A new publication by the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) focusing on the challenges presented by social relations and dynamics in the fisheries sector in South Africa in the context of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines), adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is now available.
Drawing on the content of the SSF Guidelines adopted by the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in 2014 as the backdrop, the ICSF publication, written by ICSF Member, Jackie Sunde, explores the implications of the SSF Guidelines for small-scale fisheries (SSF) in South Africa from the perspective of a human-rights-based approach to fisheries. South Africa has committed to the implementation of these Guidelines, and the SSF policy that will be implemented in the coming months commits the State to implement this SSF policy in the context of international and regional agreements on sustainable fisheries to which South Africa is a party.
This publication is one in a series of publications by ICSF that aim to contribute towards socially just and sustainable fisheries through implementation of the SSF Guidelines. Entitled ‘Social Relations and Dynamics Shaping the Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on Small-scale Fisheries in South Africa’, the study aims to deepen understanding of the social relations shaping the waters in which both the new SSF policy in South Africa and the SSF Guidelines will be implemented.
The study indicates that a range of unequal power relations shape the location of SSF fishers within the political economy of fisheries in South Africa and impact the way in which the SSF Guidelines and the SSF policy are being interpreted and will be implemented. Racial, class, gender and historical rural-urban divides intersect these power relations and shape the experiences of different groups of SSF fishers and their communities. These intersectionalities have shaped responses to historical power relations as well as shaped how SSF communities have responded to developments in the post-democracy period.
The study highlights the challenges facing small-scale fishing communities and suggests key entry points which may offer strategic opportunities to strengthen compliance with the principles of the SSF Guidelines and the SSF policy. It includes an analysis of national legislative and policy commitments of relevance to the SSF Guidelines and highlights the extent to which the content of the SSF Guidelines forms part of existing obligations of the State in South Africa.
This study, and the other studies in this series, will be of use to fishing communities, social activists, researchers, scientists, policymakers and others interested in the protection of marine biodiversity and the promotion of sustainable, human-rights-based fisheries management.
The study can be downloaded from http://demo2.icsf.net/en/monographs.html
2016 ICSF