“Nothing about us without us”: fishers draft rules of conduct for how to work with them to save the oceans

To mark the end of the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022), small-scale fisheries organisations from 5 continents followed up on their Call to Action (June 2022) and presented these guidelines to their partners and supporters

It was July 2022 at the end of the UN Oceans Conference (UNOC), and the fishers present in Lisbon made a final statement to reaffirm their rights. They had come to Portugal to present their Call to Action, 5 priorities to protect both the oceans and small-scale fishers. Yet, they had experienced first-hand side-lining, NGOs speaking on their behalf without asking for their consent, or the tweaking of their messaging. In their final statement, they recalled that they have “the right to our own voice. We do not need anyone […] to speak for us. […] We are here and our voice is strong.”

Click on the image to open the pdf.

The official final UNOC declaration also failed to appropriately acknowledge the role and importance of the biggest group of users of the ocean in its protection and conservation. But “[w]ho better than us, coastal communities from six continents, understands the ocean and its riches?” asked the fishers. “We are ready to work with you, decision-makers, donors, scientists and NGOs to save our ocean […]. But to work well together, we need consent, agreement, a definition of what a good partnership is.”

At the end of their statement, the fishers proposed to write a code of conduct which has finally resulted in these “Rules of conduct for working with small-scale fishers and fishworkers to save our ocean”. These guidelines are addressed mainly at those organisations that wish to work with SSF in the context of marine and coastal conservation. They are divided in 4 main topics: (1) SSF rights in the context of ocean conservation, (2) SSF participation and representation in decision-making, (3) SSF voice and messaging and, finally, (4) principles for financial and other types of support.

At the official online presentation to the supporters last 28 February, Ms. Antónia Adama Djaló, a woman fish processor from Guinea Bissau and vice-president of the African Confederation of Artisanal Fisheries Organisations (CAOPA), explained: “Our partners should refrain from supporting projects that contradict the demands of artisanal fisheries. There are, however, times when there are potential conflicts of priorities and we therefore also ask our partners to be transparent about the potential impacts.”

These Rules, endorsed by the main signatories of the Call to Action, are built on the Guidelines to secure sustainable small-scale fisheries, and other guidelines such as Free, Prior and Informed Consent and codes of conduct for conservation. “We expect that partners will voluntarily adopt these rules, as well as the Call to Action, so we can work together in true partnership to save our ocean and our communities,” concluded Hugh Govan, from the Locally Managed Marine Areas network (Pacific).

NOTE: As a supporting organisation and partner, the Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements, supports the Call to Action and adopts and agrees with these rules of conduct, and engages to abide by them to work in true partnership with small-scale fisheries.

Banner photo: Felicito Núñez, fisher from the Garifuna community in Honduras, Nancy Onginjo, chairperson of the Seychelles Fishermen and Boat Owners’ Association (FBOA), and Dawda Foday Saine, Gambian fisher and Secretary General of CAOPA at an informal dialogue with NGOs and civil society at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, June 2022. The aim was to open the dialogue on SSF perspectives on conservation with environmental NGOs and ask the wider civil society to support their call to action.

---