Strengthening organizations and collective action in fisheries: a way forward in implementing the international guidelines for securing sustainable small-scale fisheries

Strengthening organizations and collective action in fisheries: a way forward in implementing the international guidelines for securing sustainable small-scale fisheries

Descripción

Strengthening organizations and collective action in small-scale fisheries is crucial to safeguard fishers’ livelihoods and food and nutrition security as well as to fight poverty and vulnerability. The crucial role of organizations in small-scale fisheries was underscored during the 2008 Global Conference on Small-scale Fisheries held in Bangkok, Thailand, and the consultative workshops and related events supporting the development of the international guidelines for securing sustainable small-scale fisheries (SSF Guidelines). The United Nations declared 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives with the theme Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World. This provided a further impetus for championing fishers’ organizations and collective action as important instruments and drivers in promoting responsible fisheries and achieving the twin objectives of human and ecosystem well-being. In this context the workshop on Strengthening Organizations and Collective Action in Fisheries: a way forward in implementing the SSF Guidelines was convened in FAO, Rome, Italy, on 18–20 March 2013. It was attended by 26 small-scale fisheries experts representing civil society organizations (CSOs), governments, and academia. The workshop anticipated the implementation of the SSF Guidelines by looking at the diversity of existing organizations and collective action in small-scale fisheries, discussing their strengths and weaknesses, and proposing elements for a capacity development strategy to strengthen organizations and collective action in small-scale fisheries to reduce poverty while promoting responsible fisheries. The workshop identified challenges and opportunities and examined alternative pathways on how organizations and collective action in fisheries can strengthen and be strengthened by the SSF Guidelines. This report summarizes the workshop results and intends to provide a useful reference document that will feed into the process of implementing the SSF Guidelines which are envisaged to be endorsed by the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) during its session in 2014.