In a “landmark decision” a fisheries committee under the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has decided to highlight small-scale fisheries with new international guidelines.
In a comment on the decision by the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) said that it, and a line of other similar groups, had been advocating such an instrument since 2008. This in order to “address the problems continuing to face small-scale and artisanal fishworkers and fishing communities across the world”.
The guidelines to be developed are intended to complement the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF), drawing on relevant existing instruments.
The Committee agreed that the new instrument be voluntary in nature, address both inland and marine fisheries and focus on the needs of developing countries. The Committee recommended that all stakeholders be associated, as appropriate, with its development.
More than 20 countries supported the decision in COFI.
ICSF and its allies among small-scale and artisanal fishing and indigenous peoples groups however said they were disappointed that the new instrument was to focus primarily on the needs of developing countries. This focus, they said, had emerged after interventions by the European Union and the Unites States.