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.
In this declaration on the occasion of World Fisheries Day, CFFA calls on the European Union to integrate the FAO Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale fisheries into all its policies that have an impact on this sector, particularly in the Blue Economy and Farm to Fork strategies and in its external action.
This position paper explores the false promises of industrial aquaculture, highlights the key sustainability issues of promoting farming of carnivorous fish species, such as salmon, underscores the environmental and social impacts throughout the whole value chain and explains why the EU should stop promoting seafood coming from industrial aquaculture and instead focus on promoting sustainable small-scale and low impact fisheries and aquaculture.
The launch on Friday of the report on oceans by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is an opportunity to challenge the ecological credentials of the ‘blue growth’ concept. This dangerously claims that economic growth in ocean industries can be done in a sustainable way. However it is now urgent that this unproven claim is scrutinised, and alternatives to economic growth for ocean economies are given more serious attention.
The idea of the blue economy, presented on the international stage at Rio+20, has led to a surge in interest for achieving 'blue growth'. The idea of blue growth has led to different interpretations, including the EU's Blue Growth Strategy and the FAO's Blue Growth Initiative. For the small-scale sector these efforts to achieve blue growth offer both opportunities and risks. The policy implications need to be considered further so that small-scale fishers can play a proactive role in shaping blue growth reforms and investments.
