Artisanal fishing: too few fish?
Too few fish, too many large, high-powered fishing vessels filled to the gunwales with sophisticated tracking and netting equipment. And all with efficient freezing capacity and big storage tanks: What is left for the artisanal fishing community?
Fishermen on the coast of Senegal set off on a hazardous sea voyage, severely overladen with up
to 7 tonnes of ice to preserve their often meagre catch. The ice may last about 10 days but it now
takes two weeks to catch what used to be caught in a day.
Management of fisheries must be a priority if
fishermen are to sustain their livelihoods and those of the many people who are dependent on the
drying, processing and marketing of their catch. Management involves the design and implementation
of measures to monitor and control the amount, type and seasonality of fishing operations.
More than 15 million fishermen are employed either full or part-time, in small-scale or artisanal fisheries. In many poor, developing coastal states, fishing is the occupation of last resort. When farmers in Senegal find that they can no longer make a living off the land, they turn to the sea, often with disastrous results for they have no experience and there is little inclination for established fishermen to pass on good advice to a competitor.
Artisanal fisheries include some of the poorest and most neglected communitites within society for, without land, such communities often find themselves outside mainstream economic and political life. The goal must be to develop sustainable livelihoods, whether that comes solely from fishing or from other activities.
Practical projects carried out at village level are the focus of the programme for the Integrated Development of Artisanal Fisheries Programme, known as IDAF, in West Africa. Operating in 20 countries from Mauritania to Zaire, the guiding principles of IDAF are people's participation, especially women and youths, the mobilization of local effort and long-term technical support and in-service training. Started in the '80s, the programme also provides the framework within which to introduce new policies. For example, in 1996, a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, developed through international negotiation under the aegis of FAO, was unanimously approved by FAO member states, and is being adopted by many countries in an attempt to conserve stocks.
The Code sets out the principles and international standards of behaviour and good practice and seeks to promote equity, safety and sustainability in the production and marketing of fish. Fish stocks are, for the most part, common property and there is little or no incentive for individual fishermen to conserve them. A Code of Conduct is obviously a good starting point but putting the Code into practice is proving difficult for many States. This is where outside expertise can help and the UK government's Department for International Development is working with FAO in selected countries of West Africa to promote sustainable livelihoods of poor coastal and riparian communities through application of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.
