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.
Reading time: 8 minutes.
The upcoming United Nations Ocean conference (UNOC) is bringing a lot of anticipation among those willing to see progress in ocean governance and conservation.
Emmanuel Macron, president of the host country, expects great outcomes, with the presence of several Heads of State and commitments by countries in terms of ratification of agreements (BBNJ, WTO fishing subsidies) or funding of ocean science and conservation. The European Economic and Social Committee , a European body representing the organized voice of European civil society has recalled that this conference “cannot let anyone down after two mixed editions.”
Small-scale fisher (SSF) organisations expect to be heard during this 3rd edition. Sustained efforts since UNOC 2 by fisher and support organisations have yielded fruit with a dedicated ocean panel on ‘sustainable fisheries including supporting small-scale fisheries’. However, small scale fishers want more. In a letter to the co-facilitators of the political declaration draft, SSF organisations have asked that it “should clearly spell out the importance of [the SSF] sector participation in decision-making.”
1. The problem with the UN Oceans Conference
UNOC has repeatedly been criticized by Civil Society organisations for the shift “towards voluntary commitments” which “dilutes the agency and democratic practices upheld by the UN bodies.” In an interview, Mr. Poivre d’Arvor, special envoy of the President for UNOC, played down criticisms of lack of tangible outcomes: “This is only the 3rd edition of this conference, while in the same year there is the 30th COP for the climate.” This is a remarkable statement because UNOC cannot be compared to Conference of the Parties (CoP). Whereas COPs are supreme governing bodies of an international convention, the UNOC is a high-level event where the outcome is a simple political “declaration of intentions” agreed upon in advance by the countries.
Being separated from global transparent decision-making processes, the problem with UNOC is that it does not have to abide by the principles underlying those processes. For all this talk about ocean action in the zero draft, key questions are not being answered: what actions are we talking about? What are we saving the ocean for (or from?)? And for whom?
2. Why small-scale fishers matter: their identity as right-holders
In her latest report, presented at the 58th session of the Human rights Council (February-April 2025), Astrid Puentes Riaño, the UN Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, called “States and society” to recognize that “ocean issues are also human rights issues.” Indeed, coastal communities have a right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment and the ocean, which they care for, is a provider of health and water for them. Coastal communities also have a right to food and the ocean, which they care for, is a provider of food for them. “Ultimately, it is impossible to separate conservation from human rights”, concluded the UNSR on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, in his report on Fisheries.
Women in fisheries play a key role bringing affordable and nutritious food to the poorest populations. In this photo, Béninois women fish processors show a tray of an “improved oven”, where they dry the fish to conserve it longer in the hottest climates. Photo: CFFA.
If the ocean is key for all life on earth, a seemingly reasonable question would be to ask why SSF should take precedence over other stakeholders. Small-scale fishers are the most numerous group of users of the ocean providing food, jobs, livelihoods, culture and welfare to populations. More specifically in developing countries, they guarantee protein intake for the poorest, channeling nutritious food to those most disadvantaged. Coastal communities have also been the guardians of the oceans for times immemorial.
The current global tendency towards multistakeholderism contends that all stakeholders sit around the table, but it is blurring the principles embodied in human rights, as have several UN Special Rapporteurs been warning for a while. The reality is that sitting around the table, whether it is for ocean conservation or for dividing a piece of the big “blue economy” cake, small-scale fishers’ voice is the weakest due to power imbalance in decision-making.
The UNSR on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment stated that in addressing ocean governance, “priority must be given to securing the ocean-related rights of small-scale fishers […] through participatory, transparent and accountable processes.”
Furthermore, states have an obligation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the seas (UNCLOS, 1982) to manage sustainably the resources from the ocean, especially in their EEZ, with particular attention to “the economic needs of coastal fishing communities and the special requirements of developing States” (Art. 61.3 UNCLOS). Taking into account the recognized role small-scale fisheries play in food security and poverty eradication, the Code of Conduct for responsible fisheries (1995) explicitly calls States to “appropriately protect the rights of fishers and fishworkers, particularly those engaged in subsistence, small-scale and artisanal fisheries, to a secure and just livelihood, as well as preferential access, where appropriate, to traditional fishing grounds and resources in the waters under their national jurisdiction” (CCRF, 6.18).
Sustainable small-scale fisheries and thriving coastal communities’ priorities should be at the heart of any ocean action.
3. What do small-scale fishers want?
If SSF priorities should be at the heart of ocean action, then it is fair to know what they are asking out of the UN Oceans conference. A key document for this is their own “Call to action”, launched at UNOC 2 in Lisbon, which identifies 5 priorities of action to reach SDG 14b “securing access to resources and market for small-scale fisheries.” In it they ask for preferential access to coastal areas, for recognition of the role of women in fisheries and their participation in decision-making, for transparency in ocean governance, for protection against more powerful blue industries and finally, for support in building strong climate-resilient communities.
Based on this Call, and taking inspiration of other key documents which have a human-rights based approach (the SSF Guidelines and the Kunming-Montreal agreement), they have written to the co-facilitators of the 0-draft political declaration pinpointing several concerns they see in the draft.
a) SMALL-SCALE FISHERS’ identity as right-holders recognized and respected
“Nobody has more at stake than us in achieving our mutual aims,” state the Rules of conduct to work with SSF in the context of ocean conservation, a set of Guidelines addressed at organisations and partners that wish to work with small-scale fishers in the context of marine and coastal conservation. Too often they are forgotten in decision-making, with decisions about the territories where they live, affecting their tenure and access rights, coming from the top.
In their letter to the co-drafters, they quote the UNSR on the right to a clean environment and argue that “the conservation of the sea and its resources will depend on a clearly inclusive and equitable conservation that considers us under a human rights approach.”
B) SMALL-SCALE FISHERS’ access to coastal areas and resources secured and guaranteed
Fishers see with concern what the UNSR on the right to food calls the “commodification and financialization of the oceans,” covered under the veil of “sustainable blue economy”. Too often “we have had to defend ourselves against more powerful industries, that compete with us for space and access to resources, often polluting and destroying our environment, our territories, our culture,” they continue in their letter, and point at governments and businesses of supporting this “with little interest in the social and environmental impacts it generates.”
They quote their Call to Action, which calls states to protect them from “large and destructive industries that come to our territories of life to take away our land, sea and our fundamental human rights.” For this, they call governments to secure tenure and access rights, and protect 100% of coastal areas, which should be co-managed between the right-holders (coastal communities) and government.
This latter idea has been actually taken up by the OACPS fisheries and aquaculture decision-makers in their ministerial declaration (Sept 24), which sees an opportunity in co-management and how it can contribute to Target 3 of Kunming Montreal GBF: “Encourage effective fisheries management through co-management systems for 100% of all coastal areas […] implementing artisanal stewardship areas, to promote effective and inclusive co-management of small-scale fishing areas and to contribute to the global targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework”.
C) Small-scale fishers’ contribution to ocean conservation and science heard, recognized and put to use
The UN Oceans conference 0-draft declaration puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of funding conservation, but fails to recognize the tremendous efforts and actions already carried out by indigenous peoples and local communities living near the ocean, including small-scale fishers, in conserving, protecting and sustainably managing the ocean. The last part of the draft political declaration resembles more to an investment briefing than a political statement. Small-scale fishers denounce that these are “private and market-based conservation tools that, have, until now, excluded us and jeopardised our future.”
Conservation finance has become dominant in the efforts to avert the climate crisis and reverse biodiversity loss. Tools such as blue bonds and debt-for-oceans swaps are however being criticised for the lack of participation and information of the communities that are impacted by these deals. Photo: A beach seine in Benin, CFFA.
Indeed, an increasing trend in global conservation, prioritizing “ocean action” seems to be only about making the ocean more profitable for the rich ( “an attractive investment opportunity”, “encourage the creation of financial instruments”, “blended finance mechanisms”) instead of supporting those who make a livelihood from it, feed populations, help eradicating poverty and have been protecting it for millennia. SSF continue, “these top-down market-based tools, applied without secure tenure rights or access rights to our fishing areas, promote a type of conservation that excludes and impoverishes us,” and they call for their free, prior and informed consent to be respected. Their knowledge and contribution “not only be recognized per se, but valued in terms of the urgency with which the ocean crisis needs to be addressed.”
Conclusion
Amid many political and voluntary declarations, States have taken previous commitments which are binding. A sustainable, just and equitable ocean governance could be reached with political will and implementation of tools that are already in place. Among these, we should highlight those linked to human rights.
Indeed, at the core of the problem is the lack of a human rights-based approach into the UNOC process. Internationally agreed documents recognize not only the contribution of SSF, but also the need for sustainable fisheries management while acknowledging the vulnerability of SSF facing other competitors for the coastal space and access to waters. Prior to any new investment or ocean use, what needs to be guaranteed are the title, tenure, access and resource rights of coastal communities, who depend on access to the ocean for their livelihoods. A truly equitable and fair approach to ocean governance cannot ignore these principles.
Banner photo: Four members of a fishing community in Agoué pull the rope of a beach seine, in Benin, by CFFA.
Recent studies show that, while these closures can momentarily lead to increased fish sizes and abundance, their socio-economic impact on fishing communities is dire.