Saving Seafood

‘Marine conservation talks must include human rights’: Q&A with biologist Vivienne Solís Rivera

March 29, 2022 — Human rights, such as those of small-scale fishers, must be included in the global conservation goal to protect 30% of the world’s lands and oceans by 2030, say environmentalists, otherwise this proposed conservation target will fail and the livelihood of Indigenous people and local communities (IPLCs) around the world will be jeopardized.

This is the urgent message in a new open letter directed at policymakers gathered in Geneva this month to finalize the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which will be presented at the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CDB) conference, COP15, in China this April.

The open letter – created by the IPLC marine conservation organization Blue Ventures and signed by fishers, farmers, conservationists, environmentalists, human rights advocates and scientists around the world – refers explicitly to Target 3 of the framework, also known as 30×30. This target has been lauded internationally as an ambitious goal to protect 30% of the world’s lands and oceans by 2030, as the world faces a biodiversity crisis and mass species extinction.

But authors of the open letter point out that simply creating more reserve areas without IPLC inclusion is a flawed strategy. Too often, protected areas lead to displacements of IPLCs in the name of nature conservation.

Read the full story at Mongabay

Hawaiʻi nearshore fishery provides big benefits

August 16, 2017 — The monetary, social and cultural importance of Hawaiʻi nearshore fisheries has been examined by researchers in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management (NREM). The study argues that fully appreciating the multitude of benefits the nearshore fishery provides to society is a crucial step towards sustainable management.

The multi-year study tracked commercial and noncommercial reef-fish value chains, which was conducted as a collaboration between researchers in the College of Tropcial Agriculture and Human Resources and Conservation International Hawaiʻi. The study, “Follow that fish: Uncovering the hidden blue economy in coral reef fisheries,” was published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE.

Small-scale fisheries support the well-being of millions of people around the world—even in a well-developed economy such as Hawaiʻi’s, they provide important economic as well as social benefits. The total annual monetary value of the fishery is approximately $10.3 to $16.4 million. The non-commercial fishery in particular provides huge benefits to the community—non-commercial catch is around three times reported commercial catch and is worth $4.2 to $10 million more annually.

Read the full story at University of Hawai’i News

Too Big To Ignore explores challenges to sustainable development of local fisheries

August 10, 2017 — Two years after FAO member states agreed to adopt a human rights-based approach to governing the small-scale fisheries in their countries, researchers invested in the development of small-scale fisheries have released a book outlining progress made in implementing those reforms and the challenges in doing so.

The book, “Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines: Global Implementation,”  reviews countries’ efforts thus far to implement the human rights-based principles, otherwise known as  Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries, at the local level. Comprising essays and case studies by more than 90 authors from academia, the FAO, and civil society, it also considers the need to contextualize the guidelines to fit local circumstances.

Edited by researchers associated with Too Big To Ignore, a research network and global partnership dedicated to the promotion and support of small-scale fisheries, the book considers case studies in 34 countries, including the Pacific, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.

Read the full story at Seafood Source