The Fundamental Rights of Small-Scale Fishers and Their Communities in International Jurisprudence
Julia Nakamura
Chapter in the book 'Implementation of the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines: A Legal and Policy Scan' [pp. 31-52]
The fundamental rights of small-scale fishers and their communities are founded in core instruments, principles, and standards of international human rights law. Despite this foundation, only over the past decade has the international community begun giving attention and recognition to the human rights law and fisheries law nexus. Small-scale fishers and their communities are entitled to human, fishing, and tenure rights, which are fundamental to their livelihoods, subsistence, and culture. This chapter examines the applicability of human rights treaties to small-scale fishers, clarifies their fundamental rights, and further analyses relevant international jurisprudence. It argues that the examined jurisprudence can be used to support the protection of fundamental rights of small-scale fisheries and their communities, as well as their right to participate in decision-making processes concerning development activities and fisheries management, which directly affect them. This chapter concludes by reflecting on questions for future research.
Implementing the SSF Guidelines in Sweden: An Investigation of Law and Policy from EU to Local Levels
Chapter in the book 'Implementation of the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines: A legal and policy scan'
Maris Boyd Gillette , Juliana Bennett & Milena Arias Schreiber [pp. 407-428]
The SSF Guidelines seek to enhance the contribution of small-scale fisheries to food security and nutrition, improve their socioeconomic situation, achieve sustainable use and management of fisheries, and ensure that small-scale fisheries contribute to sustainable futures. The EU has voiced commitments to the SSF Guidelines, and EU Member State Sweden has been commended for its work abroad to advance them. This chapter investigates Sweden’s domestic arena, focusing on marine fisheries. We ask whether Sweden’s legal and policy framework – which extends from EU to local levels – is compatible with implementing key SSF Guidelines recommendations, namely, (1) securing small-scale fisheries’ tenure rights to fishery resources and awarding them preferential access to waters under national jurisdiction, (2) providing designated support to small-scale fisheries, and (3) involving small-scale fisheries in management through representation and consultation. Our research shows that EU laws and policies could be compatible with implementing these provisions. National legislation permits Sweden to take these steps, but national policies do not clearly advance them. By contrast, some local policies strongly promote small-scale fisheries. The question is whether local political pressure, combined with EU encouragement, can steer Sweden toward implementation of the SSF Guidelines.
Coastal and maritime cultural heritage: from the European Union to East Asia and Latin America
Special Issue
Alyne E. Delaney & Katia Frangoudes
Coastal and Maritime Cultural Heritage Special Collection published in Maritime Studies and edited by Alyne Delaney and Katia Frangoudes. The Special collections contains 9 articles, including editorial, from which the 7 are dealing exclusively with the European Coastal and Maritime Cultural Heritage and areas. It is presenting the most recent work on-going in social science research focusing on shared themes –resilience, space and place, and power– and distinctive methods and creative adaptation, the issue highlights the wealth of tangible and intangible cultural heritage and experience in European and the world’s coastal and maritime zones. Few sub-themes such gender and marginalization and transformation are also developed. The Special collection is drawing the attention to variety of methods used from social sciences as visual/photo elicitation; discrete choice (value); oral history; space and place through species of fish to tease out of data and understandings on Coastal and Maritime Cultural Heritage.
Sea turtle stranding records and fishing interactions on an Oceanic Atlantic Island (Tenerife, Canary Islands)
Article
Claudia Hurtado-Pampín, Raquel De la Cruz-Modino & José Carlos Hernández
Sea turtle populations have significantly declined in recent years due to anthropogenic causes. Historical stranding records in the Canary Islands archipelago (Spain) reveal a high frequency of Caretta caretta and Chelonia mydas strandings. This study aims to comprehensively characterize and explore these stranding records. Additionally, the authors have investigated the interactions between sea turtles and the island’s professional fishers, seeking insights from small-scale artisanal fishers to understand the current state of sea turtle populations. The results have shown that Tenerife stands out with the highest number of sea turtle strandings, recording 1875 strandings over a span of 23 years. The primary cause of sea turtle stranding’s is the interaction with fishing gear, specifically nets and hooks. Moreover, the research has highlighted the need for improved knowledge and training on how to handle stranded sea turtles within the fishing sector. Consequently, raising awareness and implementing conservation plans for sea turtle populations in Tenerife is of outmost importance in addressing and improving the current situation.
Profiling the Cypriot Fisheries Sector through the Lens of Fishers: A Participatory Approach between Fishers and Scientists
Article
Marios Papageorgiou, Christiana Tourapi, Georgios Nikolaidis, Antonis Petrou & Dimitrios K. Moutopoulo
Despite contributing only 0.5% to the Gross National Product, the fisheries sector in Cyprus is vital to the microeconomy of coastal communities by providing employment and supporting small businesses. A recent study sought to identify the sector’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) through a workshop involving fishers and scientists. The results show that there are more weaknesses and threats (65%) than strengths and opportunities (35%). The SWOT analysis, along with a reverse SWOT (TOWS matrix), led to the development of 12 strategic recommendations aimed at enhancing the sector’s performance and sustainability. These recommendations were prioritized based on their potential impact and the effort required for implementation, offering hope for the future of Cypriot fisheries.
© M. Papageorgiou
© M. Papageorgiou
A school of local fish on the school lunch menu
Article
Jose J. Pascual-Fernández, Jaime Ramón-Bruquetas & Raquel de la Cruz-Modino
Ecotunidos: An experience promoting the local consumption of small-scale fish catches in the Canary Islands, connecting researchers, local producers and their organizations with potential local consumers, with school canteens as a starting point. Since 2018, the experience has been a success!
School cafeterias in the Canary Islands use mainly seafood that is imported from far-away industrial fishing operations, even though there are several nearby fishing fleets. The nearby fleets fish for tuna the traditional way, catching them one by one off of mostly small-scale fishing boats, with the hook and line technique. These boats are eco-friendly, but they tend to export their tuna—several thousand tons each year—to mainland Spain or other countries. So, in 2018, we started a project to supply local tuna and other fish steaks to about a dozen Canary Islands school cafeterias, in an attempt to reduce fish exports and imports. This is good for the environment because it decreases the amount of fuel used to move food from place to place. We hope our work will not only help school kids to eat healthier, but also improve the eating habits and health of the entire local population.
© J.J. Pascual-Fernández
© J.J. Pascual-Fernández
An urgent call for more ambitious ocean literacy strategies in marine protected areas: a collaboration project with small-scale fishers as a case study
Article
Janire Salazar, Sílvia Gómez, Begoña Vendrell-Simón, Miroslav Pulgar, Núria Viladrich, Stefano Ambroso, Patricia Baena, Andreu Santín, Maria Montseny, Marina Biel-Cabanelas, & Josep-Maria Gili
A participatory process, including an Ocean Literacy Test, Cultural Consensus Analysis, and Personal Network Analysis, was conducted with small-scale fishers who collaborated with marine biologists on conservation efforts in the Cap de Creus Marine Protected Area, Spain. The results revealed that more ambitious Ocean Literacy strategies are needed in Marine Protected Areas to ensure that stakeholders have the necessary scientific knowledge to develop sustainable attitudes and behaviors, and also to prevent the loss of traditional cultural heritage with high scientific value, as well as to create opportunities for the dissemination of local knowledge and beyond.
Key outcomes:
- Developing ambitious Ocean Literacy strategies in Marine Protected Areas is urgently needed for making well-informed decisions and to promote sustainable behaviours not only within MPAs but also beyond.
- Incorporating social dimensions into conservation studies through studies on Ocean Literacy, Cultural Consensus Analysis, and Personal Network Analysis can offer new perspectives that are often overlooked, significantly enhancing the management of Marine Protected Areas.
- Conducting Cultural Consensus Analysis in MPAs can be crucial for characterizing and safeguarding highly threatened knowledge systems.