Comments on the V0 draft of the HLPE report on Water and Food Security from the FAO Inland Fisheries Group:
Importance of Inland Fisheries to Food Security
Although the document is referring to fisheries several times, the first and second chapter give the impression that the authors are not appropriately appreciating the importance of inland fisheries, and therefore freshwater ecosystems, for Food Security and Nutrition for many people in the poorer segments of the poorest countries.
Freshwater ecosystems are increasingly under threat by several challenges impacting the goods and services they provide. Fisheries production is one of those impacted services, which has as a consequence a direct impact for many poor and food-insecure countries, as fish is a key source of protein and micro-nutrients for in many cases the poorest segments of society. For millions of people in low-income countries, adequate nutrition, health, and income are directly tied to ecological functioning of freshwater.
Inland/freshwater capture fisheries have a yearly catch of around 11.6 million tons (FAO 2012), valuing around USD 9 billion, without any waste due to discards; however this estimate does not include catch from subsistence fishers and recreational fishers, which together may amount to an additional harvest of many millions of tons. 61 million people are employed in inland fisheries worldwide, of which 60 million in the developing world. 65% of the reported catch from inland fisheries is caught in low-income food-deficit countries. Over 200 million of Africa’s 1 billion people regularly consume fish and nearly half of this comes from inland fisheries (UNEP 2010). Whereas fish consumption is increasing in most of the world, in many parts of Africa per capita consumption of inland fish is decreasing due to over-fishing and habitat degradation.
Freshwater capture fisheries will continue to be a key component for Food Security and Nutrition, particularly for poor and landless people, because small, wild-caught fish are generally more accessible, cheaper and have high nutritional value.
Inclusion of fisheries governing water
Having made our statement above with respect to the importance of inland capture fisheries for Food Security and Nutrition, we would like to express our appreciation with respect to the Chapter concerning Governing Water for FSN. The chapter draws attention to often forgotten peoples (including fishers) when water rights, or water user rights are managed. The text is truly inclusive, for which the authors are congratulated.
Specific comments per chapter:
Agriculture water demand (1.3.2)
On page 19 (line 1) a statement is made which is not a correct reflection of the statement made in the article referred to. “It is widely accepted that animal food products require much larger quantities of water per unit of nutritional energy compared to foods of plant origin (Gerbens-Leenes et al, 2013)” We would like to clarify that the article referred to is dealing with poultry, pork and beef, not with fish. We propose therefore to improve the sentence to: “It is widely accepted that poultry, pork and beef require much larger quantities of water per unit of nutritional energy compared to foods of plant origin (Gerbens-Leenes et al, 2013)”
We would also like to point out that inland capture fisheries and aquaculture are compatible with other uses of fresh water, however the water must be managed appropriately. Withdrawals for and effluents from agriculture can have adverse impacts on fisheries whereas managing water for fisheries may restrict its use for other purposes. None-the-less, inland capture fisheries do not degrade water quality and do allow for multiple uses.
Water and Energy linkages (1.3.4)
The part dealing with water and energy linkages does not cover the potential disruptive effect(s) dams can have on biodiversity in the catchment area where they are placed, as they might be blocking essential migration routes of fish to their spawning grounds and vice versa. This might result in the significant depletion of concerned stocks, with its obvious effects on fish production downstream. Through dams, water flows might become regulated, reducing inundation periods and intensity, reducing the associated fisheries production. These effects need to be considered and mitigated when investigating and operating dams for irrigation and hydropower.
Rainfed agriculture systems (2.1.1)
On page 29 line 28, we would like to see fish added to livestock so that the sentence would read: “Livestock and aquaculture are an important part of multi-functional agriculture, providing milk, meat, eggs, fish, cash income, farm power and manure that can”….. Especially in Asia aquaculture is an integral part of households systems, being an efficient addition to rural livelihoods.
Diversifying with fisheries and aquaculture (2.4.5)
We agree with the statement made that findings of the HLPE report on sustainable fisheries and aquaculture should not be repeated in the present report, and that it would be inappropriate not to note the importance of fisheries and aquaculture in the context of food security and nutrition. However, from line 16 onwards there seems to be a misconception or misunderstanding by the authors on the differences between aquaculture and inland capture fisheries. The authors mention fish and aquaculture, but do not mention capture fisheries or are mixing the two concepts; aquaculture is the farming of fish, inland capture fisheries is the hunting or trapping of fish. It is therefore incorrect to state that “fisheries are mostly run by small farmers with wide participation at all levels and scales including farming, processing and marketing”. The sentence should read: “aquaculture operations are frequently run by small farmers with…”
It would be good to expand the sentence (starting at line 20) that inland capture fisheries often being critical to local food security etc. lack of understanding of this importance by people outside the sector is what often causes non-inclusion or non-consideration of capture fisheries in basin water management, investment plans, etc
Line 22, here there is again the omission of fisheries and fish and aquaculture is mentioned. The sentence should read: “When considering the issue of water for food security and nutrition it is critical that the role of capture fisheries and aquaculture in meeting the nutritional needs of poor rural communities in many areas, but also of the world at large, are considered in water policy and practice.”
Starting at line 24: The sentence should read: Several species of fish are seriously overexploited. Causes for this include environmental pressures such as low water quality and habitat destruction.
Line 26: As competition for water resources increases fish and inland capture fisheries and aquaculture suffer most as the priorities for water allocation are usually focused on other sectors
Line 31: This will require building partnerships between fishers, aquaculturists and other interest groups concerned with more efficient ways to increase the overall benefits of water productivity to food security and poverty reduction as well as achieve higher level of integration in agricultural systems.
2.5.1 Water footprint
It is disappointing to see that fish from inland capture fisheries is not mentioned in this chapter, as this is one of the products with the lowest water footprint. Clearly authors use the concept for comparison of land-based products, but it would be good to include capture fisheries in this, so that the benefits/importance of the sector is truly appreciated.
2.6 Policy implications
Page 48, Line 38: we assume that the term agriculture includes capture fisheries and aquaculture
3.1 Multiple ways to allocate and access water
Page 52, line 13: We would like to propose the change the term cultivators into users, and add fishers, so that the sentence would read: “It is also important to note that many small-holder users, most women, fishers and pastoralists have use rights in customary arrangements that are largely invisible to policy makers and these play a critical role in ensuring their food and livelihood security”
3.3.2 Hydropower
We appreciate the chapter on hydropower, and the reflection of the discussions around the issue. The example given on the Mekong river is very important. Box 19 is appreciated.
Page 68, Box 21. We would like to suggest to include in the Box two Voluntary guidelines:
· Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i2801e/i2801e.pdf, and
· Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (FAO. 2014)
3.6.3 Unresolved matters
Page 72, line 1: We appreciate the report’s mentioning of expanding the scope to address the importance of adequate water for ecosystem sustenance and subsistence agriculture
Recommendations
We would like to see a recommendation drawing (States) attention to the specific importance of the inland fisheries sector (providing animal protein and micronutrients with limited alternatives) to food security and nutrition for often poorest segments of society. Before taking water management actions with potential impacts on inland fishery production and biodiversity, States should include the inland fisheries sector in their impact assessments. (fishers are mentioned in some recommendations, but without a link to the importance of the production of the sector to nutritional status of people. When fishers are mentioned it is more in the context of their rights)
Page 75, line 34: we would like to see fishers added to the text: “Water and land tenure and use right systems are seldom coordinated, which can lead to sub-optimal outcomes on the ground, especially for small or marginalised farmers, fishers, and other food producers”
Felix Marttin
Devin Bartley
David Lymer
Inland Fisheries Branch
FAO of the UN
FAO Inland Fisheries GroupFelix Marttin