The period since the 1950s has seen the artisanal and small-scale fishworkers being increasingly threatened by development policies to promote active, capital-intensive fishing techniques on the one hand, and the emergence of a new regime of joint ventures and fisheries access agreements, on the other. Added to these, is the environmental degradation of coastal waters from land-based activities. Against this backdrop, the first-ever International Conference of Fishworkers and their Supporters was held in Rome in 1984, parallel to FAO's World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development. Over 100 fishworkers and their supporters from 34 countries attended the Conference. The salient aspects of artisanal and small-scale fisheries were highlighted at the Conference: "It is labour and skill intensive . . . capital and fuel-saving . . . its technology and mode of organization and management are well mastered by local fishing communities . . . it does not give rise to large income disparities . . . is well adapted especially to tropical aquatic ecosystems . . . and local fishing communities often possess built-in mechanisms and rules for preventing overfishing . . . it is innovative and easily amenable to efficient improvements . . . is characterised by a high degree of flexibility . . . is well integrated into small-scale marketing and distribution channels . . . The development of small-scale fisheries should not be advocated exclusively on social and welfare grounds . . . (but) should be supported for economic, technical, ecological, organizational as well as social reasons." The fishworkers were keen to reverse the process of their marginalization and to devise ways to coordinate their activities and to build up solidarity at the national, regional and international levels. Several fishworker organizations have since emerged or strengthened in Africa (Senegal, Madagascar), Asia (the Philippines, Thailand, India), and Latin America (Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil).

Formation of ICSF

On the basis of a request of fishworkers to their supporters at the Rome Conference, a Workshop on Issues in Fisheries Development comprising social scientists, marine biologists, anthropologists, economists, engineers, social activists and community organizers from 16 countries was held in Trivandrum, India, in 1986, to form a network for taking up the recommendations of the Rome Conference at the international level. The decision to form ICSF was taken at this meeting.

ICSF has now members in 17 countries. About 60 per cent of the members are from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Members hold their membership in their individual capacity. They are closely linked to some of the most active fishworker organisations in the world.

The priorities of ICSF are: first, communities, coastal resources and their management; two, trade, markets and investments in fisheries; three, alternative livelihoods and social well-being in fisheries; and four, understanding technological and environmental change and its impacts on fisheries.

The goals of ICSF are to: monitor issues that have relevance to the life and livelihood of fishworkers; disseminate information especially amongst the fisherfolk; prepare guidelines for programmes that would underscore just, participatory and sustainable fisheries development and management; and help create space and momentum for the development of alternatives in the small-scale fisheries sector.

Within the framework of sustainable utilization of fisheries resources, the major emphasis of the ICSF programme is to protect the rights of artisanal and small-scale fishworkers to a better life and livelihood from fisheries resources. Every three years, ICSF tries to hold an international conference of fishworkers and their supporters to review its programme and to draw up a triennial agenda in conformity with the requirements of fishworkers. The projects that have been undertaken include: the implications of North-South fisheries agreements; the viability of maritime zoning arrangements in resolving inter-gear conflicts; credit and insurance systems in the artisanal fisheries of Africa; and ecological, social and economic aspects of fishing gear selectivity.

Gender relations in fisheries is focused upon and a project, inter alia, to build-up the participation of women in fishworkers' organizations and decision-making processes is currently being undertaken and it has already completed in countries like India, the Philippines, Thailand, Senegal. It is ongoing now in Brazil and Ghana. Further, ICSF strengthens or assists in the formation of fishworkers' organizations at the national level and facilitates their participation in international decision-making processes. Through South-South and South-North exchange of fishworkers, efforts are made towards capacity-building of South-based fishworkers' organizations. Such exchanges are also undertaken to transfer passive fishing techniques from one country to another.

A magazine called Samudra Report is published thrice a year in English, French and Spanish to facilitate dissemination of information on fisheries-related issues. While efforts through research and exchange are being made to support the empowerment initiatives of fishworker organizations, campaigns to influence policy-making at the international and regional levels have been undertaken since 1989 to further the recommendations of the Rome Conference. These programmes are the most important ones for ICSF.

Campaign for equitable fisheries agreements

The first major campaign of ICSF was launched in 1989 for equitable fisheries agreements of the European Community with the ACP countries under the Lome Convention, especially with Senegal. The campaign was essentially in support of the struggle of the National Fishworkers Collective of Senegal (CNPS), to draw attention to how European vessels fishing under the Convention transgressed into the coastal waters and how this often led to accidental destruction of craft and gear and sometimes even loss of life of artisanal fishers. The campaign further drew attention to the contradiction between the interests of the State and those of the coastal communities in several countries having fisheries agreements with the North and other distant water fishing States. While the principal interest of the coastal developing State is often to generate hard currency to facilitate imports and to settle their foreign debts, that of the communities at the local level is to enjoy continued access to their fishery resources without any threat of disruption from the foreign fishing fleets. The campaign still continues and has now become the common concern of several NGOs, including ICSF, who formed a joint platform in 1994, called the Coalition for Fair Fisheries Agreements (CFFA). The concerted campaign at the European Commission and European Parliament in support of CNPS since 1989 has so far led to the recognition of the rights of artisanal fishworkers of Senegal to enjoy better access to their resources in the inshore waters. Also for the first time, the CNPS was represented at the 1994 negotiations for the renewal of fisheries agreements between the EU and Senegal. Its participation has resulted, inter alia, in the extension of the fishing zone reserved for artisanal fisheries, better monitoring and control mechanisms by the flag State, including observer coverage on board EU fishing vessels, and formation of a fund for artisanal fisheries development.

Campaigning the UNCED

The association with the UNCED process was to draw attention to important issues linked to the right to livelihood of artisanal and small-scale fishworkers as articulated at the Rome Conference. ICSF lobbied for formalizing fishworkers' right to participate in decision-making processes for formulation and implementation of policies with regards to fisheries developmentand management. The right of women to have equal opportunities with men in all activities related to fishing and fisheries management was emphasized. Greater selectivity of fishing gear and techniques was highlighted since the destructive impact of trawls was a major worry to artisanal fishworkers. The creation of an exclusive zone for small-scale fisheries was proposed since the artisanal fishworkers from Asia, Africa and Latin America were interested in such an exclusive fishing zone, free from industrial and trawling activities. Chapter 17 of Agenda 21, on the whole, has taken into consideration several concerns of artisanal fishworkers.

ICSF has also been involved in two other major campaigns to continue to share the lessons of the campaign for equitable EU fisheries agreements at a broader level: FAO’s Code of Conduct for responsible fisheries and the Campaign for the United Nations Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. Several of ICSF inputs were incorporated in the Code. The most significant contribution of ICSF is the adjunction of the notion of `preferential access' to traditional fishing grounds and resources in the Code. It is a significant milestone for the artisanal and small-scale fishing communities. The concerns of ICSF during the UN Conference, underscored the need for a holistic perspective on fisheries management as well as to combine human rights issues with conservation requirements.

About the future

The bitter lessons of rapid industrialization of fisheries in the 1960’s and 1970’s seem to have been learnt and increasingly attention seems to be turning towards artisanal and small-scale fisheries. At the global level, although the concern for sustainable utilization of fisheries resources has reached a state of consensus it is yet to translate into effective policies at the national and regional levels. Scant attention is paid to the failure of the market mechanism in ensuring sustainability of fisheries resources especially with respect to commercially valuable species. To complicate matters further, there are emerging private initiatives to undertake eco-labelling of fish—to certify fish as caught in sustainable harvesting methods—which could lead to unilateral decisions on what actually constitutes sustainability.

The mission of ICSF is to continue to strive for making the small-scale fisheries more visible, to help fishworker organizations to develop their points of view on various issues in fisheries and to undertake documentation and research to raise awareness on issues that are of concern to all fishworkers. ICSF will also continue to influence the vision of society on fisheries conservation issues especially in the light of the increasing influence of the market on decision-making processes. It will contribute to strengthening democratic institutions and in developing programmes for sustainable and socially responsible fisheries. It will support fishing communities and fishworker organizations to resist the adverse impact of globalization, from a perspective of equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries.

Sebastian Mathew (India)
Executive Secretary of ICSF

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