The EC reviewed the background document, section by section, to provide comment and discussion to be incorporated into the Technical Paper.
Section 3: Enhancing the role of small-scale fisheries in contributing to poverty alleviation and food security.
The primary authors introduced this section which included several parts, or sub-sections, as follows:
Introduction
Cross-sectoral issues
Pro-poor policy
Pro-poor legislation
Fisheries management issues
Financing poverty reduction
Making markets work for the poor
Capacity development for poverty reduction
Appropriate information and communications systems
Research priorities
Many useful suggestions were made to improve this section. One overarching suggestion was to re-structure the section as follows:
1. Policy in support of the poor
2. Legislation in support of the poor
3. Implementing policy and legislation (including section on human capacity)
4. Cross-sectoral solutions
5. Fisheries management solutions
6. Making markets work for the poor
7. Financing poverty reduction
8. Capacity development for poverty reduction
9. Information and communication
The EC emphasised that when addressing ways in which the livelihoods of fishers and fish workers could be improved, it was important to consider the linkages between the different dimensions of poverty and to provide support that addresses all the issues including improved health and sanitation, education, empowerment, before positive resource management would become a reality.
In terms of diversifying livelihoods the EC felt that the paper needed to address the difficulties in finding alternative livelihood activities, especially when fisheries resources have become degraded. Simply having a shopping list of alternative livelihoods, and not recognising that they should be part of a wider development initiative rather than a resource management strategy, was highlighted as being a common mistake made in the past. The EC also requested that the Technical Paper discuss the problems associated with the commonly expressed policy of converting fishers into fish farmers as a way of decreasing pressure on capture fisheries and increasing fish production.
The EC provided many useful references to parts of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries that dealt with small-scale fisheries issues that could be added to the text. It also requested a more complete coverage of cross-sectoral policies and legislation, especially those concerning other sectors that may impact small-scale fisheries e.g. legislation and policies relating to migration. It also requested a more complete coverage of the issue of decentralization. Some useful editing of the section on conflicting policy objectives was also provided.
The EC also suggested the addition of several new boxes in the text to highlight examples of good policies and good legislation, and provided several new ideas on how to improve policies. Several members of the EC committed themselves to providing boxes to the authors as soon as possible.
The principles of fisheries management as it relates to small-scale fisheries were discussed at length. In discussing fisheries management and improvements to the Technical Paper, the EC agreed that:
Some of the principles should be re-written to accommodate concerns raised by the EC.
The main difficulty in fisheries management was in implementing the principles and that this also needs to be addressed in the Technical Paper, especially in terms of mechanisms and processes to implement and enforce such principles.
a cautionary note needs to be added to the effect that overfishing and overcapacity was a major global issue and that any principles of fisheries management should ensure the conservation and sustainability of the resource.
The Technical Paper should address issues of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUU), and assessment and management of overcapacity in the context of small-scale fisheries.
A more balanced review based on recent scientific assessments should be provided of Marine Protected Areas as a fisheries tool.
Examples of rights-based fishing from Latin America which were provided should be included as a box in the Technical Paper.
Some experts at the EC felt that marketing is an integral part of management while others did not. It was decided to link marketing and management more appropriately in the document, but not to merge these two sub-sections.
It was stressed that small-scale traders and processors, particularly women in fishing communities, should be enabled to benefit from emerging opportunities in marketing and processing, arising from higher production and development of post-harvest technologies. -The need to meet domestic demand for better quality products and develop domestic marketing channels was also highlighted, given that much of the emphasis so far in developing countries has been on meeting export market demands and associated requirements. -The need for equity of markets was also raised. It was felt that the sub-section should also include some comment on input markets, not just output markets. As in other sections, some good Latin American examples were provided and it was agreed that they should be included as a box. Overall it was felt that the sub-section needed some restructuring.
With respect to financing poverty reduction, again many suggestions were offered and a restructuring of the sub-section was proposed. Other comments included: the possibility of capturing finance and using it in implementing Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers; the need to focus on capacity building not just technological fixes; repayment of loans; the need for assistance to assist structural adjustment; and the importance of savings as part of microfinance. It was suggested that the subsidy section be re-visited with a view to highlighting the need for income support and social welfare in moving towards more responsible fishing. The issue of social security and insurance was also discussed.
The EC agreed that the section on human capacity should refer to the work of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries Research (ACFR) and be incorporated within the sub-section on implementing policy and legislation.
It also agreed that the research section be combined with the information and communication section, and again cross-referenced to the current work of the ACFR.
