In view of the global evaluation of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) that will be carried out by the Commission in 2021, the author highlights the key points which will need to be assessed from the perspective of the impacts on African coastal communities. The author also suggests essential improvements to be made for the future of SFPAs so that they better respond to the needs of these communities.
Eva Martinez, an Ecuadorian lawyer expert in human rights and gender and working at the Centro de Derechos Económicos y Sociales (CDES), discusses with Andre Standing the complaint against the Galapagos debt-swap the CDES filed along with other civil society organisations. The complaint raised concerns about the lack of transparency, participation and effective accountability mechanisms as well as the loss of sovereignty of Ecuador to manage its natural resources.
In this short publication, prepared by Andre Standing, we contest the facts gathered in the preparatory note to the UN Ocean Conference panel focusing on unlocking finance for conservation of the oceans. We look at the false narrative of the funding gap and underscore the key criticisms facing these innovative finance tools, including debt-for-ocean swaps.
In this article, the author looks at the 0 draft political declaration of this high-level summit on Sustainable Development Goal 14 “life below water” in the light of the demands of SSF organisations participating at the conference. For this, she underscores the failure of UNOC to bring a human-rights approach to ocean conservation, echoing criticisms brought forward by UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights and Civil Society Organisations.
As the European Commission launches a campaign to promote the consumption of EU aquaculture products, several NGOs warn of worrying developments in the aquaculture sector and recall that some forms of aquaculture are harmful and impact the livelihoods of small-scale fishing communities across the world.
Hand in hand with financial giants, environmental NGOs wield increasing influence over natural resource management in debtor nations, undermining their sovereignty. The author warns against the rising financialization of conservation and calls for safeguarding the rights of local populations from the expanding influence of US financial interests.
The EU should guarantee rights-based and equitable decision-making processes about ocean uses, ensuring the protection of the most vulnerable facing more powerful blue economy industries. Taking into account the role of artisanal fisheries in food security and poverty eradication in developing countries, the EU should also support SSF and sustainable fisheries management in its ocean partnership with African countries.
Closing the funding gap for biodiversity conservation is one of the critical topics at COP 16 and has been estimated at US$700 billion in the report "Financing Nature" published in 2020. However, this article critiques the estimate, arguing it is based on flawed assumptions. Using fisheries as an example, the author questions its validity and urges rejection by those opposing the financialisation of conservation.
In this article, the author underscores the ecological and social impacts of Norwegian intensive salmon farming, including the impact on food security in West Africa. The author remarks that while on the one hand, the European Union promotes fish for human consumption in Africa, on the other, the EU also opens wide its market gates for Norwegian farmed salmon, which is fed West African fish.
This article covers TNC’s recent debt-for-ocean swap with Gabon, involving US$500 million worth of debt. In exchange, the Gabonese government has committed to protect up to 30% of the oceans. The author looks in detail at the deal (Part 1) and the conservation commitments (Part 2), explores the problems with this deal in terms of debt justice and of ocean governance, and develops its implications for coastal communities.
The European Parliament is set to give its consent at the end of May to the new Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) between the EU and Mauritius. This article outlines the challenges that Mauritian artisanal fisheries face and highlights the priorities for sectoral support in the future SFPA protocol to support this sector.
The FAO Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture can be improved by including the considerations of stakeholders that are currently facing the negative impacts of unsustainable aquaculture, and by openly addressing issues like the interactions with small scale fisheries, competing for coastal space and for access to resources like small pelagics in West Africa.
Joint statement - In the delivering on 30x30 and financing conservation, debt for nature swaps are gaining momentum. However, debt swaps should be rejected as they lack transparency and give undue power to foreign organisations over the policies of marine resources management of developing and small-island states.
The final declaration fails to appropriately acknowledge the role and importance of the biggest group of users of the ocean, - the artisanal fishers-, while it encourages private-public partnerships, capital market instruments and other forms of financing, that might end up destroying coastal fishing communities.
JOINT PRESS RELEASE: Small-scale fisheries are small in name only. Half a billion people – 7% of the global population – are at least partly dependent on them for food, employment and income. They are the largest group of ocean users, have contributed the least to the ocean emergency, and are among the most affected by it. Yet their needs, roles and rights are often ignored, and they are generally sidelined or excluded from major policy discussions that directly affect their lives and livelihoods.
The strategy of transforming seafood industry through voluntary partnerships and market-based incentives is the approach currently favoured by many environmental NGOs and donors. The case of Mauritania reduction fisheries “Fisheries Improvement Project” highlights the fundamental flaws with the corporate friendly approach and the urgent need to resist this model becoming normalised.
