This time, the small-scale fishers would not remain at the margin as had been the case in Lisbon two years ago. Fired up by forceful lobbying and a broader coalition of partners, the central side event by small-scale fishers on 12 June in the reserved government zone, the Blue Zone of the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France, was testimony of their will and capacity to be on center stage.

Dawda Foday Healthy, Secretary General of CAOPA, from The Gambia, welcoming participants to the cracking full UNOC3 side event and a podium of representatives with artisanal fisher organisations from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas

The SSF call to action with a demand for preferential access to coastal waters and a recognition and guaranteed participation of women in different functions in small-scale fisheries was central to fishers’ concerns. SSF claim a part in the much discussed ‘Blue Economy’, but one recognising their specific role in food security and need for tenure and fair access to credit, markets, and social services. Traditional fishers demanded an end to brandishing them as backwards and against innovations. The widespread emphasis on industrial infrastructure and continued subsidies for destructive industrial fishing was akin to intimidation against more respectful and low impact resource use. The fishers strongly opposed what some had termed ‘Blue Fear’ intended to discourage opposition to a version of the Blue Economy without them. Among the speakers was Raïssa Madou, a fish trader from Côte d’Ivoire. She said:

Raïssa Madou

“My name is Raïssa Madou, and I speak on behalf of the African Confederation of Professional Artisanal Fisheries Organizations (CAOPA). I ​​come from Côte d’Ivoire. Every day, I work close to the ocean, trading fish caught by artisanal fishermen.

Today, I come to you with a message: without us, there is no sustainable ocean. Without us, there is no food security. Without small-scale fisheries, there is no blue economy. In Africa, more than 12 million women and men make a living from artisanal fishing. We are the ones who bring fish from the ocean to people’s plates, schools, and markets.

Today, we are cornered from all sides: by industrial fleets, oil and gas projects intruding on our waters, and by hotels invading our beachfront workspace and preventing fishermen from accessing their boats. The consequences are disastrous: when our coastal areas are destroyed or confiscated, fishermen can no longer secure their catch, and women processors lose their fish and their income. Children drop out of school.”

She went on to emphasise: “But access is not enough. We need governance. Shared governance. We advocate for 100% co-management of coastal areas to protect both fishermen’s livelihoods and nature.”

Zoila Bustamante

In her usual combative style, Zoila Bustamante of Chilean artisanal fisher organisation CONAPACH brandished the lack of co-management in decision processes. She reminded the audience that at least 28 million women were active in small-scale fisheries among 60 million full time fishers. She demanded their full involvement in coastal management and allocation of resources criticising how government policy left excessive power to a handful families owning the industrial fleet and investors with deep pockets in the salmon industry in the south of the country.

Representatives of other fisher organisations also took the floor: Syahril Parangin Angin is a traditional fisherfolk leader with over 25 years of experience at sea, who currently serves as the Chair of the Regional Management (DPD) of KNTI in North Labuhanbatu, North Sumatra. He illustrated how industrial aquaculture expansion by large-scale corporations was displacing coastal dwellers and threatenend not only the economic basis of their livelihoods, but also their social and cultural lives. He demanded justice and a seat at the decision making table to end extreme poverty.

William Cheung

The fisher organisations had joined forces with the research team of the University of British Columbia around William Cheung and U. Rashid Sumaila.  Their research showed that when artisanal fishing is pitched against industrial behemoths in oil and gas or being weighed up against industrial port development, the projections for their future look bleak. Given their importance for food security and wiser resource management, however, the scientists advocated for a change in the assumptions underlying much of the discourse about the Blue Economy. They warned that the prevailing approaches may trap the Blue Economy in the same deep trouble as the original hype that paved the way for the industrial agriculture underpinning the ‘green revolution’. Decades on, industrial agriculture was producing less and less food per unit energy while leaving a trail of ruined soils. The emphasis needed to shift to people and nature compatible solutions and less financial resources for an over-reliance on techno-fixes. The excessive power of very few key stone companies needing reigning in so as to break the post-colonial system of exchange. It was no rhethorical question: what do we truly value? Food, people and nature over profits. A stark message.

The convening power of the small-scale fisher organisations together with their academic allies showed also in the form of senior government officials gracing the side event.

Among them were Franz Tattenbach Capra, Minister of Environment and Energy from Costa Rica (left), and Paubert Tsimanaoraty Mahatante, Minister of Fisheries and Blue Economy from Madagascar (right)

Mundus maris supports the demands of the fishers whole-heartedly and emphasises the need to implement the SSF Guidelines systematically in all countries. They are based on human and tenure rights, decent working conditions, gender equity, care for a healthy and productive resource base and co-management. Mundus maris demands an immediate stop to harmful fisheries subsidies going primarily to industrial fishing ventures and policy priority to people and nature supportive change rather than profits of the few dominant corporation.

Another Blue Economy is possible. The enthusiasm reverberating in the room was well captured in the photo of the final line up.