The imperative for a human-rights-based approach to development in aquaculture, especially in the post-COVID19 scenario, keeping in mind the need to strengthen or develop robust farmers’ and workers’ organizations, and improve the capacity of aquaculture authorities alongside civil society partners, was stressed in a Statement made by the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) at the Global Conference on Aquaculture +20 (GCA2020), organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), and hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, held during 22-25 September 2021 at Shanghai, China.
The Statement, made by Sebastian Mathew on behalf of ICSF on 24 September 2021 at the session on Social and Human Dimensions of Aquaculture, noted that there are cases of customary rights being extinguished or replaced with leasing arrangements for non-resident investors, access to fishing grounds being denied due to the location of shrimp farms or cage culture, share-cropping patterns being disrupted, and tenure rights of marginal farmers being threatened by changing land use.
There are further cases of multiuse village ponds becoming single-use fish farms, salinity intrusion leading to shortage of freshwater and distress sale of farmlands, and loss of biodiversity in freshwater, coastal and marine areas due to the introduction of exotic species, with implications also for local food security. There are reported cases of disruptions to local labour markets and depressed wages due to the unfair use of migrant labour, the Statement added.
As a desirable outcome of aquaculture development, both supply-side and demand-side
impetus to aquaculture should promote and protect the wellbeing of small-scale farmers, farm workers (including migrant workers), farm operators, farm owners and local communities. Women, Indigenous Peoples and people with disabilities are to be paid special attention, as the background paper to this session highlights. There is also need to promote conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity towards conserving biodiversity and protecting livelihoods, the Statement continued.
Pointing to the 2014 FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) as an instructive model to draw upon, the Statement advocated consultation and participation of both beneficiaries and affected parties in addressing grievances and finding viable and permanent solutions in the development of aquaculture policies and legislation.
The full text of the Statement can be found at demo2.icsf.net
2021 ICSF