Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture in Russia: FAO’s view on challenges of small-scale fisheries

 

On the last day of the V Global Fishery Forum, FAO, together with the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), held the Global Fishery Forum Roundtable “Small-scale Fisheries: Challenges and Successes”.  

What are the characteristics of small-scale fisheries in different countries? What norms of small-scale fisheries are enshrined in the legislation of the Russian Federation and what are the prospects for its development? These are some of the questions experts considered during the discussion.  

Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation and discussion moderator, began his opening remarks by announcing that the UN General Assembly, at FAO’s suggestion, declared 2022 International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022).  

The IYAFA 2022 recognizes the important role of fishermen and fish workers in the small-scale fisheries sector in providing healthy and nutritious food to people and thereby contributing to achieving SDG 2 that aims to achieve Zero Hunger. Small-scale fisheries deserve special attention because they are an important source of livelihood for millions of people, and because of the challenge of managing this industry responsibly to maintain the well-being of aquatic ecosystems. 

The main objective of this international year is to draw the attention of states, international organizations, entrepreneurs and fishermen to the problem of small-scale fisheries, as well as contribute to the wider application of FAO normative and advisory documents in this area, stressed the Director of the FAO Moscow Office. 

“Artisanal fisheries are relevant for a huge number of countries, especially for Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. It is not so common in Russia – with the notable exception of the traditional crafts of the indigenous and small peoples of the North”, the moderator emphasized. “Despite the fact that this concept is absent in Russian legislation.” 

Further, Igor Shpakov, consultant at the Moscow Office, made a detailed presentation. He confirmed that there is no globally recognized term for “small-scale” or “artisanal” fisheries. “This definition is usually used to refer to small fishing and fish farms that present rather modest catches and relatively simple production technologies,” he said.  

“In 2014, at the 31 session of the Committee on Fisheries, the first ever international legal document was approved, which brought together the principles and recommendations for the regulation of small-scale fisheries: The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication. This paper highlights the importance of traditional and local knowledge of fishing practices, as well as calls upon countries to recognize the value of this knowledge in order to use it to restore and preserve water and costal ecosystems. National governments are expected to provide technical and financial assistance to communities that work in the small-scale fisheries sector, needed to classify, improve and distribute traditional knowledge of water ecosystems,” the FAO consultant continued. 

Then, he turned to statistics collected and analyzed by FAO experts “40% of the world’s fish product comes from small-scale fisheries. It is 37 million tonnes per year. At the same time, 69% comes from marine catches and 32% from inland waters. This type of activity brings households a total of up to USD 77 billion a year.” 

Igor Shpakov cited figures that show that small-scale fisheries are an extremely important area in the formation of food chains and directly affect food security. “According to FAO’s assessments, 90% of allthe workers, whose well-being directly depends on fisheries, are employed in artisanal fisheries. In total, about half a billion people on the planet are at least partially self-sufficient thanks to small-scale fisheries. At the same time, four out of ten people employed in this sector are women.” 

Igor Shpakov spoke about the IYAFA 2022, the main functions of which are entrusted to the International Steering Committee and the Secretariat operating under FAO.

“The International Committee has a steering role in the exchange of information on small-scale fisheries between various national and regional programmes. He also has the right to attract financial resources for preparing and holding the events of the year, and to monitor the spending of funds raised. The Secretariat, on the contrary, is directly involved in the coordination of events in a particular region, prepares interim information reports for both UN agencies and the general public,” Igor Shpakov explained. 

The FAO Moscow Consultant detailed the FAO Global Action Plan prepared for the IYAFA 2022, which aims to accelerate the work to empower small-scale artisanal fisheries and aquaculture around the world and ensure the sustainability of these important sectors in the future. “In order to orient all stakeholders towards empowering people involved in small-scale fisheries, FAO has prepared and released the Global Action Plan. This is the de facto guiding document for the Year of Small-Scale Fisheries. Its purpose is to stimulate activities on planning and implementing events in different parts of the world.” 

Our colleague detailed the seven pillars of the Plan, which are environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, social sustainability, governance, gender equality, food security and nutrition, and resilience. 

“FAO believes in the critical importance of the small-scale fisheries sector for sustainable food chains and the social well-being of numerous communities. Our organization contributes in every possible way to the preservation and strengthening of this sector so that it can ensure not only food security and nutrition, but also the responsible, rational use of natural resources,” Igor Shpakov concluded his presentation. 

“At the international level, there is no commonly agreed-upon, generally accepted definition of small-scale fisheries. There are also no voluntary guidelines for ensuring its sustainable development,” emphasized Damir Bekyashev, Doctor of Legal Sciences, Director of the Department of International Fishing Law of VNIRO, during his presentation on the topic “Prospects for the Legal Regulation of Small-Scale Fisheries in the Russian Federation”. 

“FAO is the only organization that has been paying close attention for many years to the issue of sustainable small-scale fisheries, primarily in the context of food security, countering hunger, unemployment, ensuring employment and gender equality,” continued the speaker. 

“FAO encourages States to incorporate the voluntary guidelines into their national legislation whenever possible. Some states have already done this. This is predominantly happening in African countries, to which FAO provides financial, human and intellectual support.” 

“Coastal fisheries are a driver for the development of the fisheries complex of the Kamchatka Territory,” postulated Alexander Varkentin, who represented the Kamchatka Branch of the Federal State Funded Research Institution VNIRO (KamchatNIRO) at the forum. Coastal fisheries, given its contribution “to providing fish processing plants, markets, shops with fresh fish, as well as employment, is an extremely important sector in the fisheries complex of the Kamchatka Territory.” 

“A number of social projects are directly related to coastal fisheries in the Kamchatka Territory. Since 2020, at the initiative of the Governor of the Kamchatka Territory, a special programme “Kamchatka Fish” has been operating. Its goal is to provide the population with high-quality and inexpensive fish products. The programme is being implemented on the territory of large cities of Kamchatka,” highlighted Alexander Varkentin. 

The Amur River basin plays an important role in the fisheries industry of the Russian Federation. The river flows through several subjects of the Federation, many indigenous peoples live here. “All these factors determine the high social significance of fisheries in general,” said Denis Kotsyuk, who represented the Khabarovsk Branch of the Federal State Funded Research Institution VNIRO (KhabarovskNIRO), in his speech on “Small-Scale Fisheries and Their Prospects in the Amur River Basin”. 

“The prerequisites for the development of small-scale fisheries are a large extent, multispecies fisheries, high dynamics of the hydrological regime and the migratory ability of fish, when during a period of high water levels, fish enter floodplain lakes and channels,” the speaker continued. 

“In addition to the Lower Amur, Lake Khanka can be distinguished – one of the productive water bodies in the Amur River Basin, where you can catch from 500 kg to 5 tonnes of promising species of biological resources, not only fish, but also invertebrates and crustaceans,” Denis Kotsyuk noted in particular. 

“I am going to speak not as a lawyer, not as a biologist, but as a person with extensive legislative experience both in the State Duma and in the Federation Council. I wonder what we are talking about here. Pink salmon of the Russian north – 700 tonnes in the peak season – this equates to two nets in Sakhalin. It is about nothing,” began his speech Mikhail Glubokovsky, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Scientific Director of the Federal State Funded Research Institution VNIRO. 

“In fact, there are no small-scale fisheries in Russian legislation. We have amateur and sport fisheries. We have fisheries for indigenous peoples. Of course, these types of fisheries should be conserved. I participated in the drafting of the Law on Fisheries and formulated the concept of “coastal fisheries” myself. So, basically, it does not exist. Because numerous editions of the law on fisheries have led to the fact that this concept has become completely emasculated,” the authoritative expert harshly formulated his thoughts. 

“Initially, with the introduction of the category of coastal fisheries, it was assumed that the subject of the Federation would have the right to distribute quotas at the level of this subject. It was assumed that this would create jobs, that people would stay in the Far East. After all, the problem they wanted to solve was the outflow of workers. Have they solved this problem? No. Quotas were distributed to libraries, governors’ friends, who they were not given to. The problem has not still been resolved. 

Then they thought that the governors luxuriated too much, that their quotas should be taken away and distributed at the federal level. But only within the territorial sea, within the exclusive economic zone. Then they decided that this was not interesting either and now, in fact, coastal fisheries mean there is the right to fish everywhere. The only restriction is to bring this raw material to the shore chilled, not frozen. 

All this is a meaningless thing. Senseless for the regions, and for fishermen, and for filling local stores with fish. What it has come to: in February, in Kamchatka, I bought salmon at the market, and it cost the same as in Moscow. It is shameful. 

What would I do as a legislator? It is necessary to liquidate coastal fisheries as a class, single out a new type of fisheries, maybe call it small-scale or some other beautiful name. And in essence, this will mean entrepreneurial activity, which will be based in the subjects of the Federation and regulated by these subjects. You can buy a license, as in Africa, and catch fish for yourself, except for crabs and salmon. If you want to fish salmon, then pay the charge rate, that is, the minimum taxes, to confirm to Indigenous Peoples their right to fish. 

The United States also has such a norm, they have their own fisheries for the Indigenous Peoples. In Alaska, salmon, in fact, is also caught using small-scale fishing methods. Moreover, they have legally prohibited fixed nets, which are the main tool for catching Pacific salmon in Russia. Why? Not because they are harmful fishing gear, but because the authorities do not want the enlargement of fishing farms. They must be small. Thus, they have been developing their small business, have not allowed it to become too strong. In this situation, ordinary people could subsist as well, and our fish barons would live on crab, and acquire fortunes on pollock, we do not mind. Thank you!”, Professor Glubokovsky wished well-being to everyone. 

Oleg Kobiakov, concluding the session, noted that “for FAO, each such international year is an opportunity, firstly, to draw attention to the promotion of this type of product among those people who are engaged in its production, processing and bringing it to us, to consumers. The Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture is an opportunity to attract attention to the work of tens of millions of people in many countries of the world, including Russia. I assume that it would be reasonable to determine the format, framework, regulatory framework for such a phenomenon as artisanal fisheries and aquaculture, integrate it into the existing fisheries system and provide it with equal, perhaps somewhere preferential development conditions compared to other sectors of the fisheries complex.”