According to FAO statistics the number of fishworkers worldwide was 27,1 million in 1990 and had increased to 38,3 million in 2010. There are no official statistics available to indicate how many of these are owners or co-owners, independent fishermen working for themselves or salaried fishworkers. There are also very few studies regarding the fishworkers’ legal status under international law or under national laws and regulations (1).
While there have been numerous studies on fishery resources, as well as studies concerning national and international legal frameworks for the management of the resources, there has been an almost complete lack of effort to understand the third dimension of the management of fishery resources: that is to say, the social dimension of fisheries has never been adequately considered by the international organizations dealing with fisheries. Thus the international measures adopted to protect and manage fishery resources have not been properly understood or agreed on by the fishermen themselves.
The conservation and proper management of resources is extremely important if the already damaged and depleted fish stocks in many areas of the world are to be restored for the benefit of future generations. To achieve this objective it is unthinkable not to involve fishermen and fishworkers representative organisations in this process. Such an involvement is particularly important in relation to IUU fishing which presents the most serious threat to the development of sustainable fisheries.
It is in this context that the social dimension of the management of fishery resources becomes the most important component of any management policies and decisions. The right to decent work, as defined in ILO’s Convention, 2007 (C188) as well as by COFI and the UN, presents an important and long overdue step in improving the social condition of fishworkers. The entry into force of the ILO Convention (C188) will also contribute, to some extent, to the eradication of IUU fishing since the majority of fishworkers will not endanger the benefits of decent work by engaging in IUU fishing, which is a criminal act (2).
(1) PescaMed, 2011: PescaMed project Development of cooperation in the Mediterranean Fishery sector: World of labour, Producers’ organizations, consumers’ associations and training – Country reports. Imago Pubblicitasrl – Tricase, Lecce, Italy; 443 pp.
http://www.uilapesca.eu/public/eventi/20121201/imm/pdf/55%20UILA-PESCAMED%202011%20Rapporto.pdf
(2) Uilapesca for Mipaaf, 2012: IUU Fishing and its Relation to the Rights of Fishworkers in International Law, by Seyed Hossein MARASHI & Fabrizio DE PASCALE http://www.uilapesca.eu/public/eventi/20121201/imm/home.aspx
Fabrizio De Pascale