Food security
Beatrice Gorez
New report from Changing Markets Foundation ...

The research presents evidence that this production for use of global aquaculture supply chains is precipitating the collapse of stocks and compromising food security

New report from Changing Markets Foundation highlights the catastrophe provoked by fishmeal factories in The Gambia

Attempt to reintroduce foreign pelagic trawlers in Senegalese waters - can the Council of Ministers authorise what is not legal?

The allocation of fishing licenses to foreign pelagic trawlers made the news in the last weeks: Senegalese were surprised to read the 13 December Council of Ministers press release, which read: ‘The Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs discussed the issue relating to the granting of fishing licenses to foreign vessels’. The decision of the President of Senegal was to ‘extend the biological rest, and to freeze the granting of fishing licenses to foreign owners for a period of at least one year’.

Things need to be clarified: a fishing license is the document that industrial fishing vessel must have to be allowed to carry out fishing activities, while the biological rest is a fisheries management measure whose objective is to reduce fishing pressure and which, combined with other measures, can contribute positively to recovery of overexploited resources and support the sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources. The foreign vessels referred to in this press release are the pelagic freezer trawlers flying the flag of Russia, Lithuania and flags of convenience. These boats, commonly called the "Russian vessels" were illegally authorized by the former Minister, between 2010 and 2012, to fish in Senegalese waters. The decision of the President means therefore that he wants the freezing of the licensing of these vessels for at least one year.

What does Senegalese Law say? The Senegalese law (98-32 of 14 April 1998) states in Article 16: ‘fishing vessels flying foreign flags are allowed to operate in waters under Senegalese jurisdiction, either under a fisheries agreement between Senegal and the flag State or organization that represents the flag state state, or when chartered by natural or legal persons of Senegalese nationality’. Decree 98-498, article 23 further states that: "chartering foreign fishing vessels by legal persons of Senegalese nationality may be allowed only in exceptional cases, by the Minister of Marine Fisheries, to face supply difficulties of local processing industries." Pelagic freezer trawlers are not part of the list of chartered boats that are allowed.

The argument of the former Minister for issuing illegal fishing licences to the Russian vessels was that ‘Some shared resources in the high seas, essentially sardines and mackerel, are insufficiently exploited by our national fleet (industrial and artisanal). The result is a loss for our country. Senegal has therefore sovereignly decided to exploit those resources for public benefit, like other countries in the subregion.

Such arguments don’t hold water: first of all, sovereignty cannot be exercised illegally. Currently, there is no law or regulation in force that allows such fishing operation to happen. It will remain so,unless the legislation was to be changed.

Secondly, the sustainability of such operations targetting small pelagics is questionable:

◦ The CECAF/FAO Working Group assessment of small pelagic off North-West Africa, composed of experts from 14 countries, concluded at its last session held in May 2011 in Casablanca, that "the sardinella stock is currently overfished and such overfishing presents a serious risk to the continuity of industrial but also artisanal fleets activities";

◦ A lack of fish estimated at 3 million tonnes could also occur at the level of our sub-region by 2015 if such resources were to diminish drastically because of over exploitation (source Mariama Barry, CRODT);

◦ The ‘Russian’ trawlers are factory vessels of 100 to 120 meters in length and with tonnage between 3142 and 7765 GRT. Catches are either frozen on board, processed for human consumption, or transformed into fish oil and fish meal. The pelagic trawl gear they use is devastating, as they pick up everything in their path, pelagic fish as well as groundfish;

Changing the law, or signing a fisheries agreement with the flag states involved are the two possibilities for licensing such vessels – neither should be considered, given the state of overfishing of our resources and the poor fishing practices of these trawlers. Senegal has, by contrast with other countries of the region like Mauritania and Morocco, with which they share the small pelagic resources, a very active artisanal fleet targetting these stocks, which is responsible for 85% of the landings in the country. 80% of animal protein consumed by the 13 million Senegalese comes from fish, with a consumption of 26 kg / person / year. It provides 17% of direct and indirect jobs: 54,000 artisanal fishermen using 18,000 canoes. Finally, it represents 12.7% of export earnings.

Questions ◦ Was it appropriate for the Ministry to submit to the Cabinet a proposal for the licensing of ‘Russian ships’, since the legislation does not allow it?

◦ Cancelling these licenses in April, to propose to issue new ones in December seems a bit messy – how does that stand with the good governance promoted by the government?

◦ If it was so important to licence these Russian ships, why not explore the legal possibilities that exist: a fisheries agreement or a amendment to the law, to be transmitted to the National Assembly for adoption?

Is not it time to finally close this painful episode which raises so much passion? One much more pressing issue is to find sustainable fishing possibilities for our fishermen from Saint Louis, as it is not safe to rely only on licenses provided by the fisheries agreement with Mauritania. Should this not concern us more than trying to licence Russian pelagic trawlers?

Note: The full text is available in French, from the contribution of Dr Diouf ‘Tentative avortée de réintroduction de chalutiers pélagiques étrangers dans les eaux sénégalaises : le Conseil des Ministres peut-il autoriser ce que la Loi en vigueur ne permet pas’ on : http://www.aprapam.org/2012/12/20/t...

,

The European Parliament echoes the concerns regarding the lack of transparency in the EU-Mauritius FPA and protocol : the EU Delegation in Mauritius gives some answers

,

A new FPA and its protocol were signed between EU and Mauritius in February 2012. The final ratification has not occurred yet but criticisms are rising regarding this agreement. A number of organizations linked to the fishery sector in Mauritius expressed their worries on the way the negociations of the FPA and the protocol were conducted. They condemn in particular the lack of transparency and lack of public consultations of stakeholders, which would be in contradiction with the Aarhus convention. The EU delegation in Mauritius issued a press release which answers partially to these concerns. It is said that the fishworkers’ trade union was indeed consulted as all the stakeholders to the agreement. Others meeting were also organized with the Delegation and fishworkers organizations, as well as a meeting in may 2012. It is reminded that the FPA is a commercial agreement and therefore some informations regarding the partner country shall remain confidential.

Regarding the matter of stocks overexploitation, the fishing opportunities are based on the best scitific advices and management recommendations suggested by the scientific committee of the IOTC and the latest report says that none of the stocks targeted by the EU fleet are overexploited. Besides, one of the objectives of the protocol is to avoid any conflicts between the industrial fleets and small scale fisheries. The species targetted by the EU fleets are not the one landed by the small scale fisheries. It is emphasized that the fish is not sold off by the EU and that the aim of the financial compensation is to help developping the fishery sector in Mauritius, taking economic governance and fisheries sustainability into account.

Sources:

,

Small scale fisheries take priority in the discussions on the CFP reform

,

On the 22nd of November 2012, MEPs supported an initiative on small-scale and coastal fishing tabled by MEP João Ferreira, member of the PECH Committee. According to this resolution, small-scale fisheries are in a critical situation because the resource crisis has a greater impact on these small-sized businesses, which currently represent about three quarters of the EU fishing fleet (65 000 boats). A recent European Parliament study showed that small-scale fleets create about 55 % of all jobs on board fishing vessels, while producing just 27 % of the total value of the landings. Employment has declined by 10 to 30 % between 2000 and 2010. The Parliament asks for a fisheries policy that takes account of the specific characteristics of the small-scale fleets. This includes relative high job creation, and mostly fishing with passive gear. The few female workers in fisheries are generally employed in the small-scale segment. In its resolution the Parliaments asks for specific measures for preferential access to fish resources, fleet management, public aid, and market measures.

In its proposals for the CFP reform, the Commission confirms the importance of the small-scale fisheries in Europe. They are likely to benefit the most from a reformed fisheries policy based on a clear and time-bound obligation to manage stocks at MSY levels and to eliminate discards. The reform package contains an increased the number of measures that are specifically useful for small-scale fisheries, in particular access to funding under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). Small-scale vessels can also expect a higher aid intensity (75 % instead of 50 %) under the EMFF. As for the financial allocation of funds to Member States, the share of small-scale fleets in the wider national fleet is an important parameter for increasing the financial allocation. The European Parliament’s resolution will further boost the profile of small-scale fisheries during the next debates on the CFP reform.

Sources:

Guinea, Togo, Fiji and more risk EU trade sanction for lack of cooperation on IUU fishing

The European Union is warning eight nations from around the world to improve their fight against illegal fishing or risk sanctions. EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki said that naming Belize, Cambodia, Fiji, Guinea, Panama, Sri Lanka, Togo and Vanuatu did not mean they were put on a black list, but rather they were given a warning without measures attached to it at the moment. If the nations concerned do not cooperate they could face trade and other sanctions in the fisheries sector.

Sources:

,

African Women Fishworkers conference on fish and food security

,
7980d-womanfishworker2csenegal..jpg

Around sixty women artisanal fishworkers from 16 African countries are expected in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, this Sunday 18 November, for a three day conference organised by the African Confederation of Artisanal Fishing Organisations, CAOPA, with the collaboration and support of its partners SSNC, EED, ICSF, REJOPRAO and CFFA. This Conference aims at gathering women’s views and putting forward their proposals on how to improve the contribution of fisheries to food security in Africa. The Conference will be introduced by a video message from Olivier de Schutter, the United Nations Special rapporteur on the Right to Food, addressed to the women participants. The participants proposals will feed into in a series of processes affecting the future of African small scale fishing communities, in particular the FAO process for developing international guidelines for securing sustainable small scale fisheries. The results of the conference will also be presented during the celebration of the World Fisheries day, in Abidjan, on November 21st 2012.

Participating countries: Tunisia, Mauritania, Sénégal, Cape verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Mali, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Congo, Gabon, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso

Mauritanian civil society demands the implementation of the FPA with the EU

A Mauritanian civil society Round table discussion was held in Nouakchott on October 14-15 2012, organised by Pêchecops and the FNP, on the following topic: “The proposed protocol to the EU-Mauritania fisheries agreement: towards sustainable fisheries?”. The 43 participants agreed on several recommendations.

These recommendations include:

  • The proposed protocol must be adopted as it is without new negotiations; 

  • The access to octopus should be exclusively reserved for national operators, in particular artisanal; 

  • The local landing of all products resulting from the fishing operations in the Mauritanian EEZ should be mandatory;

  • The principle of non-discrimination of treatment between all foreign fleets should be applied; 

  • The involvement of all the stakeholders should be guaranteed at all stages of negotiations and implementation of the protocol, in particular through the setting up of an efficient advisory council;

  • Transparency should be achieved concerning the conditions for access to resources by foreign companies, both in the context of the EU FPA, and in the case of others agreements signed by Mauritania; 

  • Priorities of the partnership should include support for the development of a local purse seiners fleet, fishing sardinellas for local and regional human consumption; support for women in fisheries entrepreneurs; support for basic infrastructure (landing sites, etc)

,

EC will publish FPA evaluations

,

In response to CFFA publication and letter on access to FPA evaluations, the EC announced that ’from now on, all reports should be non-classified and we should properly ensure their dissemination, including their publication on the Internet. At the same time, the Commission services will endeavour to ensure that evaluations reports are available before the adoption of negotiating mandates by the Council’.

This was a long standing demand from CFFA, and we welcome this step for more transparency!

However, we still regret that the EC is not open to a wide consultation of Civil Society organisations, as it underlines being ’cautious in initiating a process of open consultation as it would change the nature of the evaluation and lead to a large extent the process being "out of control".

Read the full response by the EC.

A Chinese fleet, un-authorised for bluefin tuna fishing in the Mediterranean, on its way to Mauritania

In a press release, WWF indicates that 13 Chinese vessels, as well as a fleet with unknown flag, were present in the bluefin tuna fishing zone in the Mediterranean - none of these fishing vessels were on the lists of authorised vessels. The Chinese fleet, says WWF, crossed the Mediterranean from Suez to Gibraltar, before leaving the area on 26 May. Answering requests for information on those vessels, the Chinese authorities informed that the fleet was on its way to Mauritania. ’Despite obvious signs of illegal fishing, and numerous alerts sent to the competent authorities (...), as far as we know, no inspection at sea took place’, indicated Sergi Tudela, in charge of the marine programme at WWF Mediterranean.

Source:

REJOPRAO, quoting AFP, 31 May 2012, http://rejoprao.blog4ever.com/blog/...

As part of their fishing agreement, China offers compensation for ’the damages that Chinese trawlers inflict to Guinean artisanal fishermen’

Various articles published in the Guinean press in the last month indicate that, as part of a fishing agreement between Guinea and China, which allows for (at least) 30 chinese trawlers to fish in zones where artisanal fishermen are also fishing, some leaders from the National Union of Guinean artisanal fishermen have received compensation funds. A fisherman, representing young Guinean artisanal fishermen, highlights in an interview that, ’every six months, China offers 150.000 USdollars, as compensation for the damages that the chinese trawlers inflict to artisanal fishermen’. Last month, at the occasion of the launch of the ’Chinese hospital’ built in Kamsar, this amount was given publically by the Minister to a leader of the National Union of Guinean artisanal fishermen. That raised questions and anger from young fishermen, as they are not benefitting from these funds. Fishermen interviewed also denounced the intervention of the authorities in the nomination of the National Union of Guinean artisanal fishermen leaders. The press articles report that the fishermen leaders who received the compensation were later arrested in relation to the misappropriation of these funds, but rapidly freed under pressure from the authorities.

Sources :

Senegal: Government cancels 29 fishing authorisations for foreign trawlers targetting small pelagics

The Senegalese government just cancelled 29 fishing authorisations that were allocated to foreign trawlers targetting small pelagics. The vessels concerned had to leave Senegal’s EEZ by 30 April 2012.

The cancelled authorisations were allocated to ’foreign trawlers chartered by two Senegalese and one Moroccan boatowners. ’What has been cancelled represent the total of the authorisations allocated by Senegal’ explained to the press agency APS a technical advisor from the Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Ministry.

In a release, the Ministry explained that it cancelled these authorisations ’after having gathered all the elements enabling them to appreciate the issue relating to protocols autorising foreign vessels to exploit migratory pelagic resources in waters under Senegalese jurisdiction’.... ’We have witnessed a strong mobilisation of the professionals from the sector so that these contracts, which do not respect the norms established to preserve our resources, are cancelled as soon as possible’

The new Président, Macky Sall, had already stated, in a speech delivered on 3d April, that he was ’determined the review the access conditions for fishing licences’ and to ’firmly fight against vessels pillaging our resources’. Source

Source:

Fisheries agreements implementation to be financially supported by the future European Financial instrument

The EC proposal for a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) for the period 2014-2020 has been launched. The EMFF proposal covers technical assistance for fishing agreements and RFMOs: Article 91 of the proposal states that: ’The EMFF may support, at the initiative of the Commission, subject to the ceiling of 1.1% of this fund: (b) the implementation of sustainable fisheries agreements and the Union participation in regional fisheries management organisations’. In addition to this, an envelope is foreseen to cover Sustainable Fisheries Agreements and EU membership in International Organisations and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, which have their own individual basic acts. The envelope for both actions amounts to EUR 968 million for the period 2014-2020. Annually, SFAs and RFMOs funding goes from 146 millions in 2014 to 136 millions in 2020.

The EU is paying Morocco to fish in occupied Western Sahara

The current Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the EU and Morocco has been running since the 28th February 2007. The latest protocol annexed to the agreement ended on the 27th February 2011. This partnership has brought to Morocco a financial contribution of 36.1 million euros per year, including 13.5 million in support of the Moroccan fisheries policy "in order to promote the sustainable exploitation of its fish resources". Thanks to this agreement and to this protocol, Morocco has issued fishing licenses to vessels from eleven EU member States.

On the 25th February 2011, the parties to the protocol agreed to extend it for another year (28.2.2011-27.2.2012), but this decision is still pending for ratification. However, an issue has been raised by several European MEPs: the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement is both politically controversial and in violation of international law. The international ’Fish Elsewhere!’ campaign demands the EU to cancel its highly unethical operations, and go fishing somewhere else. No fishing in Western Sahara should take place until the conflict is solved.

More information:

,

Industrial fisheries destroy livelihood of northern and southern fishermen

,

At the fisheries conference of northern German states in Kiel last week, the development associations Protestant Development Service (EED) and Fair Oceans demanded from German ministers to press the EU to ensure sustainable fishing of European fishermen outside of European waters. “It is not acceptable that the recent proposals for a European fisheries reform lack solutions for the improvement of the situation for local fishermen,” says Andrea Müller-Frank from EED.

“More and more foreign trawlers are active in Senegalese waters. Licenses are attributed without consideration for environmental and social consequences. Many industrial trawlers illegally enter the zones reserved for small fisheries. This is how we small fishermen are deprived of our livelihood,” says Gaoussou Gueyse, secretary general of the West African Fisheries Federation. “Future EU fisheries agreements have to promote the development of our fisheries sector and not only deplete our fish stocks,” adds Gueye.

Since nowadays more than half of all European fisheries imports come from developing countries, Germany’s responsibility for the fisheries sector in target countries is growing. “The ministries assembled in Kiel have to push for an EU fisheries reform that reduces European dependency on imports and reestablishes fish stocks in the North Sea and Baltic Sea in an environmentally sustainable way,” says Fair Oceans’ Kai Kaschinski.

Source: 

www.eed.de

Spanish processers don’t mind importing PNG tuna loins

Under the interim EU-Pacific EPA signed by PNG, a derogation to the rules of origin (RoO) allows tuna caught by boats from any country to be landed and processed in PNG canneries before being exported to the EU market. Since the entry into force of the new rules (initialization in 2007), the EU tuna industry has raised concerns on the ground that the derogation could open the door for massive imports into the EU of products from doubtful origin as regards SPS and IUU standards.

In January 2011, the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament highlighted that this global-sourcing derogation “has made this country into a genuine hub for the processing of huge quantities of tuna from a variety of countries, (…) has caused considerable disruption to the canned-tuna market and constitutes totally unfair competition for a European processing sector that is already at an economic disadvantage owing to much higher labor costs and much tighter environmental and health and hygiene constraints”.

Spanish interests, as mentioned in a recent article in The Courier, have been especially upfront in challenging this derogation: “Although the European Parliament ratified PNG’s EPA there are still periodic vocal protests from a limited number of MEPs about PNG’s access to the EU market, notably from Spain which also has a canning industry”.

Following a request based on access to information regulation, CFFA received a copy of a recent 2010 study commissioned by DG mare on preferential rules of origin for fisheries and aquaculture products, which tends to show that this reluctance by European importers towards PNG products only concerns canned tuna. Indeed, over the same period, 2007-2009, the study shows that imports of tuna loins from PNG by European canneries have almost tripled. European canneries are highly dependent on such tuna raw material from third countries for supplying the EU market (70-80% of tuna consumption in the EU is based on imports) and for exporting tuna products.

As regards Spain, the FAO Globefish Tuna Market Report for the 1st quarter of 2011 observed a better performance of Spanish canned tuna exports, “reflected in its imports of pre-cooked tuna loins raw material, which increased by 31.8% against the previous year”. It is worth noting that over the same period (1st quarter of 2011) PNG had a setback in terms of canned tuna exports to the EU, which was countered by Spanish imports of PNG tuna loins.

The following legitimate question arises: why is the Spanish industry not concerned with PNG SPS and IUU issues when it comes to importing tuna loins for its own processing plants under the new RoO?

The allocation of controversial licences put at risk Senegal’s approval to export to EU market

An EU delegation met with Senegal Fisheries Ministry and with representatives of the fisheries sector to inform them that EU was investigating the conditions under which foreign trawlers are fishing small pelagics in waters under Senegal’s jurisdiction, in the context of the EU regulation against IUU fishing. The EU delegation warned about the risk for Senegal to have its approval to export fish products on the EU market withdrawn, and to be designated as non cooperating state in regard of the IUU regulation, notably because fishing authorisations allocated to these vessels were not in conformity with the Senegalese law.

Senegalese fishing professionals reiterate that the European market is their main export market, in particular for artisanal fishing which supplies 70% of exports, and remind that they warned the authorities, since the beginning, about the risks, for the strategic small pelagics resources and for the fishing sector, to illegally give these licences to foreign trawlers.

Source:

Information sent by Gaoussou Gueye, vice président of CONIPAS (Conseil national interprofessionnel de la pêche artisanale du Sénégal).

Second Mbour Fisheries Forum

About 300 small-scale fishing professionals are due to meet on July 4th at the David Boila Centre in Mbour, for the forum on "Who owns the fish?", according to a press release of the APS.

Gathered into the Artisanal Fishing Professionals’ Coalition of Mbour (CPPAM), these actors will discuss two topics: "Food security in fisheries, in particular in the case of small pelagics" and "Participative surveillance".

Participants will come from Mbour and from various Senegalese fishing communities, including Kayar, Ngaparou, Joal, Foundiougne, Djiffer, Yène, Ndayane, Lompoul, Fass Boye, Saint-Louis, etc.

This meeting will be the second forum organized by the CPPAM, after the one of July 2010, focussed on the themes of good governance, financing issues in artisanal fisheries, and value addition of catches.

Read more:

Welcome words by Gaoussou Gueye, vice-president of CONIPAS (in French only)

Protest against IUU fishing in Liberia

Over two hundred and fifty local fishermen and women from various fishing communities in Liberia recently gathered at the Ministry of Agriculture to protest against illegal fishing activities within Liberian waters. Local fishermen said the protest was prompted by brutality allegedly inflicted on one of their colleagues by the occupants of an unlicensed Korean vessel within the Liberian territorial waters. In a statement, the protesters called on the Government of Liberia to take urgent action in enforcing the issuance of new fishery regulations and the moratorium on industrial fishing licenses. According to local fishermen of the LAFA, the Inshore Exclusive Zone (IEZ) of six nautical miles which is supposed to be reserved for them is being routinely exploited day and night by illegal fishing vessels.

Mauritania: Civil society and fishing professionals take position on fisheries agreements with the EU and with China

These last days, Mauritanian civil society and the professionals from the fishing sector took position the on-going negotiations between the European Union and Mauritania concerning the future fisheries partnership, as well as on the convention of investment in the fisheries sector just signed by Mauritania with a Chinese company, Poly-Hondone Pelagic Fishery. About thirty representatives of the civil society and fishing sector professionals met on June 12th in Nouakchott, at the invitation of the Mauritanian NGO Pêchecops, with the support of CFFA, to discuss issues arising from these agreements.

The participants first greeted the resolution taken, in May 2011, by the European Parliament, who, they emphasized, was a positive development for the North-South relations. The recommendations from the meeting echoed this resolution, demanding the reduction of the fishing effort in Mauritanian waters (in particular by limiting the exploitation of certain species like the cephalopods, to the local fleets), the effective implication of the Mauritanian civil society and the fishing sector professionals in the whole negotiation process and in the implementation of these agreements, the reinforcement of the dialogue and the co-operation between the European and Mauritanian stakeholders, etc.

The recent convention of establishment between Mauritania and the Chinese company Poly-Hondone Pelagic Fishery was also discussed, and the participants voiced their opposition to this convention. The representatives of the National Fishing Federation stated that this convention will worsen the already precarious economic situation of the national sector. The allocation, through this convention, of tens of fishing licences (trawlers, potters, longliners, gillnetters and various experimental fisheries - see agreement protocol here after) will dangerously increase the pressure on the fish resources and will put in danger the Mauritanian sector. They stressed that it is for this reason that the European Parliament asked that negotiations for the renewal of the fisheries partnership agreement with the EU relate to only cover surplus stocks which cannot be caught by the local fleets.

Sources