What a challenging year this has been! It is our wish that the next year will be better. This year started with high expectations for the upcoming Ocean conference. And as we were finalizing our key activities for Women’s Day in March, our plans were thrown out of the window with most of the countries shutting their borders to prevent the spreading of the Covid-19 disease.
The measures to combat the epidemic have had and will continue to have a far-fetched impact on the economies of every country in the world, including in Africa. Small-scale fisheries have not been spared: fishermen were not allowed to go at sea, women were left without access to landing sites, low catches impacted fishmongers and the stop of air traffic prevented exports and tourism from happening.
Amidst this chaos, we decided to shed more light on those impacts, concentrating our (and your) attention on how African artisanal fisheries were faring. Our micro-blog laid bare a long-standing appalling reality: the dire working conditions of women and men all along the artisanal fisheries value chain, without access to essential resources such as clean water or electricity. We have been supporting our partner CAOPA (the African Confederation of Artisanal Fisheries Organisations) in raising awareness about this situation. For African artisanal fisheries, the Covid-19 crisis is an occasion to improve their working conditions that African governments and their partners should not miss.
One of the main risks is that with the goal of recovering as quickly as possible from the crisis, governments will encourage short term economic gains through destructive or polluting blue industries. CAOPA raised the alarm bell though a public communication this summer stating the serious threats that the implementation of the African Blue Economy strategy poses to small scale fishing communities. These communities are the most vulnerable groups in a very competitive environment. Governments should acknowledge the inevitable conflicts the blue growth approach entails, and design mechanisms to address those conflicts in a way that recognises the invaluable contribution small-scale fisheries make to their countries.
In the last years, and 2020 was not an exception, we have also witnessed the arrival of vessels of foreign origin to African waters, particularly from China, asking for fishing licences, through joint ventures or opaque agreements. The ODI report, which we reviewed, showed that the Chinese Distant Water fleet is bigger than we thought. Our review has been the most read article by our English audience and on the other hand, the scoop about the two fishing agreements signed between the Malagasy government and Chinese investors was the most read and shared article on our French website, showing the global concern for controlling the activities of Distant Water fishing fleets.
This year, in several African countries, artisanal fisheries organisations have protested against the arrival of vessels of foreign origin into the waters of their countries. Our review of the ODI report on Chinese Distant Water Fleet was the most read article in English.
The Senegal fishing licences saga was another one that triggered much controversy, with local civil society actively protesting against the allocation of more than 50 new licenses to vessels of foreign origin being senegalised under joint ventures. In this regard, after updating a joint position we had published together in 2015, CAOPA organised a webinar at the end of November to present recommendations for a more transparent and sustainable framework for joint ventures. With the active participation of more than 30 stakeholders across Africa, CAOPA decided to organise a one-day workshop to follow up on the key issues raised during the webinar and to develop an action plan.
Although some progress has been done to address women in African artisanal fisheries issues in the last ten years, more can be done, including by the EU, towards gender sensitive fisheries policies. We proposed an advice to the Long Distance Advisory Council (LDAC), that was adopted, on how women issues can be better addressed in SFPAs and we published our own recommendations for the International Women’s Day. We have also continued to support USCOFEP-CI, Côte d’Ivoire women fish processors to improve their access to fish. Through a fund set up under the EU-Côte d'Ivoire SFPA, the women fish processors cooperative purchased this summer a refrigerated container and placed it in San Pedro, a fish-producing area which lacked conservation facilities.
This year too, we published 10 priorities to improve EU-Africa Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs), together with six other African and European NGOs and professional fisheries organisations. These recommendations were addressed both to African coastal countries and the EU. We have subsequently published with BirdLife Europe and Central Asia and WWF two working documents to develop more in detail some of these recommendations at the EU level, namely regarding the scientific observer coverage in mixed SFPAs and the SFPA evaluations.
10 priorities to improve eu-africa sustainable fisheries partnership agreements
In November 2019, African and European organisations gathered in Brussels to discuss how to make EU-African SFPAs more sustainable. This joint position was published in May 2020 based on the outcome of those discussions.
The state of small pelagics resources in West Africa continues to be very worrying. The increasing use of these fish for fishmeal is depleting the stocks and affecting the livelihoods and food security of local communities. For years now, we have been advocating for regional management of small pelagics. We see the opportunity for better management in the negotiation of the new EU-Mauritania SFPA. However, the EU can do more to support a regional level initiative, this is why PRCM, CAOPA and CFFA recently wrote to the EU High-Representative, Mr Josep Borrell, to call him to “make use of the EU crucial voice” to support the creation of a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) covering small pelagics.
This year has shown the vulnerability of small-scale fisheries, but also its resilience and flexibility to adapt to crisis situations and its high potential for fair and sustainable use of resources. And as we foresee challenges ahead, we need to pause and acknowledge the small successes, and then plan for the next year, while recognizing the unexpected might still happen…
In the meantime, we wish you a better 2021!
Banner photo: Caopa Facebook
CAOPA calls on African governments to ratify ILO Convention 188 on Work in Fishing and the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Small-scale Fisheries.