Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 174

PART 3 HIGHLIGHTS OF ONGOING STUDIES
conception of sustainabilit y, to recognizing the
social agency, well-being and livelihoods of
people working in the sector. Accordingly,
fisheries are not just seen as resources; they are
also viewed as sources of livelihoods (e.g.
income, food, employment), sites of expression of
cultural values and a buffer against shocks for
poor communities. The SSF Guidelines (FAO,
2015a) ref lect this evolution; their objectives
include realization of the right to adequate food
and the equitable socio-economic development of
fishers and fishing communities. Furthermore,
they promote a human rights–based approach
(HRBA) to achieve these objectives. HRBA in this
context refers to ensuring the non-discriminator y
and effective participation of fishers and fish
workers in transparent and accountable decision-
making processes, and addressing the root causes
of povert y such as discrimination,
marginalization, exploitation and abuse.
HRBA in fisheries has also been promoted at
other international and intergovernmental events
(see Box 23). In addition, the Southeast Asian
Fisheries Development Center focused on HRBA
in a workshop on a regional approach for the
implementation of the SSF Guidelines in 2017.
HRBA is also being emphasized at the national
level. Indonesia has adopted a legislative
framework on the protection of human rights in
the fisheries sector, with the technical assistance
of FAO. Costa Rica developed a draft law on
small-scale fisheries with specific reference to
human rights.
Poverty eradication trough collective action
HRBA has been increasingly recognized as a
programming principle in the United Nations
system, but experience with its application in
small-scale fisheries is limited. FAO has engaged
with partners in a number of venues to address
this gap. The Workshop on Exploring the Human
Rights–Based Approach in the Context of the
Implementation and Monitoring of the SSF
Guidelines, held in 2016 (Yeshanew, Franz and
Westlund, 2017), attended by experts from
governments, fisher organizations, civil societ y,
academia and intergovernmental institutions,
drew attention to: The SSF Guidelines also pursue povert y
eradication, a central goal of the 2030 Agenda.
The g uidelines aim to deal with the millions of
small-scale fishers around the world who live
close to, or in, povert y. They underline that
“Policies, strategies, plans and actions for
improving small-scale fisheries governance
and development … should be informed by
existing conditions, implementable and
adaptable to changing circumstances, and
should support communit y resilience” (FAO,
2015a). The key problem is that these fisheries-
dependent households are ignored and
marginalized, politically and otherwise,
because they do not usually appear under a
given povert y line. This invisibilit y in many
cases excludes them from inclusive pro-poor
development inter ventions.
„ „ the need to recognize the diverse existing
socio-legal and cultural norms and knowledge
systems in the governance of tenure;
„ „ the importance of fair, transparent and
participator y methodologies and processes for
recognizing diverse legitimate tenure rights;
„ „ the need for strengthened political will and
organizational capacit y to ensure intersectoral
coordination and to empower small-scale
fishers and their organizations to voice their
needs, concerns and interests;
„ „ the mainstreaming of HRBA in implementation
of the SSF Guidelines;
„ „ continuous exploration of HRBA application in
the small-scale fisheries sector, with
development of case studies and supporting
g uidance materials. Since povert y eradication is high on FAO’s
agenda, the Organization is evaluating possible
solutions, as well as their potential for
replication and upscaling. An FAO workshop on
strengthening collective action in fisheries
generated evidence on how povert y eradication
can benefit from collective action such as the
formation of small-scale fisheries stakeholder
and communit y organizations. The studies
presented show that strategies and solutions
must share common principles and be context
specific. They also demonstrate that small-scale
fishers and fishing communities often struggle
under the dominance of powerful actors within
and outside the fisheries sector that dictate the
politics of fisheries governance (Siar and
Kalikoski, 2016).
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