From the 5th to 9th of September 2022, an IPC delegation attended the 35th session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in Rome to defend and promote artisanal fisheries and the rights of small-scale fishers communities.
This COFI35 was a pivotal moment for small-scale fishers and Indigenous Peoples, not only because 2022 is the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA), but also because, after two years of pandemic, COFI delegates and observers were finally allowed to attend the sessions in Rome in person. COFI35 was held in a hybrid mode, which allowed delegates from all over the world to participate in presence and online.
Despite the many challenges caused by the pandemic, the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC) worked hard to strengthen and expand its network and maintain momentum around the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines).
It had been four years since the last in-person meeting of the Working Group on Fisheries of the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereighty (IPC), which Crocevia facilitates. In fact, the pandemic had forced us to interact entirely online, with a strong negative impact on the advocacy capacities of social movements at the international level.
Finally, this year we returned to the field. A delegation of 35 IPC delegates, representing the 4 main IPC working group networks on fisheries (WFFP, WFF, IITC and La Via Campesina), met in Rome at COFI. The preparatory meetings offered the IPC delegates the opportunity to rebuild internal cohesion and solidarity, damaged by virtual work, and to define common messages and points to take to COFI.
From September 2nd to 4th, the IPC delegates also contributed to the first edition of the SSF Summit (the summit of artisanal fishers), organised with the support of FAO, the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) and the Small-Scale Fisheries Resource and Collaboration Hub (SSF Hub). For this occasion, we were responsible for organising an entire day dedicated exclusively to SSF organisations, opening a space for dialogue between them and proposing collaboration between movements at the regional level to ensure the implementation of the Guidelines on Small Scale Fisheries.
Then, between the 5th and 9th of September, we moved to FAO to follow the COFI governmental debate. The IPC Working Group on Fisheries prepared its statements on the issues it considers a priority and which were on the agenda. Sustainable development of fisheries and aquaculture in the context of a changing climate, better use of biodiversity, ensuring equitable growth for small-scale fishers, and eliminating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing were among the main topics discussed during the 35th session of COFI.
The IPC statements reiterated the lack of recognition for small-scale fishers and Indigenous Peoples, the challenges they face and the marginalisation of women fisherfolk, who do not enjoy equal rights in the sector. These challenges are often overlooked, while small-scale fishers and Indigenous Peoples are excluded from decision-making processes that directly affect their lives and livelihoods.
Furthermore, small-scale fishers and Indigenous Peoples continue to lose access to fishing territories and resources due to the increasing dispossession of fisheries resources in marine and inland territories globally. Once again, the IPC renewed its call for states to avoid false solutions, such as marine protected areas (MPAs) and marine spatial planning (MSP), while instead take effective measures to restore the legitimate traditional, customary or Indigenous property rights of fishing communities and redistribute these rights where they have been violated.
As in the previous COFI34 , the plenary discussion gave ample space and attention to aquaculture and its contribution to food security and sustainability, while the IPC does not endorse export-oriented aquaculture as a solution to the food crisis. In fact, the volumes of wild-caught fish and plant-based products, such as soy, needed to feed the rapidly growing aquaculture industry are simply not sustainable. The IPC therefore called on COFI members to work with small-scale fishermen and Indigenous Peoples to sustain and advance the value chains of local fishing communities, which can provide healthy and affordable food for communities.
The very existence of artisanal fishing communities is also threatened by climate change, environmental destruction and pollution. The IPC called on governments to implement plans and projects of nature restoration and protection. The impacts of climate change should be addressed by states based on the knowledge, information and solutions proposed by fishing communities, Indigenous Peoples and organisations.
During the 35th session of COFI, member states also discussed and agreed to proceed with the establishment of the Sub-committee on Fisheries Management, which will include a standing agenda item on small-scale fisheries. Unfortunately, this sub-committee will not be able to address the general issues related to small-scale fisheries, which are much broader in scope. Instead, the IPC felt that COFI should be strengthened and reinforced as the main platform for the involvement and discussion among different actors on small-scale fisheries issues. Finally, the IPC called on states to bring discussions on fisheries subsidies back from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to FAO and particularly COFI, to ensure that illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing is addressed in a democratic manner and that there is an opportunity to participate in negotiations.
The IPC also expressed its strong disappointment at the COFI president’s decision not to allow observers to speak during the discussions on the creation of the Sub-Committee on Fisheries, Biodiversity and Climate Change, justified with the lack of time. Following this decision, he allowed only one minute of intervention, once again denying artisanal fishermen and Indigenous Peoples the opportunity to speak, thus preventing the voice of millions of small-scale fishers from being brought to the attention of government delegations.
The IPC delegation contributed to the discussion by emailing all its statements to ensure they were uploaded on the COFI website, but at the moment only the IPC general statement is available.
