In this International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022), the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) has called on Asian governments, private parties, civil society organizations, and the international community to raise awareness of, and protect, the traditional/customary tenure rights of small-scale fishing communities to land and water bodies through the implementation of the SSF Guidelines within a human rights-based approach.

In a Statement, made on 8 May 2022 at Bangkok during the Asia Workshop: IYAFA 2022 – Celebrating Sustainable and Equitable Small-scale Fisheries, ICSF pointed to the need to protect traditional/customary tenure rights, to restore these rights if they be denied, and to provide reparation and just compensation to affected communities, should these rights be annulled, after due consultation.

The Workshop was attended by participants from 11 South and Southeast Asian countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam) that account for nearly 30% of global capture fishery production (marine and inland) and nearly 45% of the world fishers’ population.

The Statement expressed concern about the loss of traditional/customary tenure rights of small-scale and Indigenous Peoples to water bodies and land to live, operate fishing gear, and to process and market fish (especially for women), including the drying of fish. Such loss occurs as a result of: reclamation/conversion for tourism-related activities; creation of special economic zones; real estate projects; navigable waterways; coastal aquaculture, wind farms and power plants; infrastructure development, including ports; compulsory resettlement of fishing families; and impoverishment of fishers to wage labour or contract labour in fish farms and other forms of marginalization.

Implementing the SSF Guidelines, the Statement concludes, can promote justice and fair treatment of men and women, protect the tenure rights of small-scale fishing communities and promote participatory and effective management regimes, as well as help achieve the social development of children, youth, men and women of fishing communities and Indigenous Peoples in coastal and riparian areas.

The full text of the Statement is available at:

https://www.icsf.net/resources/icsf-iyafa-2022-asia-workshop-statement/

For more, please visit: :

https://www.icsf.net/resources/asia-workshop-iyafa-2022-celebrating-sustainable-and-equitable-small-scale-fisheries/