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fisheries and aquatic

environments in GIAHS

Anne McDonald Sophia University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies 28 April 2014 Rome, FAO Headquarters

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For the people, By the people GIAHS numbers speak: global overview small-scale

fishers

approximately 90% of the world’s fishers are small-scale fishers

collectively they harvest close to 50% of the global fish catch designated for human consumption

‘their importance to food security, poverty alleviation and poverty prevention is becoming increasingly appreciated….the lack of institutional capacity and the failure to include the sector in national and regional development policies hamper their potential contribution’ (FAO, 2012)

fisheries and aquatic environments

in designated GIAHS site examples

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China: rice-fish agriculture

According to The State of the World Fisheries and Acquaculture 2012:

China is the main producer of rice-fish culture. With an area of about 1.3 million ha of rice fields producing 1.2 million tonnes of fish and other aquatic animals in 2010

Fish production from rice fields has increased thirteen fold since the 1990s and is one of the most important aquaculture systems, making it a significant contribution to rural livelihoods and food security

Almost 14 million people (26 percent of the world total) are engaged as fishers and fish farmers in China

Global outlook: approximately 16.6 million (about 30 percent of all people employed in the fisheries sector) were engaged in fish farming in 2010.

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Noto’s Satoyama Satoumi Japan

fisheries and marine related activities:

1) Female ama divers of Wajima, Noto: gender and cultural identity as elements of resource management

1) Artisanal salt makers of Suzu, Noto: land-sea resource use and management

1) Fisher festivals throughout the satoumi communities of the peninsula: re-affirming cultural heritage

+ adding on/developing fisheries

connections with GIAHS potential sites Listed on the GIAHS official website as potential GIAHS sites.

Official designation forthcoming.

+ Catamaran Fishing

Tamil Nadu, India

Boats are an important element of fishing

technology. Artisanal boat building are

ingenuous examples of low-tech, low-cost, low-

impact in fisheries. Technology often defines

the activities of a fishing community; moreover

those technologies that are utilized will often

shape the dynamics and organization of a

fishing community’s interconnected cultural

practices.

Recommend inclusion of the 5,000 women

who free-dive to collect seaweed in the Gulf of

Mannar, Tamil Nadu. Like the catamaran, these

women employ low-impact low-cost

technologies that have been transmitted over

generations and is the primary source of

livelihood for many a household . Their

livelihood is under threat as the waters they

have traditionally harvested in now lie in the

borders of an MPA which since 2000 bans

resource extraction from national parks.

+ Building GIAHS: future potential GIAHS sites with

strong fisheries connections

These are intended solely as a beginning point on discussions of

how to further build fisheries and aquatic environments in GIAHS.

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Ahupua`a, traditional watershed

management, Hawai’i, USA

Connecting land and sea, Ahupua`a is the foundation of the guiding principles for watershed management in Hawai’i. Built on native Hawaiian knowledge, principals and practices promoting collaborative community-based resource management connecting land to sea, Ahupua`a is an example of a dynamic holistic approach to resource management.

+ Building GIAHS: focusing on community empowerment in exploring

new site potentials

As their small-scale famer counterparts in GIAHS, marginalized, impoverished small-scale fisher communities who are often among the most vulnerable of global citizens would benefit from inclusion in GIAHS.

The following are merely examples intended as a starting point for discussions on what kind of fisheries and aquatic environment to consider from the global community for inclusion in GIAHS.

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Alo-Ewe beach seine fishers,

Gulf of Guinea, Ghana

Fishing as a way of life has continued for centuries along the Western cast of Africa. Known as the nomadic fishers whose artisanal fisher heritage and identity is closely linked to following the migration of fish along the coastal waters of the West Africa, they are also known as artisanal boat builders and guardians of knowledge of fish migration patterns.

Both the livelihoods of these nomadic fishers/boat builders and the marine resources they rely on are under threat. GIAHS designation could potentially contribute to working with these local fishers and policy makers in the region to develop sustainable approaches to resource management that are environmentally sounds but also historically, culturally and socially relevant.

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Subsistence farmers + Commercial

small-scale fishers Marshall Point, Pearl Lagoon, Nicaragua

At Rio+20, FAO sent a clear message to the global community about its commitment to ensuring sustainable futures for farming and fishing communities. GIAHS is critical, if not the potential key, to facilitating and achieving the objectives set out by FAO at Rio+20.

Community empowerment by recognizing marine tenure and re-aligning traditional community-based resource management approaches with the development of MPAs could contribute to socio-economic and environmental sustainability for these marginalized subsistence farmer coastal communities.