireland), Katosi Women Fisher’sAssociation (Uganda} and VinVis(Netherlands).

Important facilitating factors in creatingsustainable organizations were seen to bea solid foundation and goodparticipation. For a solid foundation, themembers should have a feeling ofownership in the organization. It is veryimportant that they are clear aboutcommon interests and needs as well havea focused goal. Communication andparticipation are important, whichdemand regular meetings. Activeinteraction between members is alsonecessary because it permits theestablishment of reciprocity, mutualityand solidarity relations amongst them.Outside support and assistance were alsoseen as important. As major constraintsfor women’s organizations were seen theexistence of too many diverse interestsand also the lack of self-confidence andorganization skills.

The forum on “Networking Women’sOrganizations: Strategies, Opportunitiesand Constraints”, highlighted variousnetworking efforts of women’sorganizations, both at the national andregional levels. Networks have beeninitiated by various actors: women’sorganizations of fishing communitiesthemselves, NGOs, research programmes,governments and regional governmentalbodies. Some of those networks werepresent at the forum: the Nordic Networkfor Coastal and Fisher Women(Scandinavia), the Task Force of Womenin Fisheries (Philippines), Federation 2FM(France), Federation of Net Menders

(Galicia), AREAL, the federation of shellfishgathers (Galicia), and the NationalWomen’s Fisheries Network (Chile).Although networks have a larger focusand orientation than individualorganizations, their success dependsmuch the same on the facilitating factorsmentioned above.

The forum on “Working Conditions andSafety at Sea and Ashore” discussedvarious issues. Firstly, the issue of safetyon the boats was discussed. Women feltthat men’s attitude towards safety mattersis more driven by machismo than by theneed for family security. For this reason, itwas felt that women face problems inconvincing the men to use safetyequipment.

Some of the participants (from Portugal,Spain and France) felt that the Europeanfishing fleet need improved safetymeasures, and they underlined theimportance of financing the constructionof new vessels with the necessary safetystandards.

Deteriorating working conditions wereseen as another reason for accidents at sea.These resulted from the decrease in thenumber of crew on board the vessels, andthe longer working hours, enforcedbecause boatowners need to economize tomeet with rising investments, decreasingfish prices and higher debts. Alcohol anddrug consumption on board boats werealso seen as responsible for accidents.Some of the forum participants (fromCanada, Ireland and Norway) felt thatincreasing the cost of insurance mayencourage more safety practices, but alsoplace a burden on small businesses andfishing enterprises.

It was furthermore discussed that womenshould demand the recognition ofoccupational illnesses of not only men butalso women working at sea, shellfishgatherers, fish sellers, etc. In Canada,shellfish processing workers arestruggling with occupational asthma andwith cumulative trauma disorders (likecarpal tunnel syndrome).

Attractive forumThe forum on “Access of Women toEconomic Resources: Small-scaleEnterprise Management, Diversification

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and Micro-credit” attracted women fromthe South and North, and they spokeabout their own experiences in thesedomains. The common characteristic thatemerged from this exchange was that ofwomen’s capacity to adjust to allsituations by opting for new economicinitiatives.

Examples from Tanzania and Chileshowed how the depletion ofresources and the scarcity of fish at

local markets pushed women to initiatenew activities. Women fish processorsfrom around Lake Victoria adapted theirwork several times by finding new rawmaterials to process.

Nile Perch, the main species of the lake, isnowadays exported to Northerncountries, and local women have lostaccess to this resource. In the beginning,they changed to processing the other partsof the fish that were discarded by theforeign processing factories that had beenestablished in their country. But today,even these once valueless parts of the fishare exported to other markets, and thewomen have had to adapt again to thescarcity of raw materials by changing toprocessing the fish bones.

Women from Chile worked in the past inactivities linked to artisanal fisheries butnowadays have to find new activities dueto depletion of the fish stocks. Today, theyare involved in activities related to

tourism. From fisherwomen, they becamediving suit producers.

Today, diversification of fishinghousehold activities is becoming moreand more a necessity to improve thehousehold income. Processed fish fetchesbetter prices than raw fish. Senegalesewomen play an important role on theshore by selling fish (directly or to afishmonger) and processing (smoking)fish.

Today, they also produce other productssuch as fish oil. A woman from Irelandnarrated how she started to process thewild salmon caught by her husband andlater expanded her business by buyingfrom other fishers as well. French shellfishwomen from the Mediterraneanexplained how they promote theirproducts by participating in Europeangastronomic fairs, where they sell oystersand mussels to the visitors.

Financial constraintsAll participants said that they facedfinancial constraints not only in startingtheir business activities but also whenthey wanted to expand. Banks do noteasily open their doors to womensmall-scale producers. European womenhave access to public funds to start abusiness, but they felt that it is not easy tobridge the first few years, which was thetime to establish and consolidate acustomer base.

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Southern women have developedinteresting saving schemes, whichgive them access to credit, and the

European participants learnt a lot fromthese Southern experiences. Africanwomen make use of traditional savingsystems, which enable them to getmicro-credit.

An example of such a traditional savingand credit scheme is the tontine systemused by Senegalese women. Theircapacities to manage and reimbursecredit convinced NGOs to support theirinitiatives.

Nevertheless, the African women felt thatthe micro-credit was insufficient toexpand their businesses, and theiractivities remained marginal.

The forum on “Fisheries and CoastalResources Management: Women’s Roleand Perspectives” discussed the impactof tourism on coastal communities.

Development of tourism bringsopportunities, but also threats to localfishing communities.

Tourism can cause displacement of locals,reduction of fishing grounds, danger tothe resources (from sport fishers andscuba divers), and bring unwanted valuesand practices into the community, such asdrug abuse and prostitution. Tourism canalso have a positive impact for coastalcommunities by creating new sources ofincome. The forum revealed that it isoften women who initiate tourism-relatedactivities like restaurants, guided tours,and so on.

Planning processTo guarantee that the local populationbenefits from tourism, it is important thatits development be controlled by the localcommunity and that the locals areinvolved in the planning process as wellas in the implementation of tourismprojects. However, it was also felt that

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An agenda for actionThe keynote speakers at the conference wereBarbara Neis (Safety Net and Department ofSociology, St. Johns Memorial University,Canada), Nalini Nayak (ICSF, India) and KatiaFrangoudes (CEDEM, University of WestBrittany, France).

Barbara Neis spoke about “The LocalConsequences of Neoliberal Globalization forWomen in Fisheries”. She explained how theconcentration of capital and control ofresources by big corporations resulted in quickshifts of production and investments all overthe world. Forty per cent of fish products aretraded globally. The introduction of quotasystems has facilitated this process. Localfishing communities are confronted withdegradation of resources and economicdecline. The relations between men andwomen within fisheries communities have alsochanged. In her presentation, Barbara Neisused data from the forthcoming book ChangingTides: Gender, Fisheries and Globalization,edited by her, Nalini Nayak, Cristina Maneschyand others.

Nalini Nayak spoke about “Challenges toWomen in Fisheries in the Globalized World”.She explained globalization as the historicalprocess of concentration of resources in the

hands of a few powerful forces and the loss ofautonomy for large populations of primaryproducers, consumers, local communities,governments and States. This process led togreat social disparities, conflicts and ’natural’calamities in the world.

For the Northern fisheries, globalization meanta change from open access to the resources toa licensed (controlled) entry. This resulted inthe introduction of quotas, including individualtransferable quotas (ITQs), professionalism andcapitalization of the fishery sector, and thestrong role of the State in regulation. Womenwere pushed into wage-work, under usuallybad working conditions or became free labouras a buffer to rising costs.

For the Southern fisheries, however,globalization meant a transition from fishing inthe wild to aquaculture. The main fishproduction is now for export, which hasresulted in less fish being available for localconsumption. Women are ousted from localpost-harvesting activities. Fisheries agreementsbetween countries of the North and countries ofthe South gave further access to the North toresources in the South, resulting in a depletionof local fish resources and reduced access toresources for the local population. The


tourism as a diversification activity infisheries is only viable for the small-scaleinshore sector and not really an option forthe bigger seagoing fishing sector.

Worldwide (in Europe too),fisheries and aquaculture arestill dominated by family- and

artisanal-based organizations. Thoughthe role of women is important for theenterprise and also for the survival of thehousehold, most of the time it remainsinformal and rarely recognized.

Women also practically do not participatein fisheries’ representative bodies and, ingeneral, they are not included in thefisheries policies of the State.

When fisheries or aquaculture faces crises,though, it is the women who are generallyspoken to first to undertake newinitiatives in diversification or to take upjobs outside the sector to secure the familyincome. Women have also initiated public

campaigns in defence of their localcommunities. By getting involved ineither local or national actions,fisherwomen appeared in the publicdebate. They resisted developments thatbrought great technological and economicchanges, but kept labour conditionsbackward and led to social and economicinsecurity and also to the degradation ofmarine resources.

In the last decade, women of Europeanfisher communities have intensified theiractivities by building organizations andpromoting their interests. Women, moreand more, have become aware enough toassert their position as women workers ofthe sea, and not as ‘wife of so-and-so’.

Not just houseworkAll participants of the conference agreedthat their work in fisheries should beregarded as such, and not just as anextension of housework. Women oftenhave responsible tasks in the management

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liberalization of trade encouragesfish-processing industries to shift from theNorth to the South, accessing the growingavailability of cheap wage labour in the South.

For Nalini, the challenges for women infisheries are to change the present globaldevelopments, by putting life and livelihood atthe centre stage. She also feels that womenhave a major role to play in reconstructingrelations among people.

Katia Frangoudes presented to the participantsthe draft version of the “Agenda for Actions inFavour of Women in Aquaculture andFisheries in Europe”. This agenda was theresult of two years’ work under the FEMMEprogramme.

The agenda is addressed to national andEuropean decisionmakers, urging them topromote women’s issues and concerns in theEuropean fisheries. The main demands aresummarized below:

1. Recognize the contribution of women tofamily-based fishing and aquacultureenterprises (management, accounting, etc.)by according them official status.

2. Allow the women involved in production tohave access to a professional status.

3. Favour the initiatives for diversification of thefamily income by allowing women access tomicro-credit and training.

4. Recognize the value of professions linked tofisheries often taken on by women:mending, marketing of fish, etc.

5. Abolish all types of discrimination betweenmen and women concerning access to jobsand resources.

6. Recognize and maintain the access ofwomen to representation in publicdecision-making bodies and professionalorganizations.

7. Improve women’s access to trainingdevices, and create ways of giving value totheir professional attainments.

8. Support the organizations of women andtheir actions.

9. Improve the working and safety conditionson board vessels.

10.Agree to specifically attend to the needs ofcrew’s wives (in issues like difficulties intraining, isolation, working conditions, safetyon board, etc.).


of the enterprise and, in all cases, they areresponsible for the family budget.Therefore, they feel that they must get theopportunity to express and promote theirideas.

Women of fishing communitiesin Europe—as also in otherparts of the world—believe

that they are part of the fisheries andaquaculture sector, and they want toparticipate at the same level as men in thepublic debate concerning the future offisheries. They also put forward claimsfor the recognition of their roles, andresist further marginalization. Theydemand access to decisionmaking,formal education, training and inputs fornew economic activities.

In a few places, they have succeeded inbringing these claims even to the highestpolitical levels, which, in some cases, didlead to a legal recognition of their roles. Insome countries, women’s organizationsare accepted by men’s organizations, but,in others, they are still ignored. Womenoften are not seen as equal to men, andthis makes them reluctant to express theiropinion, needs and ideas. All participantsat the conference believed that a betterorganization of women at the national,regional and even global levels shouldcontribute to the improvement of theirposition. This conference was one morestep forwards in this direction, and, fromthe positive and energetic participation atthe conference, we can certainly expectmore steps to follow.

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This report has been filed byCornelie Quist ([email protected]) and KatiaFrangoudes ([email protected]) ofCEDEM, University of West Brittany,France


Safety at sea

Whose responsibility?

Even in the post-tsunami phase of rehabilitation, few aid givers in India are addressing the issue of safety at sea

In India, the fishing craft of fishermenare particularly vulnerable to not onlynatural disasters like cyclones but also

mechanical failure, in the case ofmechanized and motorized craft, andwind failure, in the case of non-motorizedcraft. On several occasions, fishing craftand crew have been reported missing forthese very reasons. In some cases, theyhave strayed into the waters ofneighbouring countries like Pakistan,Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh andMyanmar, unintentionally or because thecurrents dragged them there consequentto the mechanical failure of their craft.Whatever the reason, they end up facinghardship.

Recently, for instance, a mechanized boatfrom the Chennai fishing harbour, alongwith its crew, entered the territorial watersof Bangladesh when the boat’s enginefailed. The Bangladesh governmentarrested the crewmembers and put themin jail for nearly six months without aproper trial and without informing theIndian government. In 2004, afibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) boat fromNagoor capsized in the deep sea due tostrong winds. The capsized boat drifted inthe water, with the crewmembers sittingon its upside-down bottom. After twodays, one of the rescue boats sent out bythe villagers found the capsized boat andbrought it back to shore.

On 20 June 2005, a FRP boat carrying threefishermen from Nochi Kuppam, a fishingvillage in Chennai, set out to sea. Whilecrossing the surf, a huge wave dashedagainst the boat and threw all thefishermen into the sea. While two of themmanaged to clamber back on to the boat,another disappeared in the sea in afraction of second. Many fishermen on theshore, who witnessed the incident,jumped into the sea and searched for the

man, but in vain. The man whodisappeared was said to be a goodswimmer, and his fellow fishermenguessed he must have died due to injuryto some vital organ. In such cases, thoughthe accident could not have been avoided,it would have been possible to at leastrecover the body had the fisherman worna lifebelt.

Many people tend to dismiss theseincidents as unavoidable natural disastersthat the government and fishermencannot do anything about. However, thisis not true. While we may not be able tocompletely prevent such accidents, wecan minimize the effects of the disasters ifall the stakeholders realize theirresponsibilities and act collectively.

With the depletion of fishery resources inIndian coastal waters due to continuousand destructive fishing methods, theoperations of mechanized boats innearshore waters have becomeunprofitable. Hence, most of themechanized boat fishermen wish to gointo deeper waters in search of fish.Generally, two types of boats can be foundin the mechanized sector: the 32-footerand the larger 40-45-footer. Both usuallyfish for about 12 to 24 hours a day, whilethe bigger boats can be out at sea for six to15 days continuously. This type of fishingis called ‘stay fishing’. Due to the lack ofsafety equipment on board, such boatsfish only where visibility is good andnavigation is possible with the aid of thelighthouses located along the coast.

Stay fishingThe boats are powered by diesel engines,and each boat has a crew of five to sevenfishermen. They take along rice,vegetables, milk and other rations to cookfor their ‘stay fishing’ voyage. Theyusually have one compass, and some have

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a transistor radio too, which is used tolisten to music and weather reports.

However, no boat has thelife-saving equipmentrecommended by the Coast

Guard or the State Fisheries Department,like lifebuoys, jackets and flares. Thoughthe boats are registered with the StateFisheries Department, few are insured.During registration, the FisheriesDepartment officials are supposed tocheck the seaworthiness and safetyaspects of the boat, but this is rarely done.Many of the fishermen of the motorizedcraft are reluctant to carry sails with themfor use during engine failure. Artisanalfishing craft do not carry even basic safetyequipment like life jackets, lifebuoys andflashlights. Without flashlights, theartisanal fishers find it hard to deal withmechanized boats, particularly duringthe night.

According to the India MeteorologicalDepartment, most of the east coast ofIndia is vulnerable to cyclones, andusually two to four cyclones hit the eastcoast every year. During the cycloneperiod, the fishing boats stop venturinginto the sea as soon as they receiveweather warnings, However, the boatsthat are already at sea cannot receive thewarnings since most lack transistors andother communication instruments. Oncea boat ventures into the sea, all connectionwith land is effectively cut off completely.

If the engine breaks down, there is no wayto call for help from land or from otherfishing boats at sea. During this criticaltime, the boat is anchored and thefishermen have to just wait and hope forhelp from some boat that happens to passby. Occasionally, some of the crew whoare capable of swimming long distances,jump into the sea with empty plastic dieselcans and swim to the shore, in search ofvillages. There, they might get somefinancial help to reach their hometowns orpass on the news of the accident to theboat’s owner.

During a cyclone, however, it isimpossible to anchor the boat in themiddle of the sea due to the strong winds,currents and waves. Boats fishing atmid-sea cannot receive weather reports ontime. Even if they were to get the news, itwould be too late to return for they wouldbe far from the fishing harbour and wouldhave to navigate their boats against thepower of the cyclone. Only the lucky fewmanage to reach safety; the other boatsdrift away in the direction of the wind andwater current. Some boats may capsize inthe sea and their crewmembers drowned.

Mechanical failuresIn some cases, the boat’s engine fails dueto the extra load necessitated by thecyclone. While some mechanical failurescan be rectified quickly by thecrewmembers themselves, others cannot.In most cases, the boats are forced to drift

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towards the deep sea or towards land inother States of India or in other countries.

If the boat hits the land of other Statesof India, there is not much of aproblem. But if it reaches other

countries like Bangladesh and Myanmaron the east coast, and Pakistan on the westcoast, the crewmembers invariably getarrested and face possible harassment bylocal law enforcers. Some fishermen,mistaken for being smugglers, may evenget killed in encounters with the lawenforcement authorities.

In the matter of safety at sea, there is a clearlack of co-ordination between thegovernment machineries—like theMeteorological Department, the FisheriesDepartment, the Coast Guard and theNavy—and the fishing boats. (However,good co-ordination exists in the case ofdeep-sea fishing vessels, since they haveall the electronic communication andnavigational facilities.

Most of them, though, fish in the samegrounds as the small-scale fishermen. Thislack of co-ordination leads to conflictsbetween the traditional and mechanizedboat fishermen. Anticipating accidents,engine failure and/or cyclones, themechanized sector prefers to fish in theshallow waters, which allows easierescape to land in cases of emergency. Thisis one of the main reasons for the depletionof fish stocks in the resource-rich shallowwaters. To avoid conflicts between the twosectors, the government, boatowners andfishermen should own up to theirrespective responsibilities and strictlyabide by safety rules and regulations.

The State government must make itcompulsory for all crewmembers to beregistered and issued identity cards,which they must compulsorily carry withthem while out fishing. All fishing craftshould also be registered. Thegovernment should encourage all theregistered boats to use wirelesswalkie-talkies or other efficientcommunication systems to communicateamongst themselves as well as withcontrol stations on land. Several controlstations should be installed all along theIndian coast at specified intervals, therebyfacilitating easy contact duringemergencies. All the coastal States should

have some search-and-rescue boats ingood operational condition ready to beused in emergency.

State Fisheries Departments should notregister boats that are not built ingovernment-recognized or approved boatcentres and do not fulfill all the safetynorms. All mechanized fishing boats mustbe compulsorily painted in fluorescentcolours, at least on top, with theregistration numbers boldly painted inlarger size type. For non-mechanized craftother than kattamarams, the paint shouldbe at the side of the boats. For kattamarams,fluorescent strips can be attached to thewooden logs, which will help inidentification during aerial searchoperations. Harbour berthing facilitiesshould be given to those boats that areregistered and insured, and haveseaworthiness certificates and safetyequipment.

The government should insist that boatscarry sophisticated communication andnavigational equipment on board, and itshould provide crewmembers training inhandling the instruments. Recently, someof the boats in Chennai, Rameswaram andThuthukudi areas have started using theGlobal Positioning System (GPS) handsetsto find their routes, cellular or mobilephones to communicate with land andother boats (the Thuthukudi boats wereprovided with wireless sets), andfish-finding devices to find fish shoals.Through communication andnavigational instruments, the FisheriesDepartment can disseminate informationon the Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ), givenby the National Remote Sensing Agency,Hyderabad, using simplified languageunderstandable by fishermen.

Though the Central Government hasspent millions of rupees on this satelliteinformation gathering system, thefindings are not disseminated properly tothe small-scale fishermen but are used bythe deep-sea trawlers, whose contributionto the overall fish catch is minor,compared to the small-scale sector.

Fishing legislationOnce it is able to guarantee theabovementioned facilities, thegovernment can strictly enforce thefishing regulation legislation. At the same

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time, the mechanized fishermen will gainthe courage to go into the deep sea to fish(beyond the area of artisanal fishermen,that is, not within 3 or 5 miles from theshore, depending on the particularcoastal State’s law), thereby avoidingconflicts between the traditional andmechanized sectors. The fish resources inthe deep seas can be better exploited, andboth fishermen and the government canbenefit economically.

The government should advise andencourage artisanal fishermen tocarry lifebuoys, life jackets,

first-aid kits, emergency lamps orflashlights, portable compasses fornon-motorized craft, and globalpositioning systems (GPS) for motorizedcraft, along with sails and identificationcards.

The State Fisheries Department shouldact as a nodal agency to register allseagoing fishermen so they can avail ofthe monetary benefits of welfare schemesrun by both Central and Stategovernments, like insurance and otherschemes for the unorganized sector. Thegovernment should also implement aprovident fund scheme for the fishermenin which the government should pitch inwith the employer’s contribution.Insurance companies should consider thefishing sector as a special category andshould come forward to insure boats withmoderate premiums, which can beafforded by the owners who are alreadyburdened by large operational costs.

The Coast Guard and the Navy mustremain alert, particularly during themonsoon seasons, to help the Stategovernment launch search-and-rescueoperations without delay. The CoastGuard and the Fisheries Departmentshould conduct random checks at sea toensure that safety equipment and identitycards are in place. If not, the fishinglicence of the boat should be cancelledimmediately and the boat seized. TheCoast Guard must also, through theFisheries Department, train fishermenhow to handle conditions of distress andemergency.

Watchtowers should be constructed atthe seaward entrance of each fishingharbour and posted with coast guards.

Fishing boats going out to sea shouldinform the Coast Guard about theirexpected destinations. The Coast Guardshould not allow any boat to venture outto sea when there is an adverse weatherwarning from the MeteorologyDepartment. This will help avoid loss oflife and property.

The first and foremost responsibility ofeach craft owner is to keep the boat andengine in good condition always, andensure that the boat has adequateinsurance coverage. Lifebuoys, lifejackets, smoke flares, first-aid kits andemergency ration kits must be on board.Each owner must know how manycrewmembers have ventured out to seafor a particular voyage and their names,addresses, fisheries society membershipnumber and also their expected fishingdestination. (The lack of such informationoften hampers the Fisheries Departmentfrom identifying the crewmembers whohave gone missing in a cyclone or havebeen captured in other countries’territorial waters.) The owners shouldkeep a logbook, where all the requisiteinformation is entered, and thisinformation should be passed on to thefisheries authorities immediately after thedeparture of the fishing boat. The ownersshould employ only persons who aremembers of the fishermen’s co-operativesociety. (According to official norms, in afishing accident, the government willprovide compensation to the family of thedeceased or physically injured persononly if the victim is a member of theco-operative society.)

The owners should insist that theiremployees insure their lives in the GroupInsurance Schemes of various insurancecompanies. Owners should not encouragefishing during cyclone warning periods.Boatowners should build their boats ingovernment-recognized boatbuildingcentres, thereby ensuring seaworthyboats.

Co-operative membershipAll crewmembers and other shore-basedworkers should themselves take theinitiative to become members of theirrespective co-operative societies, andshould also get their lives insured inGroup Insurance Schemes. They shouldkeep their identity cards with them when

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they go fishing. The card will help the lawenforcement authorities distinguishgenuine fishermen from criminals likesmugglers or pirates. The crewmembersmust co-operate with their owners bygiving accurate personal information andalso their intended fishing destination.Finally, and importantly, the crew shouldhelp other boats in distress in the middleof the sea.

If these rules and regulations arefollowed, the loss of life and propertyat sea during disasters can be

considerably minimized. Observing suchnorms can also go a long way in managingthe fishery resources and therebyavoiding conflicts between artisanal andmechanized fishers. But for that tohappen, there must be good co-ordinationamongst all the departments concernedwith fishing and safety, preferablysupervised and controlled by a singleauthority, like the State FisheriesDepartment, so that needless bureaucraticdelays can be avoided. The FisheriesDepartment, in turn, can play a vital rolethrough vigorous campaigning usingposters, seminars, meetings anddocumentary movies at fish-landingcentres and fishing hamlets and alsothrough mass media like radio andtelevision.

Today, after the 26 December 2004 IndianOcean tsunami, the safety of fishingcommunities and fishermen, in particular,

has gained importance in the eyes ofofficialdom. In the post-tsunami relief andrehabilitation phase, manynon-governmental organizations (NGOs)have supplied many FRP boats andwooden kattamarams and a large quantityof various types of fishing nets and gear tothe tsunami-affected coastal districts.With the number of artisanal craft and thelength of fishing nets increasingdramatically, there is now the strong riskof overcapacity in the fisheries of thetsunami-affected areas. Unfortunately,though, little of the post-tsunami aid hasfocused on safety equipment. As a resultof the aid in craft and gear, all the artisanalcraft will now concentrate on inshorefishing with their newly acquired lengthyfishing nets, instead of going to deeperwaters. This will lead to increased fishingpressure in the coastal waters, followed byconflicts among fishers. Another potentialproblem is the resultant lack of space tocast nets, and the restricted movement ofboats in the sea. This could lead topoaching of fish from others and thedestruction of competitors’ nets at sea. Allthese problems will lead to an increase inoperational costs and a decrease inreturns. This will, in turn, cause newtensions among fishermen.

Safety aspectsSince safety equipment may not beaffordable by all fishermen, it is time forboth the government and NGOs to diverttheir attention towards safety aspects, and

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provide money from tsunami relief fundsto buy safety equipment for bothmechanized and non-mechanized craft.Also, insurance companies should comeforward with norms to insure all types offishing craft at nominal, affordablepremiums. Only when all thestakeholders involved with the issue ofsafety at sea get together to analyze thesituation and find out remedies, will theproblems in implementation get solved inan amicable way.

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This article is by B. Subramanian([email protected]),Executive, Coastal ResourceManagement, South IndianFederation of Fishermen Societies(SIFFS), India


Fisheries management

Capitulate, dodge, protest...

State intervention in the fisheries of the Netherlands has forced fishers to adopt some interesting coping strategies

Less than five years ago, on 1 March2001, newspaper headlines in theNetherlands screamed: “Angry

fishermen block sea ports”. That morning,some 50 cutters had moved to obstructentry into the main port of Rotterdam.Large numbers of cutter fishermen alsobarricaded IJmuiden and Delfzijl,paralyzing shipping from Amsterdamport and the Eems channel. According tothe newspapers of that and the followingdays, the atmosphere in Hook of Hollandwas especially vicious. A fisherspokesman threatened to drop a WorldWar II bomb into the waterway, sayingthat other ships too were carryingexplosives. One of the skippersparticipating in the blockade warned,“We will not stop at anything”.

Port authorities pre-emptively halted allsea traffic and simultaneously filed fordamages. The Dutch government,meanwhile, mobilized Navy, Coast Guardand police contingents to break theblockades by force if necessary. TheMinister of State for fisheries quicklycontacted the fisher unions to find outwhat could be done. One day later, facedby a threat of stiff court penalties and byfinancial concessions of the Minister ofState, the fishermen decided to concludetheir agitations. The sea battle that someobservers had feared was thereby averted,and public life went back to normal.

The direct reason for the dramatic incidentdescribed above was the imposition by theEuropean Commission of a 10-weekmoratorium on cod fishing in the NorthSea that would also affect Dutchfishermen, albeit indirectly. It reflectssome of the trends and tensions that haveaffected Dutch fisheries at least since the1970s. These relate, in large measure, tochanging entitlements and greater Stateinterference.

In this article, we explore the current stateof Dutch marine fisheries and inquireabout the constraints by which it isaffected. Finally, we consider some of thestrategies employed by Dutch fishermento cope with the present situation.

Fisheries are commonly categorizedaccording to the product, the technologyemployed (horsepower, vessel type) orthe characteristics of the fishing zone. Weuse geographical criteria to distinguishinshore (within 12 nautical miles),offshore (12-200 nautical miles) anddistant-water fisheries (over 200 nauticalmiles). These coincide, to a large extent,with a typology of fishing craft, aspresented in Table 1 below.

The small Dutch fleet operates from alimited number of harbours spread alongthe coastline. It employs no more than2,650 people. The table indicates a declinein the number of fishing vessels in theperiod 1993-2002, with the exception ofdistant-water trawlers that have recentlyincreased in number. It also points out thatthe inshore, offshore and distant-waterfisheries of the Netherlands do not differoverly in terms of the value of theirlandings.

As distant-water fisheries largely takeplace outside the North Sea, we leave thatsector aside in this paper. The inshorefisheries of the Netherlands aredominated by mussel cultivation, oysterfarming, cockle fishing and shrimping,but also include other small fisheries.

Spawning groundsThe most important spawning andnursery grounds lie in the littoral andsublittoral areas of the Wadden Sea, andof the Western and Eastern Scheldt inZeeland. These are also the areas wherefishing and fish cultivation are

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concentrated, while along the coast otherfishing like shrimping occurs. All fisheriesare now carried out on the basis of licencesor rental agreements issued bygovernment. In many cases, regulation iscarried out in close collaboration withproducer organizations in forms ofco-management.

From the late 19th century onwards,oyster farming has been anextremely lucrative business in

Zeeland’s coastal waters. Following theoutbreak of a paralytic disease, Bonamiaostreae, however, most oyster farms, withthe exception of those in GrevelingenLake, were forced to close down. Atpresent, there are only 27 leaseholds ofoysters in the latter location, with 34operators possessing permits for thecommon area.

Mussel cultivation is a semi-culture,depending on seed that is caught in thewild and then transferred to leased plotsfor maturation. The Dutch governmenthas made a total of 5,500 hectares availablefor cultivation, two-thirds of which arelocated in the Wadden Sea (460 plots), andthe remainder in Zeeland (380 plots).

Each firm rents a number of plots in eachof the two areas. Just as in the case ofoyster production, access- and use-rightsare exclusive. Processing and marketingare almost entirely concentrated in the oldmussel town of Yerseke, in Zeeland.

Cockle fishing is currently the mostcontested of the inshore fisheries of theNetherlands, cocklemen regularlycrossing swords with environmentalactivists. The latter argue that mechanicalcockle fishing brings hardship to birdpopulations that depend on the samestock, and also affects the ecology of theseabed.

As a result of political upheaval, themechanical cockle fisheries in the EasternScheldt have now been completely shutdown, and significant parts of theWadden Sea closed for mechanical cocklefisheries. The public discussion that aroseboth in response to the conservationistmovement and as a trade-off for gasdrilling in the Wadden Sea, has recentlyresulted in buying out the remainingmechanical cockle fishermen.

Within the shrimp fishery of today (220vessels) one can distinguish specializedshrimp fishermen and mixed fisheryenterprises. Fewer than half the shrimpvessels are allowed to exploit the WaddenSea. All fishers are licensed, with WaddenSea licences being transferable and thosefor the Eastern Scheldt not. As resourcesare believed to be abundant, no quotashave been imposed for shrimp fishingalthough no more vessels are allowed tobe added. Recently, Dutch, German andDanish shrimp fishermen of the GermanBight agreed voluntarily on catchrestrictions. To their disappointment,however, the Netherlands Anti-TrustAuthority (NMA) disallowed theagreement, as it was regarded asprice-fixing.

The offshore fisheries of the Netherlandsare carried out by a fleet of large cuttersmainly beam trawlers—that operate in theEuropean exclusive economic zone andare expected to follow European CommonFisheries Policy guidelines. Map 2indicates the geographical distribution ofDutch fishing effort in horsepower/days.One conclusion is that fishing effort isconcentrated in adjacent North Sea fishingareas all along the Dutch coastline, andhardly covers the areas further north orsouth.

The European system for the allocation ofnational fishing rights is an importantfactor structuring the spatial distributionof fishing effort. According to this system,the European Commission determinestotal allowable catches (TACs) for variousfish species, following the quadrantsystem of the International Council for theExploration of the Seas (ICES). These TACsare distributed among the membercountries, the governments of whichdecide on allocation among ‘their’fishermen. The establishment of TACs andnational quotas is a highly politicizedprocess, and fisher organizations basetheir judgement of the Dutch Minister ofAgriculture, Nature Conservation andFood Safety on his or her performance inthe annual deliberations in Brussels.

Species quotaAt present Dutch offshore fishermenenjoy quotas for 22 species. The majorityof the Dutch fleet is, however, specializedin high-value flat fish, such as sole and

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plaice. Table 2 indicates the quotas forDutch offshore fishermen, as they havebeen set per ICES quadrant for these twospecies.

If they were to be mapped, thegeographical distribution of quotascorrelates in large measure with the

distribution of offshore fishing effort.

Nowadays Dutch offshore fishermenconsider their portion of the nationalquota for a certain species as their privateproperty. Initially, however, the quotasystem was met with hard resistance.This included the operation of grey andblack markets, as well as confrontationswith the General Inspection Service andpolice forces.

After this period of trial and error, theDutch government decided, in 1993, todelegate responsibility for the regulationof offshore fisheries to so-calledBiesheuvel Groups—Biesheuvel was thechairman of the committee that draftedthe management proposal—small groupsof cutter fishermen carrying out similarfisheries. This co-management system isconsidered to be very successful in quotamanagement.

In his study on the fisheries of Texel in theperiod 1813 to 1932, Van Ginkel describesfishermen as being caught between theScylla of a fickle natural environment andthe Charybdis of an equally fickle market.He describes in detail how fishermen inthis period adapted themselves to thesevarying uncertainties and strove to exertcontrol. Taking his image as point ofdeparture for an analysis of present-day

fisheries, one is tempted to add oneequally perilous rock to the Strait ofMessina. The State is a factor that nowcannot be discounted. In all Dutchfisheries, the national government and theEuropean Commission have attained ashaping presence. State policies nowco-determine much of the how, where andwhat of fisheries, whether it is in inshore,offshore or distant-water.

Fishermen do not readily accept Stateinterference. This may partly be caused bythe fact that fishing is a form of huntingand gathering. Hunting societies place apremium on skill and luck, and emphasizeegalitarianism. This is not to say that fishercommunities disagree with the allocationof fishing rights. A plethora of studiescarried out since the 1970s demonstratethat fishermen the world over havedeveloped systems of sea tenure that arecontinuously refined. The issue is morewhether interferences by outsideagencies, such as the State, are tolerated.The rapidly increasing level of Stateintervention in Dutch fisheries hasregularly provoked obstruction andprotest. The report of the 2001 harbourblockades, provided at the beginning ofthis chapter, constitutes an example ofsuch resistance.

Excessive capacityIncreased State interference in marinefisheries has, in Europe and elsewhere,been partly triggered by the trouble thatfisheries itself has got into. Excessivefishing capacities and efforts haveresulted in gross overfishing of stocks andled to ecological crises. That the State hascontributed to this course of affairs,

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Fishery Vessel Type No. of vessels,1993

No. of vessels,2002

LandingsValue(mn Euro)

Inshore Mussel boatsCutter (1-300 hp)

77244

69235

8326

Offshore Cutter (>300 hp) 230 158 74

Distant-water Trawlers 12 17 126

Sources: Taal et al, 2002; Van Ginkel, 2001


through subsidies and other untowardpolicies is noteworthy.

The crisis enveloping fisheries isnow widely recognized. The Dutchgovernment and the European

Commission have addressed the crisisthrough a finer mesh of measures, whosecomplexity has been illustrated in thepreceding sections. One pervasiveproblem is that fishermen often do nottrust the assessments of crisis on whichState action is based, and also lack faith inthe effectiveness of the measures taken.

State interference in fisheries also hasanother cause, however, external to thefisheries. Coastal and offshore areas areunder pressure from a blossoming groupof new users, such as tourism, the oil andgas industry, and the interests ofenvironmental conservation. Themultiple-use conflicts that result withfisheries are frequently mediated anddecided by the State. This often leads to afurther limitation—spatially orotherwise—of fisheries. The North Sea atpresent counts many spots and regionsthat, for one reason or another, havebecome no-go areas for fishermen.

Dutch fishermen have displayed varyingreactions to the problems sketched above.These can be alternatively labelled as,capitulation, dodging, protest andco-operation. In view of the resourcecrunch and the ever-tightening regulatorysystem, one would expect that manyDutch fishermen would consider leavingthe fisheries.

However, Dutch fisheries are dominatedby family enterprises and most sonsindicate a desire to continue the tradition.The fishermen who do leave the fisherieslargely belong to families that lack malesuccessors. Alternatively, the desertersare quota-hoppers, trading in their Dutchfishing rights for those in another country.

Dutch fishermen dodge regulations in atleast two ways. The first method is termed‘quota hopping’. European regulationsare such that fishing licences and quotasare only transferable between fishermenof the same country. International transferof licences and quotas is not allowed. Inreality, however, Dutch and Spanishfishermen are frequently known to switch

operations to other country quotas byprocuring vessels there. Such vesselscontinue to fly their flags of origin, but arenow Dutch-owned and operated. In thisway, Dutch fishermen have greatlyexpanded their fishing rights in Europeanwaters. Needless to say, the catches ofquota-hoppers are not reflected in theDutch national quota even though theymarket their landings via Dutch auctions.Quota hopping was very popular in the1980s and 1990s, but has reduced since.

A second method of dodging is throughwhat has become known as illicit,unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing.With the tightening of State regulations,illegal fishing has taken flight all over theworld. The catches are channelled not viathe regular auctions, but directly tobuyers. In the Netherlands, observersestimate that the co-management systemhas caused this practice to decline to notmore than three per cent of the totalvolume of landings.

Riots, demonstrations and otherexpressions of fisher protest werecommon in the 1970s and 1980s, butrescinded in the 1990s. Recently, however,protests have again increased,particularly in connection with newrestrictions on cockle and mussel seedfishing in the Wadden Sea. The 2001harbour blockade mentioned at thebeginning of this paper was a response tothe 10-week cod fishing moratoriumannounced by the European Commission.

Table 2: Dutch Quotas: Sole and Plaice per ICES Quadrant, 2002 (tonnes)

Plaice Sole

Quadrant no.(tonnes)

Skagerrak(423), IIa-1(22), IV (650),VII (10), VIIhjk(117)

II (12), IV(790), IIa (42),III (42), VIIa(125), VIIhjk(52), VIIIab(247)

Total tonnes 1,222 1,268

Source: Taal et al, 2003

An interesting aspect of that incident isthat there were hardly any specialized codfishermen involved, as this field of activityhas nearly died out in the Netherlands.Instead, sole and plaice fishermen led theprotest. Their motive for taking part wasthat cod is an involuntary bycatch of sole

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and plaice. The cod fishing moratoriumwould, therefore, also have very realconsequences for their major fishingactivity.

The style of protest in the harbourblockade was aimed atmaximizing political impact. It has

not been emulated since, however,probably because of negative side effects,such as the attempts by port authorities torecoup damages from all participants.More generally, the polder model ofdecisionmaking prevailing in theNetherlands generally discourageswildcat strikes and pressure politics.

We mentioned above that the Dutchgovernment appointed a steeringcommittee in the early 1990s toinvestigate the adverse relations betweengovernment and fishermen, particularlyin the offshore sector. Theco-management arrangementsrecommended by the committee werebased on (a) distribution ofresponsibilities between government andfishing industry and (b) co-operationbetween fishermen. The resultingBiesheuvel Groups have proved to behighly effective. Fishermen no longeroverfish their quota, and tensions havedied down.

One reason is that, with their investmentsin quotas, fishermen have gained animportant stake in fisheries management.

They have a sense of belonging to thegroup and, not to be ignored, the groupsalso function as a quota market.

Inshore fisheries now also enjoy varyingforms of co-management. The maincharacteristic is that producer groups,within the context of a framework agreedupon with government, have been put incharge of regulation and enforcement.

The Dutch fisheries in the North Sea hasgone through a process of fundamentalchange since 1970, the main feature ofwhich is the imposition of a cordon ofexternal restrictions.

Of course, the Dutch fisheries was neverwholly free of interference; moreover,some sections such as the semi-culturespractised in the inshore zone havesuffered more than others. The generaltrend, however, is clear: Dutch marinefishing has transformed from a relativelyfree vocation into one that is almostimpossibly curtailed.

Several dimensionsCurtailment has a variety of dimensions,including a geographical one. We thuspointed out how, as a consequence ofother users, the various inshore fisherieshave been pressed into smaller spatialzones. We also noted that offshorefisheries now possess fish quotas that arelinked to circumscribed quadrants of theNorth Sea. Dutch fisheries is, therefore,

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not only curtailed, but also pinned down.For many fishermen, this process has notbeen easy to handle.

State intervention in North Seafisheries has provoked at least fourcoping strategies among fishermen,

two of which—protest anddodging—were particularly prevalent inthe 1970s and 1980s. Since 1990, however,fishermen appear to have adopted astrategy of co-operation. This move waspartially reactive, as the State hadadjusted its policies and introduced aco-management model. But fishermen toohave changed their attitudes toward theState. Their motto seems to be: “If youcan’t beat them, join them”.

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This paper is by Maarten Bavinck([email protected]) of theCentre for Maritime Research(MARE), Amsterdam, theNetherlands, and Ellen Hoefnagel([email protected]) of theAgricultural Economics ResearchInstitute LEI, the Hague, theNetherlands. An earlier versionwas published in T. Dietz, P.Hoekstra and F. Thissen (eds) 2004.The Netherlands and the NorthSea, Dutch Geography 2000-2004.


Rehabilitation

A few houses here, boats there

This is an assessment of the post-tsunami relief and rehabilitation process in the fisheries sector of Sri Lanka

The single sector in Sri Lanka thatwas most seriously affected by thepost-Christmas tsunami of 2004

was fisheries. The tsunami completelydevastated life along the coastal belt ofthe eastern and southern regions of thecountry, while also causing significantdamage to people and property in someof the northern and western regions. Thedamage to lives, property and economicactivities was colossal.

About 7,222 lives were lost, 21,330 housesdestroyed, 9,486 houses damaged and233,843 persons displaced. Of the totalfleet of 30,000 craft, 20,000 were destroyedand damaged, which were valued atLKR25,940 mn (US$260,050,125). Damageto fisheries infrastructure, includingharbours, cold rooms and other Stateinstitution was estimated as LKR4,808 mn($48,200,501). The total damage to theproperty in the fisheries sector has beenvalued at LKR39 billion ($391 mn).

Post-tsunami reconstruction andre-building of the fisheries sectorrequired: (a) provision of immediaterelief aid to affected fishers and theirfamilies in the form of food and othersubsistence goods; (b) development of aprogramme of relief until medium- andlong-term solutions were found; (c)provision of psycho-social support torelieve victims of shock and trauma; (d) acensus of people affected and propertydamaged; (e) provision of temporaryhouses; (f) provision of craft and gear sofishers could re-commence fishing; and(g) provision of permanent houses.

In the immediate post-tsunami reliefphase, most of the aid—in the form offood, clothing, clean-up operations andso on—has come from the people in thesurrounding unaffected areas. Anenormous amount of aid was received by

the tsunami victims in fishingcommunities, most conspicuously in theform of food and clothing. Clearing ofdebris has been carried out by differentnon-governmental organizations (NGOs),government institutions, the Sri Lankandefence forces and various informalgroups.

Apart from food and clothes, largequantities of bedding material, kitchenequipment and tents have been receivedfrom such a long list of donors that thepeople are unable to accurately recollectthe various sources of help. In thedistribution of non-food aid, temples,churches and mosques have played aleading role. No complains have beenmade about the quantity and type ofimmediate relief aid received.

Psycho-social support to seriouslyaffected individuals, especially womenand children, was felt to be a veryimportant and urgent need. Such supportand trauma care were provided in theimmediate relief phase in many districtsby doctors in government hospitals. Atpresent, however, very little work is beingdone in this area.

In the medium-term phase of the reliefoperations, each tsunami victim wasprovided with weekly rations of rice, dal,sugar and coconut oil worth of LKR175(US$1.75) and LKR200 ($2) in cash.

Besides, a monthly payment of LKR5,000($50) per family was also made. This hashelped the affected families subsist untilpermanent solutions are found for theirproblems.

OverestimationPost-tsunami censuses of the fisheriessector in the affected areas were carriedout four times. However, the investigators

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appear to have made a significantoverestimation of the damages to thefishing craft and gear.

The Ministry of Fisheries andAquatic Resources (MFAR) was,therefore, very cautious in

estimating the number of craft and gear tobe issued to the tsunami victims. Anumber of workshops were established bythe government and NGOs, where repairsto craft were done free of charge. All repairwork (except major engine repairs, whichdepend on the availability of spare parts)was completed by mid-May 2005.

Although the MFAR had prepared plansfor issue of craft and gear, these could notbe implemented for lack of funds. Apartfrom a few craft distributed by the PrimeMinister and the Minister of Fisheries tothe affected people at Hambantota, almostall the craft and gear issues were made byvarious NGOs.

The offshore and deep-sea subsector,which uses multiday operating craft(MDOC) and day boats with inboardengines or one-day operating craft(ODOC), has recovered least from thetsunami. The coastal fisheries sub-sectorappears to have recovered substantially.In the Hambantota district as a whole, 87per cent of the fleet of traditional craft and55 per cent of the small mechanized craft(fibre reinforced plastic or FRP boats) havebeen replaced. However, regional

disparities and overcapacities have beennoticed in the distribution of craft.

The State distributed fuel and nets free ofcost to help fishers re-commence fishingearly. The government also distributedvouchers for the purchase of nets(LKR40,000 or $400 for FRP boatowners,and LKR20,000 or $200 for owners oftraditional craft), and fuel (LKR30,000 or$300 for multiday craft, LKR7,000 or $70 forODOCs, LKR5,000 or $50 for 17-23 ft. FRPboats and mechanized traditional craft). Atotal of 225 packed net kits—completewith ropes, floats and twine—were givento selected beneficiaries by the Food andAgriculture Organization of the UnitedNations (FAO) and the MFAR in May 2005.

Thanks to the repairs to damaged craftand engines, and the issue of new craft andgear, the fishermen were able tocommence their fishing activities, but at avery slow pace. For example, in May 2005,the Hambantota District was producingonly about 14 per cent of the fish itproduced in May 2004.

Serious burdenGetting temporary houses is no longer aproblem for the tsunami victims, but theprovision of permanent houses hasbecome a serious burden on thegovernment, mainly due to lack of land foralternative houses, in more urbanizedareas. At present, a large number of NGOshave pledged help in this sphere. The

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number of houses planned to beconstructed appears to match the needs.However, apart from Hambantota, wherea number of housing projects havecommenced, the provision of permanenthouses elsewhere is occurring at a veryslow pace. There are also significantregional disparities, and housing projectsin the eastern regions still remain in theirinfant stage.

In respect of fisheries infrastructure,the government has signed amemorandum of understanding

(MoU) with China and a few othercountries, including Japan, for thereconstruction and rebuilding ofharbours, but so far no work has beencommenced. In the south, the situationwith regard to ice plants is the same. Norepairs to any of the damaged ice plantshave been carried out.

Too many craft have been issued to theaffected fishermen. While thegovernment requested the NGOs to workwith the MFAR in identifying the type ofhelp and the beneficiaries, this was hardlydone. If the potential problem of thefuture overexploitation of fisheriesresources is to be solved, the NGOs shouldco-ordinate their activities with the MFAR.Large boats with inboard engines shouldbe provided to those who have lost suchcraft. Beach-seine fisheries can beconsidered one of the subsectors in SriLanka most seriously affected by the

tsunami. The repair of beach-seines hasbecome a problem, for lack of rawmaterial.

Many of the beach-seine padu (net-layingareas) cannot be used due to the presenceof debris. Serious attention of theauthorities should be paid to this issue.Granted the fact that coastal fisheries arealready overexploited, some of thesefishers could be given ODOCs or MDOCs tomove into deeper waters. Immediatelyafter the tsunami struck, the Sri Lankagovernment declared a no-build zone of100 m from the high tide line in the coastalstrip of the southern and westernprovinces (which was expanded to 200 mfor the northern and eastern provinces).This will have more serious implicationsfor beach-seine fishing, which needsco-operative labour effort and properorganization of activities within a shortduration.

It is, therefore, important to settle thetsunami-affected seine fishers close to theshore. Only by providing these fisherfamilies with elevated houses close to thenet-laying areas in the coastal zone or byproviding them with the required fishingassets to engage in alternative fishingactivities (fishing with day craft, forinstance) can they be rehabilitated.

Aid grantedAnother serious problem is the decision ofthe MFAR to grant aid, in the first stage,

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only to those fishermen who haveregistered their craft prior to the tsunami.While this appears to be quite rational,what is noteworthy is that a large numberof craft remained unregistered for a longtime and the MFAR had turned a blind eyeto the issue. Therefore, it is not proper forthe MFAR to highlight this issue now, whenall fishers and their families have beenseriously affected and need immediatehelp to re-start their lives. The most needyfisher may be one who has not registeredhis craft before the tsunami.

A large number of traditional crafthave also been issued withoutoutriggers, Each outrigger

requires an additional investment ofabout LKR5,000 (US$50), which thetsunami-hit fishers are unable to meet.Even the more resourceful fishers who cansecure such funds still find it difficult toacquire the wood required for outriggers,which has now become a scarce resource.

The lack of engine spare parts is also agrave impediment to fishers commencingfishing operations. Although CeyNor, aquasi-government organization, hasundertaken to repair a large number ofengines, the repair work is being carriedout at a very slow pace. CeyNor shouldthink of obtaining the assistance of NGOsand other donors in providing thenecessary funds for the import of spareparts and engines.

It is well known that the tsunami causedserious damage to Sri Lanka’s naturalenvironment, especially to the coral reefs,coastal vegetation, sand dunes andnatural coastal formations like estuaries,sand bars, and so on. Two of the majorfisheries-related problems are worthmentioning. The first is associated withthe destruction of padu. The second is thedamage to the coral reefs. Studies carriedout in Weligama by the University ofRuhuna have revealed that a large extentof coral cover is covered with sand anddebris, and that a fair extent of coral coveris dying. If this is the case in other areas aswell, it would have serious negativeimpacts on coastal fishing, therebythreatening the livelihoods of coastalfishing communities.

The actual needs of the fishingcommunities are not properly known to

many because of insufficient assessment,although the needs in respect of houses,gear, craft, etc. have been assessedseparately by different people. NGOs issuecraft without consulting the MFAR, whileindividuals too donate craft and gear.

Some NGOs prefer to undertake the totaldevelopment of a particular village. Butthe needs are varied: “a few houses here,a few boats there.” It is quite clear that theMFAR and other committed individuals inthe NGO sector should make an effort tounderstand the needs of the affected fisherpopulations in their entirety, and institutea mechanism to co-ordinate work in amanner that will facilitate the efficient andproper distribution of relief aid, makingthe reconstruction and rebuilding processmuch more need-oriented.

The problem of children losing their oneor both parents is of grave concern. Thereare also children who are unable to attendschool for lack of permanent shelter,uniforms, books, and so on. Schooltextbooks and other writing material havebeen distributed by many NGOs. Yet, largenumbers of families are unsettled inrespect of housing and employment; theymove to the homes of relatives in search ofnight-time shelter, but come back to theirtemporary houses in the morning toreceive relief aid. This situation alsoprevents children from attending school.There have been no proper national ordistrict-level programmes for thelong-term needs of the children, althoughsome NGOs have taken some initiativestowards this at the village level.

With the near-coastal fisheries being themost seriously affected subsector, thecatch of small varieties of fish is quite low.Field studies in Tangalle revealed that thenutritional intake of small children hasbeen adversely affected by this shortage;in the past, small fish species formed themain source of animal protein for thechildren of fishing families.

Women’s programmesSeveral programmes for the women oftsunami-affected areas have also beenplanned by some NGOs. In certain areas,women have received assistance in theform of coir rope-making machines. Butnone of these programmes has had anysignificant impact on the women,

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especially in terms of providing themwith sustainable income-generatingactivities. It is quite evident that futurereconstruction and rebuilding activitiesshould take into account not only thematerial and financial needs of the sectorbut also the needs of the fishing families,with special emphasis on what womenand children require.

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This assessment is by OscarAmarasinghe ([email protected]),Senior Lecturer, Faculty ofAgriculture, University of Ruhuna,Sri Lanka, and Member, ICSF


Industrial fisheries

On the verge of collapse

The Peruvian fishing industry is in serious financial crisis, as corporate earnings dwindle

Industrial fishing in Peru, which isprimarily export-oriented, isundermining the sustainability of fish

stocks, mainly due to uncontrolled fishingto supply the fishmeal industry. Sincevirtually all species are usedindiscriminately in fishmeal production,industrial fishing adversely affects marinebiodiversity.

It also disadvantages artisanal fishers, animportant social sector that suffers fromsignificant levels of poverty. The vastmajority of fishers in Peru are artisanaland the sector produces greater spin-offthrough employment opportunities thanindustrial fishing.

The Peruvian fishing industry is in seriousfinancial crisis, with its economicsustainability undermined as corporateearnings dwindle, leading to reductions intax revenues. The unsustainability ofindustrial fishing is illustrated by the factthat while ports in the northern Piuraregion have traditionally provided thegreatest quantity of fresh fish in Peru,catches have dwindled.

Statistics show that landings from “otherports” have now replaced them. The fishfrom “other ports” is, in fact, of Chileanorigin. Its inclusion in the official data hastended to hide the depletion of Peruvianstocks by industrial fishing and theconsequent effects on artisanal fisheriesand fish consumption, which wouldotherwise have been very evident.

In 2004, fish ranked as Peru’s second mostimportant source of export earnings,bringing in US$1,382 mn, an increase of 35per cent on the previous year’s earnings.The earnings come mainly from fishmealand oil. The collapse of the industrialfisheries in Peru would severely affect theeconomies of coastal cities. It would also

have negative impacts on the nationaleconomy, given that fishing is such a keyelement of the economy.

In extractive activities where resourceownership is determined at the moment ofextraction (fishing, forestry and livestockgrazing, among others), the market fails torecognize the true value of collectiveresources and, as a consequence,inefficiently allocates such resources. Forexample, the market does not consider theeconomic and social value of intact forestsfor local communities. It focuses, instead,on the value of commercial forestryactivity. This bias results in excessivecapital investment in the extractive sector,increasing the risk of overexploitation.

This is precisely what has happened in thePeruvian fishing industry. Following theEl Niño of 1998, the overcapitalized fishindustry crashed and banks were forced tointervene and bail out the industry.Evidently, the regulation of fishingactivity is essential. Without controls, fishextraction would depend solely onpopulation size and fishing efficiency.

There are two basic types of fisheriesregulations:

• biological regulations, whoseobjective is to avoid thedestruction of the fish populationthat is subject to exploitation; and

• economic regulations, whoseobjective is to dampen the race tofish existing stocks and to avoidexcessive investment in the sector—two factors that place fish stockstability at risk.

Diverse instrumentsBiological regulations make use of diverseinstruments. The use of such instruments

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is described below, providing anoverview of fisheries management inPeru in recent years.

Jorge Csirke, Director of the MarineResource Service at the Food andAgriculture Organization of the

United Nations (FAO), has published astudy on anchovy fishing that includes aneconomic model for profit generation inthe long term, according to the quality offisheries regulations. The study revealsthat economic returns are directlyproportionate to the effectiveness offisheries regulations.

Many actors involved in Peruvianfisheries describe it as poorly controlled.Most fishers indiscriminately harvestfish, regardless of the species, to servicethe fishmeal industry. Just recently, a lawwas adopted that requires the suspensionof fishing activity when coastal resourcesare present in industrial catches. It ishoped that the law will be enforced.

Also of concern is the capture of hake forfreezing. This demersal species isprimarily found in the north, off the coastof Piura. It was predominantly hakecatches that fuelled the expansion offrozen-fish production in recent years.The species is once again in crisis due tooverfishing.

Access to a particular fishery is regulatedthrough licences. In 1991, Peru adoptedthe bodega licence system, under which aglobal catch limit for each species wasimposed on the fishing fleet. A newlicence cannot be issued to a particularboat until an existing licence, with thesame capture volume, is cancelled,thereby maintaining the global limit.Multiple strategies have been adopted tocircumvent this system, including the useof licences for horse mackerel (and other‘underexploited’ species) to fish anchovyor sardines, which are found closer to theshore. In the case of sardines, this practicecontinued until the species went intodecline.

Shortly before the El Niño of 1998, afishing census was undertaken. Itrevealed the presence of a significantnumber of vessels without licences or thatpossessed a greater fishing capacity thanthat declared to the authorities under the

bodega system. Despite the importance ofthese findings, nothing has been done toaddress the problem to date, more than sixyears after it was recognized.

The installation of refrigerated holds infishing vessels represents an opportunityto reduce the catch capacity of vessels as itlimits the space available for fish storage.Refrigeration also facilitates the deliveryof better-quality fish and leads to lessunemployment than would haveoccurred with a reduction in the fish fleet.

Recent debate in Peru has centred aroundthe Viking fleet. This fleet of smallpurse-seiners has been increasing itsfishing activity, which often takes placewithin the 5-mile artisanal fishing zone.The fleet fishes species used for fishmealproduction, which has adverse impacts oncoastal resources.

Since the adoption in 1992 of the 5-milezone reserved for artisanal fishing, anumber of conflicts have occurred in Peru.The situation was exacerbated in 1998when the impacts of El Niño adverselyaffected the coastal species that are fishedby artisanal fishers. A good example isPeruvian silverside (pejerrey), a smallsmelt-like fish widely eaten locally, whichis now captured off the central coast forfishmeal production.

A bitter debate has been raging on theeffectiveness of the satellite control systemfor fisheries management, and aprogramme for the monitoring, controland surveillance (MCS) of fishing andlandings was recently approved. It ishoped that the programme will beeffectively implemented. In the case ofhake, a system is used that restricts accessto certain fishing areas (north or south ofparticular lines of latitude), according tovessel type.

Minimum catch sizeMinisterial Resolution No. 209-2001-PE,adopted in June 2001, establishesminimum catch sizes for individual fishand minimum mesh size for nets. Netmesh size is used to influence which fishare captured. The smaller the openings,the greater the chances of catchingincreasingly smaller fish. The most widelyused net is the ‘anchovy’ net. It has thesmallest openings, at half an inch. During

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the 1980s, sardines were frequently caughtusing the anchovy net, whose openingsare an inch smaller than those of thesardine net.

Since the 1990s, licences for horsemackerel include the use of a netwith a 1.5-inch mesh (the ‘sardine’

net). For the capture of horse mackerel andmackerel by trawlers, the minimum netopening size is 3 inches, which is muchlarger than that used to capture thesespecies with purse-seine nets.

With respect to minimum fish size, theabovementioned Ministerial Resolutionestablishes a limit of 12 cm (4.7 inches) forsardine and 26 cm (10.2 inches) foranchovy. Only 10 per cent of the catchvolume can be composed of fish that aresmaller than these limits. For horsemackerel and mackerel, the minimum sizerequirements are 31 cm (12.2 inches) and32 cm (12.6 inches), respectively. As muchas 30 per cent of the catch volume can becomposed of fish that fail to conform withthese minimum limits (that is, aresmaller), representing one of the highestlevels of tolerance to non-compliance.

In October 2001, Ministerial Resolution349-2001-PE, which concerns anchovies,lifted minimum size requirements and netopening regulations for horse mackereland mackerel. The rationale for such amove was that marine biologicalconditions permitted the capture of

juveniles. It was explained that theannulment would be maintained untilsuch time as conditions no longersupported it. However, the conditionswere never identified or qualified.

In January 2004, complaints were madethat as much as 80 per cent of the horsemackerel catch in Chimbote comprisedjuveniles. The government response wasthat such catches are inevitable whenfishing for mackerel.

However, mackerel fishing is notundertaken in Peru with purse-seineboats. The Peruvian government furtherclaims that juvenile capture will notadversely affect the stock.

There is a serious problem in Peruregarding access to fisheries information.Reports from the Production Ministry(formerly the Fisheries Ministry) areincomplete and out-of-date.

Data about fresh fish catches havepractically ceased to be divulged. Despitethe paucity of data, fishermen confirmthat catches of mackerel and, in particular,horse mackerel, contain juvenile fractionsthat exceed permissible levels.

Small specimensThe same thing has happened with hake.A minimum-size requirement exists but,in practice, catches include higherpercentages of small specimens than they

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should. Various legal provisions thatgovern fishing activity are not put intopractice.

Horse mackerel is a highlymigratory species that has asignificant area of distribution in

the Pacific. This means that it is difficultto estimate the biomass of this species andto quantify and control catches. ThePeruvian government has categorizedthis species as underexploited, and aNorth Korean vessel has received athree-month licence to fish horsemackerel. The vessel has the capacity toprocess 15 tonnes of horse mackerel perhour and has a 2,000-tonne storagecapacity. The Peruvian governmentreceives a paltry sum in compensation:US$10 per tonne of fish registered with thevessel.

Bans or closed seasons (usually for threedays) are established during thereproduction stages of the fish (springand summer), when the fraction ofjuveniles in the catch exceeds thepercentage permitted or if the globalcapture quota has been reached. During aban in 2002, exploratory fishing andprovisional fishing programmes of shortduration were permitted, resulting in thecapture of 3 mn tonnes of fish.

The efficiency of existing MCS activities,including a satellite monitoring systemand catch-landing inspections, has been

questioned at different times. While it istrue that a fisheries administration systemcannot be based exclusively on controlsand sanctions, it is also evident that asystem that grants impunity for multiplebreaches of rules is not effective. It is theperception of the vast majority of actorsinvolved in Peru’s fisheries that the latteris the principal characteristic of MCSmechanisms in the sector.

In Peru, as in other marine ecosystems, thelong-term marine biological cyclesinclude alternating periods ofpredominance between the anchovy andsardine species. There are also long-termpatterns that include alternating,decade-long periods of cold climate (LaVieja) and warm climate (El Viejo). Duringthese periods, both El Niño and La Niña,which are of shorter duration, can occur.Cold conditions favour anchovy (andother pelagic species), facilitating bothlarger catches and catches that containjuveniles. Finally, it is necessary toevaluate claims made in recent yearsregarding the behaviour of hake anddecisions to regulate its capture, as well asthe dimension of the recent crisis in thisfishery.

Financial crisisThe El Niño of 1998 generated a majorfinancial crisis in the overextended (andindebted) fishing industry in Peru. Thesituation was also influenced by the Asianfinancial crisis, which caused fishmeal

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prices to crash. As a consequence,industry creditors (mainly, banks) seizedadministrative and financial control ofmany fishing corporations.

According to the BiomassProtection Fund (the commissionformed by the Minister of

Fisheries), fisheries debt rose on 31 May1999 to US$1.885 billion. According toAsbanc registries, the debt was at US$1.3bn in March 2001. In March 2003, theformer president of the National FishingSociety announced that the debt had fallento less than US$1 bn.

Although precise information is notavailable, it is believed that this debtreduction has been accomplished not bypaying back, but rather, through the saleof equipment, and that some debt hasbeen converted into equity for the creditorbanks.

An important issue concerns the adverseimpacts of the fishing industry onartisanal fishing activity. Given thescarcity of information available, it isdifficult to quantify these phenomena.Our understanding is primarily based onempirical evidence regarding reducedcatches from fishermen along the entirecoast.

Fish imports (fresh and frozen) from Chilehave been present in Peru for variousyears and have grown significantly inrecent years. The demand for inexpensivefish (Chilean, relative to others) has beengrowing. The influx of Chilean fish makesthe reductions in Peruvian catches lessvisible in fish markets.

The species that has most increased interms of fresh landings is horse mackerel,the principal Chilean import (althoughother species also enter which are widelyseen in Lima supermarkets andneighbourhood markets). The increase inhorse mackerel is largely responsible forthe important rise in catches.

Other empirical evidence involves thePeruvian silverside. Prior to the El Niño of1998, the species was prominent along thecentral coast of the country. Peruviansilverside was widely eaten in coastalcommunities and its processing (gutting)generated many jobs. Since the El Niño,

Peruvian silverside landings havesupposedly more than doubled.However, its scarcity along the centralcoast is all too apparent. Despite localscarcity, the silverside is used to preparethe most abundant, inexpensive cebiche inLima. Clearly, the Peruvian catch is beingaugmented with fish caught in Chile.

Tightening control over extractivefisheries would imply the exclusive use ofanchovy for fishmeal production, andwould require a restructuring of the MCSsystems. Clearly, political will is alsorequired for the effective governance ofthe resource and to ensure that short-termbenefits are not determinative. Ifindustrial fishing activity were bettercontrolled (through enforcement ofspecies and geographical limits, amongother measures), the artisanal fishingconditions would improve.

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This article is by Juan Carlos Sueiro([email protected])of the Coastal Consortium forSustainable Development


CD-ROM

Culture of prevention

A review of a CD-ROM from the Mitigation Directorate of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency

Coastal areas throughout the worldare at high risk from naturalhazards. The risks are magnified

in poor and developing countries wherelarge numbers of coastal communities aretraditionally impoverished and havepoor access to any kind of disasterprevention or management programmes.

The 26 December 2004 tsunami in theIndian Ocean brought out this fact veryclearly, considering that the loss inhousing amounted to over US$2,000 mn inIndia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka alone. Inthe rehabilitation phase, governmentsseem to have woken up, and plans arebeing made and executed to at least buildreasonably secure homes so that anothersimilar event will not result in such a scaleof disaster.

The United States has extensiveexperience in coastal disasters, being acountry whose coasts are regularly hit bytyphoons, hurricanes and even theoccasional tsunami. This has led not onlyto extensive studies on the coastal areasbut also the development of principlesand legislation that guide thedevelopment of coasts.

The Federal Emergency ManagementAgency (FEMA, www.fema.gov), part ofthe US Department of Homeland Securitysince 2003 (though it can trace itsbeginnings to the Congressional Act of1803), helps people before and after adisaster, especially with suggestions andguidelines on how to make their homessafe.

The CD-ROM version of the third edition ofFEMA’s Coastal Construction Manual ismeant to provide guidance for the designand construction of coastal residentialbuildings in the US that can be moreresistant to the damaging effects of

natural hazards. Though it primarilyaddresses conditions in the US, the CD-ROMwill also be useful for those in othercountries as it is a veritable storehouse ofinformation on the systematic procedures,tasks and decisions that need to be madebefore the actual construction ofresidential properties.

The manual is divided into three parts:Part I (Chapters 1-9) deals with relativelygeneral information, Part II (Chapters11-14) is technical, and Part III contains theappendices. Appendix B (Glossary) andAppendix J (Material Durability inCoastal Environment) are especiallyuseful for non-US readers. Thealphabetical, hyperlinked index makesany query just a click away.

The chapters in the CD-ROM have beenrendered as PDF (portable documentformat) files, a popular format that can beeasily read on-screen using the free AdobeReader software, while also incorporatinghyperlinked navigation and printingoptions. Hyperlinked cross-references(some of which are Web-linked) are usefulto jump to sections whose existence youmay not have been aware of, or to navigateto sections containing a clearerexplanation of the topic.

Historical perspectiveA historical perspective is presented inChapter 2, while Chapter 4(Fundamentals) helps us understand thata successful coastal building is one that isable to withstand the effects of coastalhazards and processes over a period ofdecades. Structurally, a building may beintact after an ‘event’, but the siting mayhave been incorrect—or vice versa—andso the whole thing can be regarded afailure. But even failures are usefulbecause the development of guidelines isbeing continuously revised.

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If one is interested only in the technicalguidelines and not in generalbackground information, the

flowchart on Page 5 and summaries onPage 6 tell you that you need to look onlyat Chapters 5-8 and 11-14. Chapter 5outlines the steps in identifying andevaluating a site, Chapter 6 identifiesregulatory requirements, including whereto find such information, Chapter 7 dealswith identifying hazards and Chapter 8 ison siting. Chapter 11 providesinstructions on how to calculatesite-specific loads, which, as explained inChapter 12, form the basis for the designand construction of buildings and theselection of appropriate constructionmaterials. This chapter also explains whyfailures can occur. Chapter 13 highlightsthe importance of having the right kind offoundation, while Chapter 14,“Maintaining the Building”, deals withsomething that we tend to neglect, but isperhaps as important as design andconstruction in the long run because theeffects of salt-laden, wind-drivenmoisture in coastal areas cannot beoverstated.

Throughout the manual, the language hasbeen kept simple, and where technicalinformation is presented, extensiveworked-out problems help clarify doubts.Each disaster is analyzed in terms of theprediction of the place of occurrence andthe damage caused. The damage to homesis analyzed for the cause(s) construction,

use of materials, design, siting, and so on.Thus, both good and bad examples ofsiting, design and construction practicesare given. Coupled with photographs andillustrations, they give us a clear picture ofthe dos and don’ts.

The manual stresses that constructing to amodel building code and complying withregulatory siting requirements willprovide a building with a certain level ofprotection against damage from naturalhazards. Going for more stringentconditions may provide an added measureof safety, but at a cost. The manual alsoexplains why following the minimumcode is not always sufficient because thecoast is a vulnerable area prone tomultiple hazards, and the science ofprediction, though considerablyadvanced, is still evolving.

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COASTAL CONSTRUCTION MANUAL. FEMA55CD. THIRD EDITION FederalEmergency ManagementAgency, Mitigation Directorate.Reviewed by Ahana Lakshmi([email protected]), aChennai-based researcher


Canada

Frustrating private agreements

The Canadian court battle over owner-operator policy has resulted in a significant ruling

Defenders of Canada’s inshorefisheries policies got a majorboost in April when a court

decided that the Department of Fisheriesand Oceans (DFO) could effectivelyfrustrate private agreements designed toundermine its policies.

The case, reported in the December 2004issue of SAMUDRA Report, involves twofishermen who had entered into a privatecontract or trust agreement to transfer theright to use a fishing licence that one ofthe parties was not eligible to hold.

In recent years, these private agreementshave become increasingly widespread asfish processors, wealthy inshorefishermen and other investors attempt topurchase licences from retiring inshorefishermen, particularly in the lucrativecrab and lobster fisheries. Theagreements often contravene twoimportant government policies designedto keep fishing licences in the hands ofindividual working fishermen in coastalcommunities.

The owner-operator policy states thatlicences for species fished from vessels ofless than 19.8 m LOA (length overall) willonly be issued to individual, independentfishermen who must fish the licencepersonally.

Moreover, a qualified individual can onlyhold one licence per species, that is, whilean individual can hold a portfolio ofinshore licences (crab, lobster, scallops,mackerel), he or she can only hold onelicence per species. The fleet separationpolicy states that corporations, inparticular fish-processing companies,cannot hold inshore licences, making itimpossible for them to vertically integratefish-harvesting and fish-processingoperations in fisheries like lobster and

crab. With the collapse of the groundfishresource and the increasing values forshellfish species, these inshore licenceshave become more and more valuable andsought after. Over the last 10 years,ineligible investors have been using trustagreements to accumulate these licencesand, by the same token, turn the licenceholders into their employees.

For years, the DFO ignored the problem,claiming it was powerless to act in privateagreements. As the practice became moreand more blatant, fishermen’sorganizations, especially the CanadianCouncil of Professional Fish Harvesters(CCPFH), the national organizationrepresenting independentowner-operators, pressured the federalgovernment to enforce its policies.

In 2002, the DFO’s Gulf region finally actedin the case of five snow crab licences foundto be tainted by trust agreements. The DFOsuspended the licences and ordered thelicence-holders to extricate themselvesfrom the agreements. In one of these cases,the holder of the trust agreement decidedto ignore the government’s action andasked the courts to enforce the agreement.

After several years of legal wrangling, thecase finally came to trial. Lawyers for theplaintiff, the holder of the trust agreement,called a series of witnesses, including thelawyer who crafted the trust agreement, aformer provincial cabinet Minister turnedlobbyist and a lower-level DFO official, allof whom downplayed the importance andeven the existence of the government’sowner-operator policy.

Defence counterThe defence countered with testimonyfrom the DFO official responsible forfisheries management decisions in theGulf Region, who explained in detail the

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nature of the government’s policies andhow it had applied them in this case.

The CCPFH, which receivedintervener status in the case, alsopresented a brief to the court that

strongly supported the government’spolicies and actions.

Citing an abundance of case law, CCPFH’slawyer argued that Canada’s FisheriesLaw grants the Minister of Fisheriesabsolute discretion in the granting offishing licences and that the Minister hasthe right to adopt policies to guide hisdiscretion and the right to delegate hisofficials to apply these policies.

On 11 April 2005, the judge ruled that thecontract could not be completed becausethe DFO exercised its ministerial discretionin such a way that the transfer of thefishing licence became impossible. In legalterms, the judge ruled that the contractwas ‘frustrated’. Unfortunately, the judgedid not offer an opinion on the validity ofthe DFO’s actions by stating that he did nothave the jurisdiction to rule on thisquestion.

The ruling, however, is very significantbecause a court has now determined thatprivate trust agreements involving fishinglicences can be made inexecutable by theDFO actions. This supports the position ofthe CCPFH. For the last six years, CCPFH hasbeen urging the government to use its

power to thwart agreements purposelydesigned to circumvent public policy.

The court ruling increases the pressure onthe Minister of Fisheries to act, since it isnow clearly within his power to protectthe integrity of the public policy and theinshore licensing system. The Minister hasappointed an official to report on whatmeasures would be required to solidifythe policy framework and committedhimself to protect the policy. The report isexpected in early June.

What remains to be seen is how theDepartment will deal with violators of thepolicy, especially those fleets in theprovince of Nova Scotia, which, althoughthey remain nominally owner-operator,have come completely under processorcontrol through the use of trustagreements. Meanwhile, the legal battlebetween the two fishermen to clarify thestrength of the government’s fisheriespolicy will drag on as the plaintiff hasdecided to appeal the judge’s decision.

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This article was written by MarcAllain ([email protected]),Senior Policy Adviser to theCanadian Council of ProfessionalFish Harvesters


International Labour Conference

Sufficiently flexible and protective

This is the text of the statement made by ICSF to the Committee on theFishing Sector at the 93rd Session of the International Labour Conference

1. The proposed Convention andRecommendation contained inReport V (2B) concerning work inthe fishing sector go a long way inprotecting and promoting rights offishers to decent conditions ofwork. However, it falls short ofpromoting the rights of fishers whoundertake commercial beach-seineoperations, diving and gleaningthat do not necessarily involve theuse of any fishing vessels.

2. While commercial beach-seineoperations are widespread in Asiaand Africa, commercial shellfishgathering through diving andgleaning are common all over theworld. The latter category alsoemploys a large number of persons,including women. Extendingprovisions of health protection,medical care and social security tothis category of persons, wherereasonable and practicable, woulddo justice to women in fishing, inparticular, and it will help theproposed Convention tomeaningfully address fishingactivities where women’sparticipation is more importantthan that of men’s. This would,however, require broadening thedefinition of a “fisher” in theproposed Convention also toinclude those employed inshore-based fishing operationswho do not necessarily work onboard any fishing vessel.

3. ICSF’s consultations with artisanaland small-scale fishers’organizations in Africa, Asia andLatin America since the 92ndSession of the International LabourConference 2004, demonstrate anoverwhelming support for the

inclusion of social securityprovisions in the proposedConvention, and it has beensuggested that such provisionsshould extend to fishersirrespective of their sphere offishing operation. It has beenfurther proposed that theseprovisions should be no less thanthose included under the 1952Minimum Standards for SocialSecurity Convention (C.102).

4. The 26 December 2004 tsunami inthe Indian Ocean that took anunprecedented toll of human lives,at least 300,000, including a largenumber of fishermen and womenfrom coastal fishing communities,is a sad testimony to the urgentneed for social security measuresfor small-scale fishers. Very few ofthe fishers who perished in thetsunami wave-surge in the affectedcountries came under any socialsecurity scheme.

5. Moreover, while welcoming theproposed degree of flexibility inrelation to minimum age, medicalexamination, occupational safetyand health and fishers’ workagreement, the artisanal andsmall-scale fishers urge that theprovisions for artisanal andsmall-scale fishing vesselsundertaking international fishingvoyages should be no differentfrom those applicable to largervessels undertaking such voyages.

6. As far as larger vessels areconcerned, ICSF would like theproposed Work in FishingConvention, 2005, to ensure thatthe protection afforded to fishers onboard larger vessels by current ILO

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instruments are at least retained, ifnot further improved. The ILOshould make efforts to link upproposed labour standards withinternational instruments forfisheries management, particularlyat the level of regional fisheriesmanagement organizations, andensure that effective labourstandards for crew on board largerfishing vessels are a pre-requisitefor effective fisheries management,especially with regard to straddlingfish stocks and highly migratoryfish stocks.

7. Last but not least, ICSF would like towish the Committee all success inits deliberations and would like tosee a Convention sufficientlyflexible and protective for artisanaland small-scale fishing, on the onehand, and adequately prescriptivefor large-scale fishing operations,on the other.

8. We would also like to take thisopportunity to announce a paneldiscussion on ILO LabourStandards for the Fishing Sector: ASmall-Scale Fisheries Perspectivethat will be held on Tuesday, 14June 2005 from 14.30 to 17.30 hrs atthe John Knox International Center,27 ch. des Crêts-de-Pregny,CH-1218, Grand-Saconnex, Genève,Suisse, Tel: 0041-22-747 0000. ICSF is

happy to invite all interestedmembers of this Committee to thepanel discussion whererepresentatives of small-scalefishers from Africa, Asia and LatinAmerica are expected to speak.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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This Statement of the InternationalCollective in Support ofFishworkers was presented on 1June 2005 to the Committee onthe Fishing Sector at the 93rdSession of the International LabourConference at Geneva


International Labour Conference

Well-balanced, timely and relevant

This is the text of the statement made by ICSF at the Plenary of the 93rd Session of the International Labour Conference

The International Collective inSupport of Fishworkers wouldlike to take this opportunity to

congratulate the Committee on theFishing Sector for the successfulcompletion of its deliberations towards acomprehensive standard for work in thefishing sector. Such an all-encompassinglegal instrument flexible towards thebottom of the fishing capacity pyramid,and stricter towards the topcancontribute to the well-being of all fisherson board all kinds of fishing vessels, bothin the large- and small-scale fishing.

The proposed Work in FishingConvention 2005 comes at a time whenfishers are taking life-threatening risks tobeat decreasing catch per unit effort bydangerously expanding the area of theirfishing operations, both in artisanal andsmall-scale as well as in large-scalefishing. While some of the craft-gearcombinations in the small-scale sector arenow moving away from fishing innear-shore waters to fishing within andbeyond the exclusive economic zone(EEZ), including other EEZs and the highseas, the large-scale sector is now movingaway from their traditional fishinggrounds to fishing in the furthest limits ofthe EEZs as well as in other EEZs and in thehigh seas, especially in very inhospitableconditions. In the face of rising fuel costsand decreasing fish production, there isless regard paid to labour conditions onboard fishing vessels.

Further, new countries are now emergingas distant-water fishing nations. Thereare highly disturbing stories of poorworking conditions, especially formigrant workers from developingcountries, on board distant-water fishingvessels. Increasingly, larger numbers ofworkers are being recruited fromdeveloping countries to man large-scale,

industrial fishing operations. Theproposed Work in Fishing Convention2005 also comes at a time when severalcountries have announced fisheriesmanagement policies to reduce fishingcapacity or to limit access to fisheryresources that may have seriousimplications for employment in thefishing sector.

Undoubtedly, the proposed labourstandard for fishing is well-balanced andit is timely and relevant. It is of significantrelevance to the globalized face of thefishing industry, which relativelycontributes more to international tradethan agriculture in many developingcountries, especially in least developedcountries.

It is well known that the ILO hashistorically set labour standards that wereeventually influential in determining thescope and content of national labourlegislation in many countries, and wehope member countries, particularlythose with coastlines, can promote andratify this Convention, which is animportant social instrument tocomplement fisheries conservation andmanagement measures. We hope thisConvention can give the necessarydirection to make national labourlegislation for the fishing sector on apriority basis, to protect the labourconditions of all fishers on board fishingvessels. We hope that the scope of theselabour standards, especially for socialsecurity, is broadened also toaccommodate shore-based fishers who donot necessarily use a fishing vessel. Thiswill have significant benefits to thewomen participating in fishing.

Strong advocacySince 1988, ICSF has been advocating forimproved labour conditions in the fishing

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sector. We would like to continue to workwith the International Labour Office,governments, trade unions and NGOs topromote this labour instrument in fishingand to push for its ratification and wideradoption.

Thank you.

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This Statement was made on 15June 2005 at the Plenary of the93rd Session of the InternationalLabour Conference


UNICPOLOS

The ideal model

The text of ICSF’s presentation to the Sixth Meeting of the UN Open-endedInformal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea

I. IntroductionFisheries are a major source ofemployment, income and food, andsmall-scale fisheries and aquaculture areimportant for the sustainabledevelopment of coastal communities inmany parts of the world. Fish is thecheapest and most substantive source ofanimal protein in many poor countries. Incoastal areas with low rainfall, degradedarable land and drought conditions,fisheries are an important source oflivelihood, particularly in Africa andAsia. The fisheries sector, while primarilydependent on male labour incapture-fisheries production, alsoprovides employment to a large numberof women in shore-based fish andshellfish gathering, and in aquacultureproduction as well as in fish processingand marketing activities. The sector hassignificant backward and forwardlinkages contributing to indirectemployment.

Fish is further an important source oftrade, much more than agriculture, formany developing countries. The Foodand Agriculture Organization of theUnited Nations (FAO) estimates that netexport earnings from fish in developingcountries are significantly higher thanthose for agricultural commodities suchas rice, coffee and tea.

This is particularly true of some of theleast developed countries. Exports of fishand fish products accounted for 14 percent, 22 per cent and 25 per cent of thetotal merchandise exports of Uganda,Madagascar and Senegal, respectively, inthe year 2003. The gross returns on fishingof a particular trip is often based onfirst-sales price of fish from that trip, andtrade in fish and fish products plays asignificant role in determining themonetary value of shares accruing to

capital and labour. The sharing system ofremuneration prevalent in fisheriesensures better equity, especially insmall-scale fisheries, and it is an importantfactor contributing to sustainabledevelopment.

II. Contribution of small-scale fisheries tosustainable developmentNinety five per cent of the world’s fishers’population are distributed in Asia, Africaand Latin America and 75 per cent of themare in the artisanal and small-scalesubsector. The largest number of fishersand aquaculture workers (about 87 percent of the world total) are in Asia.Similarly, the largest share of fishingvessels is concentrated in Asia. Thesmall-scale fisheries subsector accountsfor nearly 50 per cent of the global capturefisheries production and it contributessignificantly to the economic well-being,particularly of poorer coastalcommunities in Asia, Africa and LatinAmerica as well as in small islanddeveloping States.

While the small-scale fisheries subsector isthe employer of last resort in somecountries, especially in drought-affectedcoastal countries such as Senegal, in someothers like China and Vietnam, it is anattractive profession offering betterremuneration than other rural economicactivities like agriculture and dairying.However, the sector is highly vulnerable,perhaps much more than others, tonatural calamities in several countries asdemonstrated by the devastating 26December 2004 tsunami in the IndianOcean.

4.III. Measures to improve the contributionof fisheries to sustainable developmentEvidently, artisanal and small-scalefisheries and aquaculture makesignificant contributions to sustainable

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development, particularly inlabour-surplus coastal economies, bysustaining coastal communities andindigenous peoples whose livelihoods,quality of life and culture depend onaquatic ecosystems. The followingmeasures could improve the contributionof fisheries, particularly artisanal andsmall-scale fisheries, to sustainabledevelopment:

(i) Recognize small-scale fisheries model forthe entire EEZFirst of all, it is important to recognize andvalorize the role of selective artisanal andsmall-scale fishing in the sustainableutilization of fisheries resources in theentire exclusive economic zone.Traditionally, artisanal and small-scalefisheries were confined to the nearshorewaters, mainly supplying fish to thedomestic market. With the advent ofmotorization and new navigational aids,some of them have expanded the area offishing operation quite widely to the deepsea, to target tuna and tuna-like species,and other highly migratory fish stocks,mainly to cater to the world market.However, their contribution to theproduction of highly migratory fish stocksis not reflected in most official statistics.

States should be requested to consider“scale subsidiarity” whereby largerfishing units are considered in a fisheryonly after exhausting the possibility ofemploying smaller fishing units in thesame fishery in the entire range ofdistribution of relevant fish stocks, withdue consideration for the safety of suchfishing operations as well as the safety andworking conditions of fishers on board.

7.(ii) Protect the traditional fishing groundsof small-scale fishersSecondly, while opening up the frontiersof the EEZ to artisanal and small-scalefisheries, on the one hand, it is vital torecognize the rights of artisanal andsmall-scale fishworkers to sustainablyutilize and protect their traditional fishinggrounds, on the other, as has beenhighlighted in Agenda 21.

The 1995 FAO Code of Conduct forResponsible Fisheries observes that theStates should protect the rights ofsubsistence, small-scale and artisanalfishers and fishworkers to a secure and

just livelihood by granting preferentialaccess to traditional fishing grounds andresources in the waters under theirnational jurisdiction. These fishinggrounds are the mainstay of theirlivelihood, and need protection fromdegradation.

It is important to mitigate the impact of allforms of coastal and marine pollution,indiscriminate conversion of coastalwetlands to the detriment of small-scalefishing and responsible aquaculture,damming of rivers that transform thesalinity regime of coastal waters, andmangrove and upstream deforestation, toprotect the traditional fishing and fishculture grounds of fishing communities.

It is important to prevent displacement ofartisanal and small-scale fishers from theirfishing grounds in the name of oilexploration and exploitation. It is furtherimportant to protect their access to fishinggrounds without being hampered bytourism resorts and aquaculture farms.

While adopting coastal marine protectedareas (MPAs) and turtle conservationprogrammes, it is important to considerinclusive programmes whereby coastalfishing communities could participate insuch programmes and whereby theiraccess rights to fishing grounds areadequately protected. Coastal fishingcommunities should be seen as allies inthe conservation of marine coastalbiodiversity.

A recent Workshop Sustainable Fisheriesand Livelihoods in Latin America organizedby the International Collective in Supportof Fishworkers and CeDePesca with thesupport of FAO, in Santa Clara, Argentina,from the 1 to 4 March 2005, attended byfishworker organizations and NGOs fromseven Latin American countries, called“for the establishment of a zone in thecoastal waters of Latin Americancountries for the exclusive use of artisanalfishworkers, coastal communities andindigenous peoples” and to considerprohibiting the use of potentiallydestructive fishing techniques liketrawling in this zone. All countries wherethere are significant populations ofartisanal and small-scale fishers andfishworkers should consider such aprotective zone.

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10.(iii) Introduce management measuresfor small-scale fisheriesThirdly, modern fisheries managementtools should establish synergy withtraditional knowledge systems of fishingcommunities to develop effectivefisheries management regimes to ensurelong-term fisheries sustainability, whichcan contribute to the sustainabledevelopment of small-scale fishingcommunities. This also underscores theimportance of developing monitoring,control and surveillance (MCS) capacityalso to manage small-scale fisheries. Inthis context, rehabilitation measures fortsunami victims from generouscontributions from the internationalcommunity to the United Nations and itsagencies should have a strongmanagement and capacity-buildingcomponent, towards introducingeffective fisheries management measuresin the Indian Ocean countries.

One of the important considerations foreffective fisheries management isintroduction of limited-access regimes tocreate a community of owner-operatorsin artisanal and small-scale fisherieswhereby property rights are collectivelyheld in appropriate composite units andtransferable only to the extent it does notlead to concentration of ownership andatomisation of the community ofowner-operators. Such initiatives couldstart as co-management regimes wherethe responsible government agency and

fishers’ organizations (for example, aco-operative association or a trade union)collaborate to implement stipulatedmanagement measures, including MCS.They could eventually devolve to becomecommunity-based arrangements.

It should be ensured that plurality is arecognized norm while proposinglimited-access regimes, co-managementand community-based managementmeasures to ensure that managementregimes are sensitive to the diversity offisheries and fishing cultures. Further,care should be taken to ensure thatmanagement tools such as the individualtransferable quota system is notconsidered in labour-surplus, small-scalefishing, since it can lead to concentrationof ownership and new social conflicts inmany developing countries that may havean adverse impact on the sustainabledevelopment of coastal fishingcommunities.

13.(iv) Eliminate tariff and non-tariff bar-riers to fish tradeFourthly, opening up the frontiers of EEZto small-scale fisheries and protecting thenearshore waters from pollution andoverfishing may not be sufficient toaccommodate all those who are seekingemployment and livelihood in small-scalefisheries in most labour-surpluseconomies. The importance of valueaddition is significant in this context.Elimination of non-tariff and tariff

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barriers, including tariff quotas, tariffpeaks and tariff escalation, could have asignificant impact on the sustainabledevelopment of coastal communities byallowing greater employment, especiallyof women, in the processing sector.

Norms for food safety, and protection ofanimal life for international trade, ratherthan being absolute, should allowcountries to establish equivalentstandards within established legalframeworks that they can cost-effectivelycomply with. Here again, it should berecognized that there are several means toan end, and that industrialized countriesshould not impose their standards ondeveloping countries. However, effortsshould be made to ensure that the ultimategoal of trade in fish and fish products is tocontribute to better human developmentof fishing communities.

14.(v) Recognize the role of subsidies in sus-tainable developmentFifthly, government financial assistance tothe fishery sector, for example, tointroduce effective managementmeasures, to retrain fishers, to introducefood safety and environmental standards,and to improve safety of fishingoperations should be seen as subsidiescontributing to sustainable development,and, therefore, they should be positivelydealt with under the ongoing negotiationson fisheries subsidies at the World TradeOrganization. Moreover, in the absence ofeffective fisheries management, trade infish and fish products could havedisastrous consequences for the long-termsustainability of fisheries resources, evenin small-scale fisheries.

15.(vi) Introduce benefit-sharing arrange-ments for small-scale fishing communitiesSixthly, an equitable benefit-sharingarrangement under the Convention onBiological Diversity for traditional fishingcommunities could help reduce theirfishery-dependent economicvulnerability. There is greater recognitionnow of the stream of benefits that can flowfrom the wise use of coastal marine livingresources, for example, in coral reefecosystems, especially with regard totraditional knowledge of coastalcommunities regarding the therapeuticproperties of coastal marine livingresources that are of commercial interest

to the pharmaceutical and cosmeticindustries.

16.(vii) Facilitate legal movement of fishersacross bordersSeventhly, for overcrowded small-scalefisheries in developing countries,industrialized nations could contribute toalleviating demographic pressure infishing grounds by facilitating temporarymigration of surplus labour into theirfisheries, particularly into fisheries thatare earmarked by labour shortage.

FAO’s State of World Fisheries andAquaculture 2004 (SOFIA 2004) observesthat employment in fishing has beendeclining for several years, particularly inJapan and European countries. Also,according to SOFIA 2004, fishing is no morean attractive profession for youngergenerations in industrialized countries.The fishing workforce in most developedeconomies is also advancing in age. InJapan, for example, about half thepopulation of male fishers were 60 yearsor older in 2002.

It is a well-known fact that there has beenconsiderable illegal recruitment ofworkers into the fisheries of industrializedand advanced developing countries frompoorer countries in recent years. One ofthe reasons for appalling labourconditions on board some of these fishingvessels for such workers is mainly due tothe illegal nature of their work. Legalizingsuch recruitment practices could make asignificant contribution to sustainabledevelopment in some of thelabour-surplus developing fishingeconomies. This would also help fishingvessels of the industrialized countries tomove from high labour productivity, highcapital and subsidy-intensive fishingtechnologies to more labour-intensive andcapital-saving fishing technologies.

(viii) Recognize the importance of im-plementing a coherent managementframeworkLastly, a challenge in moving towardssustainable fisheries is how to develop,and implement, a coherent managementframework for the entire range of fishingoperations within the EEZ in a consultativeand participatory manner, taking intoaccount the environmental, ecological,social and economic dimensions of

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fishing, fish resources and fish habitats. Astill greater challenge would be how toeffectively address threats to fisheriessustainability arising from non-fisheryfactors, which are indeed a major issue inmany countries. In this context, effectiveinter-agency mechanisms are requiredfor effective fisheries management andhabitat protection. Thus, for sustainablefisheries, we need both vertical andhorizontal management regimes.

In conclusion, small-scale fishingemploying selective gear is lessthreatening to the marine ecosystemsthan large-scale fishing, because it oftenuses low quantities (and greaterdiversity) of gear that are often passiveand selective, and in accordance with thefisheries resources seasonably accessibleto its fishing gear. Considering itspotential to contribute to the long-termsustainability of fisheries resources andbetter protection of fish habitats, and itssubstantive contribution to employment,income and food security, it should berecognized by the General Assembly as avital sector contributing to thesustainable development of coastalcommunities and in meeting theMillennium Development Goals,especially eradication of extreme povertyand hunger and ensuring environmentalsustainability. It should, therefore, beproposed by the General Assembly as theideal fishing model for the entire EEZwithin a sustainable and responsiblefisheries framework.

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This presentation was made at theDiscussion Panel A on “Fisheriesand their Contribution toSustainable Development” at theSixth Meeting of the UnitedNations Open-ended InformalConsultative Process on Oceansand the Law of the Sea(UNICPOLOS), 6-10 June 2005, atNew York


Work in fishing

A lost opportunity

That the proposed ILO Convention on work in the fishing sector could not be adopted for want of a single vote is a blow to all fishers

The proposed International LabourOrganization (ILO) Convention(and Recommendation) on work in

the fishing sector has been described as“probably the longest instrument everdiscussed during the International LabourConference (ILC).”

While presenting his report to the 93rdSession of the ILC on 15 June 2005, atGeneva, Georgios Boumbopoulos, theReporter of the Committee on the FishingSector, said, “The report iscomprehensive, accurate, lucid and easyto read, and I recommend it for youradoption...I am confident that aunanimous vote in favour will beforthcoming.” He complimented theCommittee for adopting the draftConvention and the draftRecommendation without having had tovote.

Yet, the very next day, when the proposedConvention and Recommendation cameup for final record vote, there was surprisein store. The vote, ironically, turned out tobe invalid because the required quorum of297 could not be attained for lack of justone vote. This was despite the fact thatthere were 288 votes—an overwhelmingmajority—for the draft Convention, andjust 8 against.

In the event, it now seems that acorresponding item would most likely beplaced on the agenda of the 96th Sessionof the ILC in 2007. However, the modalitiesare yet to be worked out.

Fishers, both small- and large-scale, whoare interested in decent work and betterworking conditions now have to wait atleast another two years before theConvention and Recommendation are putup once again for final adoption.

What went wrong with the voting? For therequired quorum, only the number ofvotes—for and against—count, not thenumber of abstentions. This is preciselywhat those who were opposed to theConvention used to get their way. Theyensured sufficient abstentions to make thevote invalid. The Employerrepresentatives from both developed anddeveloping countries abstained fromvoting. Many governments from theAsian countries also abstained, along withthe Employer representatives, with theexception of some Middle Eastgovernments.

Speaking at the Conference on the eve ofthe final record vote, Peter SandMortensen, Worker Vice-Chairperson ofthe Committee on the Fishing Sector, saidthe proposed Convention andRecommendation had achieved a delicatebalance between retaining existingstandards that applied only to largervessels and providing flexibility to extendthese standards, for the first time, to thesmall-scale fishers. ILO was just beginningto address small-scale fishing.

Panel discussionEarlier, on 14 June 2005, ICSF hadorganized a Panel Discussion on “ILOLabour Standards for the Fishing Sector:A Small-Scale Fisheries Perspective” at theJohn Knox International Centre, Geneva,where representatives of small-scalefishers from Chile, India and Senegalspoke. Referring to that discussion, GeorgSmefjell of Norway, who headed theGovernment group in the Committee onFishing, said, “It is clear that they need,and want, the instrument; and if theircountries cannot ratify it at this stage, theyneed it as a tool to improve conditions.”He said the Convention gave anopportunity to “choose the ‘spiral’

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towards the highest possible commondenominator”.

Rose Karikari Anang, EmployerVice-Chairperson of theCommittee on the Fishing Sector,

herself a representative of the industrialfishing vessels of Ghana, tried her best tosow seeds of doubt in the minds ofgovernment delegates about theproposed Convention. She unfairly calledit a “prescriptive, inflexible andimpracticable Convention”, fit fordeveloped countries but irrelevant for thevast majority of small-scale fishers indeveloping countries. She pooh-poohedthe exemption clauses built into theConvention for the sake of flexibility andto accommodate small-scale fishing. Shesaid more countries would apply forexemptions because their small-scalefishers cannot benefit from prescriptivestandards for large-scale fishing vessels.The owners of large fishing vessels thuscleverly hid behind small-scale fishingvessels to protect themselves frombinding obligations should theConvention be adopted and ratified bymember countries.

It was clear at the 14 June ICSF meetingthat representatives of artisanal andsmall-scale fishers wanted to have afishing Convention adopted. Given thedynamic nature of small-scale fishing inAfrica, Asia and Latin America, theyunanimously felt that such a Convention

would improve the living and workingconditions on board small-scale fishingvessels that undertook fishing trips ofmore than three days, and would benefitsmall-scale fishers who worked onmother-ship-based fishing operations.Such a Convention would also improvethe living and working conditions ofmigrant workers from small-scale fishingcommunities of developing countries whoworked on board industrial fishingvessels of developed or advanceddeveloping countries.

The representatives of artisanal andsmall-scale fishers unanimouslysupported the provision for all fishers toachieve comprehensive social securityprotection. They wanted their respectivegovernments to adopt the Conventionand to work for its promotion, ratificationand incorporation into their respectivenational legislation. They saw it as thebeginning of progressively extendingbetter living and working conditions inthe fishing sector to the small-scale fishingsector as well, in both developed anddeveloping countries. They were onlyunhappy that the proposed Conventiondid not take into account shore-basedfishers, especially women.

They were, however, happy that ILO wasfinally waking up to the need for betterworking and living conditions in thesmall-scale fishing sector. Their viewsabout the relevance of these instrumentsfor artisanal and small-scale fishers thusdirectly contradicted those articulated byAnang, the Employer spokesperson at theConference. It now appears that theartisanal and small-scale fishers’organizations in developing countrieswill seek ratification of the Conventionupon adoption, and not seek exemptionfrom all its provisions.

Voting patternThrough their statements, the Employerrepresentatives also tried to drive a wedgebetween developed and developingcountries. However, the voting patternshowed that the majority of thegovernments from developing countries,including those from least developedcountries, voted in favour of theConvention. Among developing countrygovernments, an impressive list of 29African, 20 Latin American and

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Caribbean, and nine Asian governmentsvoted for the Convention. They includedthe governments of leadingfish-producing countries like Peru, Chileand Argentina, from Latin America;Senegal, South Africa, Morocco,Mauritania and Madagascar, from Africa;and Thailand, from Asia. The governmentof the Russian Federation as well as all theeast European governments also voted forthe Convention.

As far as abstentions are concerned,just two African, six LatinAmerican and Caribbean, and 17

Asian developing countries abstained.They included Ghana, from Africa;Mexico and Colombia, from LatinAmerica; and China, India, Indonesia andVietnam, from Asia.

Thus, while 58 developing countrygovernments voted for the Convention,only 25 developing country governmentsabstained. The industrialized countrieswere also divided in their voting. Whilethe governments of European countriesvoted for the Convention, thegovernments of Australia, Canada, Japanand the United States abstained.

Countries like Japan had disagreementsover prescribing new rules onaccommodation and food that containedstricter and more prescriptive provisionsthan the Accommodation of Crews(Fishermen) Convention, 1966 (No. 136).Japan also had reservations about thechoice of gross tonnage figures equivalentto the length of fishing vessels, and aboutthe small number of ratifications (10)required for the Convention to enter intoforce. Countries like China, Indonesia andthe Republic of Korea also seem to havereservations about gross tonnageequivalent to the length of fishing vessels,as used in the proposed Convention.

Looking back on the proceedings of theCommittee on the Fishing Sector, thereseems to be no coherent reason why somegovernments decided to abstain duringthe record vote. Nor is it clear why therewere so many abstentions by thegovernments of coastal States, bothdeveloped and developing. Ironicallyenough, some countries, afterenthusiastically participating in theproceedings of the Committee, decided to

abstain, despite the proposed Conventionmanifestly seeking to incorporate whatthey had argued for during the debate.

The abstaining governments includedthose of countries such as India, thePhilippines and Sri Lanka, which supplylarge numbers of workers to thedistant-water or industrial fishing fleets ofother countries. (Sri Lanka also has asmall-scale fishing fleet of its own thatfishes in the high seas and the exclusiveeconomic zones or EEZs of othercountries.) All these countries would havepotentially benefited from the proposedConvention. It is thus unclear why theirgovernments decided to abstain and alsounfortunate.

The governments of a few countries withprovincial and federal jurisdiction overterritorial waters and EEZs were concernedabout how they could possibly ratify andapply the Convention to the entire fishingsector, both large and small. A fewdeveloping-country governments wereworried about the implications ofadopting a comprehensive set ofinternational standards at the sectorallevel, which they thought might set a ‘bad’precedent for other sectors in future. Somedistant-water fishing nations perhaps gotcold feet over port-State provisions in theproposed Convention. Severaldeveloping-country governments thatabstained did so because they wereindifferent—they had no particular viewabout the Convention and merelycapitulated to the rhetoric of the Employerspokespersons, without seeing thewisdom of the Convention.

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This report is by Sebastian Mathew([email protected]), ProgrammeAdviser, ICSF


New terminal

A new fisheriesterminal will becritical for thesustainable growthand development offood security in theFederation of St Kittsand Nevis, saidPrime Minister DrDenzil Douglas at aceremony at whichdocuments weresigned with theTrinidad-basedAmbassador ofJapan, ShigenobuKato, for theconstruction of theUS$5.6-mn facility.

It will be the secondfisheries terminalfinanced by theGovernment ofJapan.

The project calls forthe establishment of acommunity fisherycentre building,boatyard, jetty,slipway, ice machine,lockers and otherfacilities.

Construction starts inJanuary next year.

“We believe thatthere is tremendouspotential within thissector, especiallywhen viewed as a

business,” said PrimeMinister Douglas,who stressed that theintention of his St.Kitts-Nevis LabourParty Government isto expand the fishingsector so that it cancontributesignificantly to thenational economy.

He urged fishermenattending theceremony to use thefinancial resourcesprovided by the St.Kitts-Nevis LabourGovernment throughthe DevelopmentBank.

“It is because weunderstand thepresent and futureimportance of afishing industry, thatwe have joined withour member partnersof the CaribbeanCommunity to delveinto the issue ofmarine resourcemanagement andexplore and pursuebilateral andinternationalagreements onfisheries,” said PrimeMinister Douglas.

He added that theestablishment of theCaribbean CommonFisheries Policy isindicative of theseriousness of theregion to benefit fromits marine resources.

Unwanted AIDS

Alarmingly highHIV/AIDS prevalencerates in Ugandanfishing communitiesare threatening the

lucrative fishingindustry, whichbrought some US $105million into thecountry in 2004, anew governmentsurvey has found.

“Chronic illness anddeath destroyslivelihood andincomes, underminesthe skills base in thefishing workforce,and reducesproductivity.

This is a threat tosustainable fisheries,poverty eliminationand economicgrowth,” the reportsaid.

It added that theproductivity of thefisheries sector makesup 12 per cent ofUganda’s GrossDomestic Product.

It also accounts fornearly 20 per cent oftotal exports, whichcould witness adecline with theimpact of HIV/AIDS.

Recorded HIV/AIDScases up to the end of2002 showed that thehighest prevalence inthe country was indistricts located alongthe shoreline of LakeVictoria.

Tsunami sounds

The Dec. 26Sumatra-Andamanmegaquake did morein the Indian Oceanthan maketsunamis—it made alot of undersea noisethat was audible tosea creatures andundersea soundsensors for thousandsof miles, reportsDiscovery News.

Five hydro-acousticsensor stations,designed to listen forclandestine nuclearbomb testing, ring theIndian Ocean andpicked up therumbling of therupturing seafloor—loud and clear.

The sound created bythe long rupture hasbeen used by aCalifornia researcherto confirmseismological data.The hydro-acousticsshow the rupturepropagating alongthe major plateboundary in theSunda Trench for 400miles at 5,760 milesper hour, thenslowing to 3,350miles per hour for thelast 100 miles ofrupturing.

The initial sound wasactually from aseismic wave thatquickly crossed theocean in the sea floorand caused theground around thesea-bottom sensors togrowl—so it was not

News Round-up


the direct sound ofthe rupture at all, deGroot-Hedlinexplained.

The next, muchlouder and longersignals were theactual sound wavesof the rupture thathad traveled throughthe water to thestations, she said.

Because the quakeunzipped such a longfault zone, the seafloor rupturing waspicked up by thehydro-acousticstations as a movingsource of noise, likethe sound of anunseen train movingin the distance.

Fishy quotas

US RepresentativesTom Allen(D-Maine), WilliamDelahunt (D-Mass.),and Robert Simmons(R-Conn.) todayintroduced thebipartisan “FishingQuota Standards Actof 2005,” H.R. 3278, toensure that quotasystems, often toutedas the managementsolution to ourdeclining fisheries,would give fair andequitableopportunities tosmall fishermen andfishing communitiesand wouldresponsibly protectmarine environments

“I am pleased tointroduce thisbipartisan bill tocreate nationalstandards for fishingquota programs.Ensuring thatstandards are in placeprior to thedevelopment ofquota systems is animportant part of

sustainable fisheriesmanagement. Local,coastal fishingcommunities andfamily-operatedfishing businesses areintegral to Maine.

With the likelyreauthorization of theMagnuson-StevensFishery Conservationand Management Actby this Congress, I

want to be sure thatthe voices of Mainefishermen are heardin the national debateover thesestandards,” saidCongressman Allen.

Individual fishingquota (IFQ) systemsuse quota shares togive fishermenexclusive access to afixed percentage ofthe total annual quotain a fishery.

The BushAdministrationpromoted thesesystems in its U.S.Ocean Action Planreleased in Decemberas the primary way tostop declining fishpopulations.

Documented researchhas shown that IFQsystems withoutstrong nationalstandards oftencreate multipleeconomic andenvironmentalproblems.

These include anunfair advantage to

large corporationswho have morecapital to buy outother quota shareholders and creatingincentives to throwless valuable fishback—dead or dying.

Better safe

Malaysia has made itmandatory forfishermen to carrysafety equipment onboard fishing boats. Itis an offence underthe OccupationalSafety and Health Actif fishing boatoperators orfishermen go out tosea without adequatesafety equipment.

The offence carries afine of RM50,000(US$13,159) or twoyears’ jail.

“I also find that theydo not have first-aidkit on the boats. Theyshould care abouttheir safety, too, notonly about getting abig catch,” Malaysia’sDeputy HumanResources Ministertolds reporters afterpresenting fishinggear to fishermen inMarang.

Abdul Rahman, whois Marang MP, saidfishing boats shouldbe equipped with,among other things,safety jackets, radioand a good radarsystem.

“From informationreceived, most casesof accidentsinvolving fishermenat sea are due to theabsence of safetyequipment,” headded.

He urged theFisheries Department

and fishermen’sassociations to takesteps to ensure theregulations on safetywere adhered to.

On foreign fishermenbeing employed ondeep-sea fishingvessels in thecountry, AbdulRahman said ithappened becauselocals could not dothe job.

He added that 500local fishermen weretrained by theFisheries Departmentin 1988 under theSkipper DevelopmentProgramme but allgave up because theycould not adapt tothe workingconditions.

Rescued!

Three fishermen fromHolyhead, UK havebeen involved in adramatic rescue offAnglesey. Theirtrawler was sinkingbecause of enginefailure and they had

to scramble on boardtheir life raft. Arescue helicopterfrom RAF Valleymanaged to tow themen to safety justbefore the MorningSpray sank.

The men, who are allaged between 40 and55, were winchedaboard the helicopterand taken safely toland.


Gani’s sea was a familiar, intimate place, the construct ofa fisherman who knows the elaborate characteristics of itsterritory in much the same way as a gardener might knowthe special curves of a garden, the places of its unevenness,the way the wind whistles through the trees at a certaintime of year. It brought alive what would appear, to anearthbound stranger like myself, an empty, featurelessexpanse of water.

— from Troubled Waters by Ruth Balint

--~~-,--~~.o;-.-'-'-'-~""-' .

ICSf is an inlernational MGQ

worUlg on issues 1hal conc:emIi5Ilwoltefs the wend (MIl'. It isin stalus with the Ecooomic andScx:iaI CoundI ol1he UN and is01'1 l.O's Special List r:A NonGowrmler'8I Hemalional Orgarizalims. It also has liaisonStabJs 'toith FNJ. Regisl8I'ed WIGeneva, ICSF has offices inChennai, India and Brussels.Belgium. As aglobal network 01community organizers,teache,s, technicians, r.sea-dlEn and sdenisls. IC$F"SactMlies enlXlflIp8SS rnoniIor·ing and research, exchangeand training, campaigns andacIion, as wei as CXlItU'nlIIicaIions.~ I&'ORl' inv~es

~ nl responses.COl Ie:sp:llldelr:e shol*I be ac}

dressed to 1he Chennai ofIce.

The opDons and positionsex(llessed in the artides arelhose r:A lhe a.chors conc:emedand do I'd necessarty lepresent the oIIiciaI W!ws 01 ICSf

SAMOORA Aej:ort CCW'I noN be accessed Q'l1C$F"S hJrne page onthe Work! WIde Wfb •hllpi/www.k:sl1lllt ortmp:J/Www.ics1.org

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Telephone (91)4+2827 5303 FacsimHe (91) 4+2825 4457E-mail: [email protected]

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Edited by

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Designed bySalishBabu

Photographs courtesy 01Genefal libraries, University of Texas al Austin, S&basban Mathew

Sarah Coullhanl, Jackie Sunde, FlOnlI Nunan, Ce De PescaJan KhasktIei, O. Moris:selle, C.Pappas, MasiIundise

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