SAMUDRA Report No.24, December 1999

Item Type monograph

Publisher International Collective in Support of Fishworkers

Download date 28/09/2021 13:28:01

Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/1834/33098 ,

INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIVE IN SUPPORT OF FISHWORKERS

THE ORisSA CyclONE SOUTH AfRiCAN TRAdiTioNAl RiqHTS iN CANAdA QUOTAS iN NORWAY ARTiSAN"'! FisHERiES of CAMEROON WebsiTES ON FiSHERiES Fisl1ERiES iN CHiNA NEWS ROUNd~up Contents

0 COMMENT 1

0 REPORT Of men and cyclones 3

0 SOlITH AFRICA A new apartheid? 9

0 CANADA Flipped on its head? 17

0 FRANCE No more bounty 20

0 NORWAY The paradoxes of quotas 24

0 CAMEROON For a few oil dollars more 28

0 FIRST PERSON The smoke lingers on 31

0 VIEWPOINT A flag-waving squabble 34

0 WEBSITES Weaving the Net 36

0 JAPAN Beyond the sneers 41

0 CHINA Chinese puzzle 45

0 NEWS ROUND·UP Bangladesh, Sweden, Fiji, India, Mexico. Iran 50 Comment

Sloganeering in Seattle

"Hey Heyl Ho Ho! WTO'S got to go!" Thus shouted thoosands al Seattle where, earty this month, trade ministers mel at the Third WTO Ministerial Conference to launch new negotiations to further liberalize international trade. The Conference seems to have come unstuci( mainly due to disagreements between the developecl and developing countries, aided by protests from NGOS, trade unions and farmers' groups.

Hundreds of proposals were mooted, including a few on fisheries subsidies and mantet access. Northern countries like Australia, Iceland, New Zealand. Norwayand the us. and Southem ones like the Philippines and Peru, wanted to eliminate aU subsidies that contribute to overcapacity. They argue that these distort trade and prevent the sus­ tainable utilization of fish stocks.

Japan, however, urged for a larger mandate on trade, namely, effective , control of flags of convenience, and identifying aD fadOfS, including trade-dislorting subsidies, thai lead to irresponsible practices. It caI\ed for a negotiating group for products at the WTO. As the worid's largest importer of fish and , Japan defends tariff and non-tariff measures, mainly in the interests of conservation and managemen~ whereas Norway, the largest exporter, hopes to eliminate I'lOf}-lariff barriers. Although developing countries acx:ount for over 40 per cent of the gIobaJ export marl

Few realize that export eamings are a vital part of the incomes of fishing communities in the South. Very often, fish is the only commodity that fishers produce, and the income from selling fish is vilal to meet their nutritional and other basic needs. If those who marched in Seallie get their way with labour standards and child labour issues, it will be difficult tor many developing countries to export fish.

Export species often fetch ahigher price than those sold domestically. This forces traders to compete for supplies for the export market. The fishers thus bag abeller price and a beller income, despite middlemen. Even in countries ot Africa and Asia, where fish is the most important source of animal protein, the domestic demand is largely tor smaller petagics, which have less of amarket in the North.

Perhaps the most significant human rights achievement Is the removal of poverty, which Is crucially contingent upon adecent income. Removing discriminatory tariff and non.tamt barriers could promote greater access to Northern markets, while simultaneously helping build up labour-intensive facilities at home. That, among other things, could help alleviate poverty in many developing countries.

As for 'child labour', in cu~ures where aparent trains hislher child in afamiliar, traditional profession, the term itself is a misnomer. Child labour is not synonymous with abuse. In many developing countries, opportunities lor formal training are limited Of unaffordable, and children are often informally trained. In artisanal fisheries, many children WOfX with their parents or relatives. Unless they start early enough, they may never overcome seasickness-an imJXH1ant occupalional consideration IOf a potential, full-time fisher. A culturally sensitive approach to labour standards and child labour issues is needed to improve human rights. OtheIWise, any expression of 'concern' would be ssen, tT'IQ(S or less correctty, as a protectionist bogey to have ooe's cake and eat it as well, while ~munaneoosly depriving a less privileged person of her humble gruel.

SAMUORA DECEMBER 1999 1

Report Natural disaster Of men and cyclones

The ‘super-cyclone’ that hit the coastal Indian State of Orissa has left in its wake untold miseries — and lessons

he dead were the luckiest of all. other crops. Between them, the two This is the recurrent feeling one cyclones have laid waste the entire coast Tgets as one walks past the huddled of Orissa. figures of men, women and children who survived the ‘Mother of All Cyclones’, as From a fisheries perspective, the Bay of one commentator labelled it. Most dead Bengal off the Northern Orissa coast is the bodies were ‘disposed of’, yet you could most productive on the east coast of India. sense their presence, in the constant A wide variety of traditional fishing crafts refrain from the survivors: “Why did we and an eclectic mixture of fishing survive?” They do not mourn the dead, communities characterized the marine they mourn the living. and estuarine fisheries in Orissa. Bengali fishermen dominated the northern parts That was the most traumatic effect of the of the coastline, migrant-settlers from ‘super-cyclone’ that hit the coast of Orissa, Bangladesh fished the waters to the north India on 29 October: not the loss of of Paradeep, fishers from Andhra Pradesh livelihoods, food, shelter, clothing or even dominated the Paradeep-Puri belt, and close relations — it was the loss of the will Telugu-speaking Orissa fisherfolk to live, perhaps a cumulative effect of all accounted for the southern parts. The the other losses. Oriya people were not much interested in eating sea fish ("Too salty!" they would The official statistics provide reassuringly explain), were not seafaring people either, low figures and it is difficult to find two and until recently, were not bothered if sources agreeing on any number, even people from other regions pitched tents en after allowing for wide margins. Under masse right in the middle of towns like the circumstances, suffice to say that Puri, Paradeep and Astaranga. The Orissa, ‘the domicile of gods’, as a tourist Mahanadi’s deltaic region was lush with brochure puts it, found itself turned into a green vegetation, some of the most purgatory when actually dealing with beautiful mangrove forests, mostly gods. untouched by human activity, and numerous creeks lined by magnificent The eight coastal districts which have trees on both sides, which carried been affected by the cyclone were the most fishermen from villages like Jambo and productive by any standard, and are Kharinasi all the way to the river mouth. rightly regarded as the ‘rice bowl of Now, not a single tree remains, nor, for Orissa’. The super-cyclone has turned that matter, do large sections of the everyone’s attention away from another villages themselves. Mountains of mud cyclone that had preceded it a couple of have covered the villages and the weeks ago. It did enough damage of its neighbouring agricultural fields. own to seriously affect dozens of villages in Ganjam district. Bustling town Before the cyclone, Paradeep was a In fact, the counting of the dead from the bustling, — and not a very exciting — previous cyclone had not yet been industrial town, with a PPL (Paradeep completed before the second one struck. Phosphates Ltd.) and a PPT (Paradeep Port The first cyclone took a toll of 1,000 human Trust) (pronounced ppi-ppi-yell and lives and 50,000 livestock, besides ppi-ppi-ttee locally) which accounted for washing away an entire crop of paddy and most of the employment in the area.

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 3 Paradeep is also the biggest fishing port in The official cyclone warning wing did Orissa. Along with Chandipur-on-Sea in notice a storm brewing and sent out a Balasore district, it is the base for all warning notice to all districts. It is said that mechanized boats in Orissa (and often an the devices for measuring the wind speed Report Report emergency base for trawlers from Andhra malfunctioned, which resulted in the Pradesh and elsewhere, in times of department not being able to assess the cyclones). intensity of the cyclone. Whatever happened, it was treated as just another esides, a large number of fishermen cyclone. The district administrations had from Andhra Pradesh migrate to been alerted as a matter of course, and BParadeep or Puri annually in they apparently did whatever they were September and stay there fishing until expected to do. That the cyclone January. These fishermen often take their ultimately destroyed Bhubaneswar, families along with them, and live in which was a full 60 km away from the sea, makeshift tents on the beaches, and are indicates that it would have been accepted as a part of the milieu. practically impossible to have evacuated the entire population. And the fisherfolk Singiri Narayana, who was from themselves were quite clear that they Subbampeta, near Kakinada, was one would not have been evacuated because such who got caught in the cyclones were a ‘common occurrence’, cyclone with his family. He went to Orissa and they stood to lose more by going away in September and the fishing was not good than by staying on. The disaster was for the next two months. He owned an FRP almost inevitable. (fibre-reinforced plastic) boat, on which there was an outstanding loan of over Kodanda, a boy of 15, was one of the crew Rs.100,000. The traders in Paradeep members who remained behind on his advance huge amounts of money to the boat to keep watch. The fishing boat is the fishermen in return for their catches, and most important possession of a fisherman, Narayana had obtained Rs. 50,000 from a and under no circumstances would he trader. The fishing operations were just sleep undisturbed without knowing his sufficient to buy fuel for the next trip and boat was safe. As Kasulu, another migrant to pay wages to the crew, and Narayana fisherman from Uppada, put it, “Our most had begun to despair about repayments. important concern during the cyclone was the boats and how they fared.” The first On Thursday, 28 October, the fishermen thing the fishermen attempted to do could sense that a cyclone was brewing, immediately after the cyclone subsided and berthed their boats in the new fishing was to rush to the fishing harbour. harbour, which, though constructed nearly five years ago, became functional By the morning of Friday, 29 October, the only this year. Cyclones, one must winds and the rain started — and remember, are a part and parcel of life in continued for the next 48 hours without this part of the world, and are often no slowing down once. The house tops were more than a nuisance. Normally, three or the first to go, and houses started four cyclones hit the Orissa coast in a year. crumbling before the very eyes of the The real big ones often manage to go past people. Large trees were uprooted and Orissa and hit Bangladesh. Narayana had carried away. The gales were so forceful been caught in a few cyclones while that a crew member on Narayana’s boat fishing at sea, and though scary, they were still nurses the wounds he received when not something that he dreaded. He made he was carried away by the gales and suitable arrangements to anchor the boat flung on to the bushes nearby. Things safely in the harbour and returned to started getting worse by the afternoon. Sandakhud, the of The waves were breaking almost on top of Paradeep, where he lived in a rented the houses — and, within a few hours, not house with his wife and four children. much of the village remained.

“Even if there had been a warning on the Worst effects radio, it would not have been much help Meanwhile, Kodanda was experiencing because it would be in Oriya,” he says. the worst effects of the cyclone: the boat There was a cyclone warning out anyway. repeatedly rose high up into the air and

4 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 Report fell back with a crash. It was obvious that an elevated spot (a fact that you would not it would not survive any more impacts have noticed at other times), and and would destroy whoever was on it. remained standing like an island, while, all around, the cyclone wreaked its odanda prepared to jump into the destruction. water to reach the shore. Ramana, Kwho was keeping vigil on the next Bishnu Pattnaik, an elderly entrepreneur boat, jumped into the water and was whose small but efficient Oriental Dry immediately hurled against the rocks and Fish Industries was not only a profitable crushed to death. Kodanda was luckier, venture, but one which provided and he reached the shore with much inspiration for many other such units to difficulty. From the harbour, it was about come up in Orissa and elsewhere, had 5 km to the town, and walking on all fours, entered into an agreement with an NGO in it took him about 12 hours to reach the Cuttack to conduct training for town. fisherwomen on improved processing methods. He had refurbished the Narayana and family, whose house was production unit at Sandakhud at a cost of destroyed after the first few hours of the Rs. 50,000 and was returning to Cuttack, cyclone, moved into the nearby temple, when he got stuck in the cyclone, and which provided sanctuary to hundreds of barely survived the fury of the storm. people. There was not enough space to sit, Now, an empty patch of land remains and everyone was forced to stand for the where Oriental Dry Fish Industries used entire duration they spent in the temple. to be, because it was located right on the The kids started crying from hunger. beach and must have been the first to go Intense cold added to the general misery. in the tidal wave.

Meanwhile, water started streaming up, Pangs of hunger digging channels by the sheer force of its When the cyclone finally relented around velocity, and pincer-like, encircled the the afternoon of Sunday, hunger village and destroyed the smaller hamlets continued to be the biggest problem: none on either side of it. Not only have these of the fisherfolk — including the children hamlets vanished altogether, most of the — had eaten for three days, and there was inhabitants too were carried away. “We nothing to eat. People were seen could see people being washed away, and rummaging through what were once their apart from shouting, there was nothing homes to find anything to eat. They found we could do,” Narayana recounts. powdered maize in one of the godowns, Sandakhud was lucky as it was located on intended for export from Paradeep Port,

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 5 Report Report

and grabbed whatever they could to eat. incident at Nayagarh fish landing centre, In two days, the army rescue boats which was itself totally devastated. Four appeared on the scene, and started relief dead bodies lay in Paradeep fishing operations. harbour for three days before somebody noticed them and had them cremated. any other villages, in the Hundreds of thousands of dead cattle lay neighbouring districts were not everywhere (official toll: over 400,000). Mso lucky. It would be a week or For a few weeks after the cyclone, the dead more before any help reached people in bodies from everywhere were brought to Astaranga or Kakatpur blocks of Puri a central place, piled up, doused in petrol, district and doubtless many other and funeral pyres lit. districts. Food supplies were airdropped for nearly a month before land routes Hundreds fishing boats were lost or could be established to several villages. It damaged, often beyond repair. To will be quite a while before electricity is Narayana’s dismay, he found no traces of restored in many areas. his boat. His relatives in Andhra Pradesh managed to reach him after a week, and The impact of the cyclone was quite they helped him get back to Andhra widespread — starting just north of Puri, Pradesh — completely washed-out, it extended up to the northern reaches of literally as well as figuratively. Balasore district, about 200 km of coastline. And it travelled inland up to Back in Orissa, people continue to Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Baripada, hesitatingly explore their villages, which which were quite some distance from the have turned into mounds of mud. They sea. The wind velocities were estimated to still huddle together as much as they can, have been in excess of 350 km/hour. In all, and venture out only in groups. And they the cyclone affected eight coastal districts tread very carefully indeed: the villages very badly. Erasama block in they were born and lived in all their lives Jagatsinghpur district, Mahakalpara do not now exist as they knew them. And block in Kendrapara, and Astaranga in there is the constant fear of finding Puri are the worst affected. something new, like a dead body: bloated, blackened, and partially eaten — hardly There were more horrors. And more death human, or perhaps too human. (official death toll: 10,000): dead bodies floating by in the creeks, bloated bodies Dirty water flowing down the Mahanadi river and its Nobody could bring themselves to drink various tributaries — a commonplace the river water because of the bodies.

6 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 Report Cholera had broken out in many villages households in the villages. The response in Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur from the urban elite was more informed districts. To add to the troubles, winter and, hence, more muted. had set in with a vengeance. The administrative machinery is said to any people were left with have failed, but it was clear that neither the nothing more than the clothes government nor the fishers fully Mthey wore at the time of the comprehended the magnitude of the cyclone — some lacked even that. Many impending cyclone. The State’s disaster villages are still inaccessible. Sahana in relief wing and the district Astaranga block was reached more than a administrations were prepared to deal week after the cyclone. Not a single house with the situation basing their calculations remained standing in the village. Some on past experiences. But this cyclone was villages in Mahakalpara block no longer not like any of the previous ones (the last exist. What could have happened to the cyclone of similar intensity can be traced people there is anybody’s guess. back to 1942, and resulted in the Great Orissa Famine in 1944). Its impact was so Chandrabhaga, near Konark, has another vast and the destruction it wrought so tale to tell: the fishing community consists complete that everybody was totally almost entirely of migrants from Andhra taken aback, and it took some time to get Pradesh, who have lived here for a long their bearings right. time, but they do not have any land rights. The local government wants to develop Unfortunately, the people who made up the beach here into a tourist spot, and have the ‘machinery’ were themselves affected repeatedly evicted the community from by the cyclone—rarely did one come their homes and destroyed the dwellings. across government employees who did A couple of years ago, the villagers were not have their families, relations and/or given some land to build on and the friends caught in the cyclone. Given a village shifted its location only recently. similar situation, the consequences would The cyclone came just as things were not have been much different in any other settling into a routine, sweeping away all State. At the best of times, the the houses, and the fishers are again inaccessibility of the fishing villages in homeless. Orissa is legendary. The basic facilities that the government has at any level are The famous beach near Konark, once lined far from adequate to cope with a disaster by tall casuarina plantations, is totally this huge. The total disruption of roads denuded of all vegetation, and the Konark and communication systems—continuing lighthouse, which was normally hidden to this day in many affected areas—made behind thick groves of casuarina, stands it even more difficult to access many areas. naked in the middle of a desert. Under these circumstances, discussions with local people indicate, the The spontaneous gestures of goodwill and administration did reasonably well. As for co-operation that poured forth from politicians, I should quote a senior leader: different corners of the country were of “The state elections should be held as great help. Many international and scheduled, because there is no provision national organizations quickly reached in the Constitution (of India) to postpone the State and started rehabilitation them because of a natural disaster. The programmes. Many NGOs banded people of Orissa want elections right together and formed task forces to away.” co-ordinate relief efforts. Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Khurda, Balasore and Bhadrak Opposite effect railway stations were besieged by huge The moral high ground appropriated by bundles of clothes, food and other all and sundry at the expense of the essential items. And assistance came from ‘government machinery’ has achieved the the fisherfolk in other States also. NGO exact opposite of what it was intended to workers in Andhra Pradesh reported that do: it helped engender apathy among even poor households contributed those who are really concerned and something. Clothes, rice and cooking wanted to do something, and the utensils were donated by many poor fisherfolk are worse off for it. Stories about

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 7 Report Report

looting of relief materials also helped Life is resilient, if nothing else. And the assuage troubled consciences, as some fisherman is the best symbol of that. Even people decided that there was no point in as these lines are being written, word has helping looters. come from Orissa—from Paradeep, to be exact—that fishing operations have eports indicate that the actual started once again, and very good catches looting was no more than a were reportedly landing. The Uppada Rfraction of the assistance received. fishermen have got down to business: Maiti, a fisherman-turned-‘looter’ from dozens of boats are being readied for the Nayagarh, was quite honest: “My kids long journey ahead. They intend to take were starving and so was I. In my position, additional rations, just in case. The fish you would have done the same.” caught will generally be sold out of the State, so the ban will not affect them. No, However, things improved quite fast, and they will not take their families this time. the more urgent needs of the people began to be met satisfactorily. Cold and lack of And so it goes on. Life. suitable clothing continue to remain problems, but there are indications that most of the people would receive assistance one way or the other.

A few weeks after the cyclone, when those of the boats that were still operational attempted to go fishing, the government declared a ban on all fish sales in the State. The ban, which is in force at the time of writing this article, has crippled the fishing communities yet again. With everything they owned gone with the wind, and their only source of livelihood banned, they are reduced to depending on This report is by Venkatesh the generosity of the external agencies for Salagrama of Integrated Coastal survival. Even if the ban were to be lifted, Management, an independent thousands of fisherfolk would still have to NGO based in Kakinada, Andhra rebuild their livelihoods, and that would Pradesh, India take a long time and a lot of money.

8 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 South Africa Fishing quotas A new apartheid?

The transformation process in South Africa’s fisheries is a tale of chaos and corruption

ape Town, South Africa: the small Areas Act, large segments of the knot of men hanging around the population were shifted out of their Cdock gates hardly attracts a second coastal homes to townships several miles glance. To the casual observer they are just in-land. Their movement back to the coast like any other group of chancers trying to pursue their former livelihoods was their luck for work in the port. However, restricted by their geographical isolation, this group is not just any old flotsam of and also by the Pass Laws. They, therefore, washed up job hunters. They are members expect the restitution of their rights to earn of the Cape Town Harbour Fishermen their livelihoods from fishing. Any Co-operative, part of a new quota owning compromise deal falls short of their elite in South Africa. They are some of the expectations. new quota owners, so-called ‘new entrants’ to the fishery, and the intended The Cape Town dock workers are one beneficiaries of the transformation such group. But these men have neither processes set in motion in the fishing vessels nor equipment, and have been sector just prior to 1994. denied access permits from the Department of Sea Fisheries. They, Since 1994 under the leadership of Nelson therefore, have no means to convert their Mandela, the South African government quotas directly into livelihoods. In any has been attempting a major case, the token quotas provided to them restructuring, or transformation of its would not go far amongst the 450 . However, there are three registered members. Most of them live in major constraints to achieving townships some distance from the coast, transformation. and their sole source of meagre income is from uncertain casual work as crew First, the ‘Sunset Clause’ in the new members aboard the longliners and constitution requires that no official in the trawlers based in Cape Town Docks. They apartheid administration is removed from can not even afford the bus and train fares office for at least five years. Thus there is to come to work each day, let alone the tremendous administrative inertia to costs of investing in, or running, a small change the status quo. Second, the fishing business a basic requirement of constitution obliges the government to the quota application. negotiate transformation with the existing stakeholders. This means that any Quotas have become the main tool for redistribution of wealth and power must transformation in the fishing sector. They be negotiated with the large fishing are the means through which South companies, and, more importantly, with Africa’s fishery wealth is to be the financial institutions that are the major redistributed. By making quotas shareholders in these industries. The transferable, the system aims for a wider government’s ability to deliver group of new stakeholders to cash in on transformation is therefore severely South Africa’s marine wealth. restricted by these two aspects of the constitution Unmanageable However, the system is clearly In the third place, to a significant number unmanageable. There are many more of people, transformation means applications than available quota, and restitution. In the 1960s, under the Group there is insufficient capacity in the

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 9 Department of Marine and Coastal quantities of 50 and 100 tonnes, most were Management to process the thousands of quickly sold and passed back into the complex application forms. hands of the large companies.

he quota system is also based on an The 1999 fishing season has also been unrealistic model of the South severely disrupted by court cases. In one South Africa Africa South TAfrican fishing sector. First of all, it such landmark case, in May 1999, it was requires all applicants to establish a ruled that the allocation of crayfish quotas commercial company, complete with a for the 1998/99 season (November to July) business and marketing plan— quotas made by the minister was irregular. This will thus only be awarded to certain types meant that no crayfish quotas could be of corporate structures. Secondly, the allocated to small fishermen, but that the geographical, social and economic lion’s share had to be allocated only to the isolation of fishing communities has previous recipients. Deputy Minister resulted in low levels of literacy and Mokaba criticized the ruling, pointing out education. that: we remain with unreconstructed courts they did not look at the intention of Most new quota applicants, therefore, the law the interpretation of the court did have to seek help to fill in the forms, and not take into account the spirit of the new this has often led to their applications legislation. getting hijacked. In many instances the quota awarded has been of a token The issue of access is fundamental to the amount, and recipients have been advised transformation process, but there is a wide to sell to larger business interests. This has divergence of view on who should have fuelled the market for paper quotas, and access. In most fishing communities, it is resulted in the access rights merely felt that priority access should be given to passing back into the hands of big those who get their hands wet. They need business. direct access to the resources in order to earn their livelihoods. For social Ministers’ wives, politicians, business reformers, access means opening up the leaders and other people of influence have fisheries sector to non-white - mainly all received handouts of quota ahead of ‘black’ - interest groups. For them ‘black genuine fishermen. The corruption was empowerment’ is the main objective. For initiated under the auspices of the Quota others, access means having a share of the Board prior to 1994, and continued by the marine wealth in a form they can use or Fisheries Transformation Council set up convert into cash. by the new Marine Living Resources Act. This has severely discredited the The new Marine Living Resources Act is transformation process. not a very successful attempt to reach a compromise on these divergent views. Over the last year, court cases have been The Act only recognizes three kinds of filed against the government by former fishermen: subsistence fishers, quota holders for illegal and recreational fishers and commercial unconstitutional quota allocations. As a fishers. Essentially, subsistence and result, a significant part of the South recreational fishers are ‘second-class African fishing sector has ground to a halt. fishers’, whose activities and movement For example, legal wrangling in 1998 in the sector are highly restricted. The Act prevented the Minister from allocating seriously omits to mention the artisanal new quotas for hake and anchovy for fear fishing sector, or how fisheries can be of court action from disgruntled former incorporated into, and contribute to, the quota holders. It was only a compromise development of the wider coastal area. deal with the industry that allowed 40 per cent of the hake quotas to be allocated and Wider issues fished in 1998/99. Some new entrants had The issue of quotas goes beyond access to wait until 17 December, when 75 quotas rights. According to a senior Fisheries for 4,000 tonnes of hake were finally Department Official, quotas are now used allocated. This gave them only around five to meet three key objectives of South weeks before the last day of the season. As Africa’s Marine Living Resources Act: these quotas were distributed in redistributing resource access rights so as

10 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 South South Africa

to redress social imbalances in the official, drew up a flawed document, and, fisheries sector; ensuring the as a result, only a part of the quota money sustainability of the resource base; and was released - Rand 500,000 (about US$ maintaining stability in the industry. 8,500). Each fishworker received Rand 400, and the rest of the money was he story of the Cape Town harbour misappropriated. Frustrated and angry, fishermen illustrates how the quota they attacked the lawyer and broke into Tsystem is, at best, not working, and, the Sea Fisheries offices. at worst, is being used to benefit a few at the expense of the many. Gerry Phakoe, a In the court case that followed, their spokesman for the Cape Town Workers, claims against the lawyer and Sea says angrily, “My father lived Fisheries officials were over-ruled. A Simonstown and was a fisherman. That subsequent court ruling declared that was until we were forced to move to the quotas could not be allocated to townships. We were called bergies Community Trusts as these were not (vagrants), and were exploited by the properly constituted companies. In the boatowning fishing companies. We have course of events, they met up with seen our brothers drowned at sea, and die Andrew Johnston, a lobster fisherman, in misery and poverty. However, in 1993, who was trying to unite all small-scale and we realized that we had certain rights, and ‘informal’ (unrecognized) fishers under that we could claim these from Sea one banner. His vision was to establish a Fisheries (now the Department of Marine fisherman’s co-operative that would act and Coastal Management).” on behalf of its members to acquire and distribute the quota, and process and According to Gerry, in 1993, 355 Cape market the fish catch. He travelled all over Town Docks fishworkers got together, the country, and persuaded 17 and, in 1994, they were allocated 63 tonnes organizations to join him. These were then of hake quota. This was increased to 951 registered as co-operatives with the tonnes, after protests. However, they were Registrar of Co-operatives. denied access permits, and were advised by a senior fisheries official to sell their New company quota to a company nominated by him. With legal advice, they set up the South They also sought legal advice, and were African Commercial Fishermen’s advised to set up a ‘Community Trust’ to Corporation Pty Ltd (SACFC), which invest their quota money in local applied for quota on behalf of the now 25 community services. However, the lawyer members (including the Cape Town they hired, together with the department Harbour Fishermen Co-operative Ltd).

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 11 South Africa Africa South

What the co-operative members did not who applied on its behalf. In Saldanha bank on was the legal and official Bay, Denburg Fisheries Pty Ltd, formed by interpretation of the General and the local fishermen to apply for quota, has Transformation Criteria for quota also had its quota hijacked. applications: that quotas would only be awarded to companies with ‘Closed The quota allocation system does not take Corporation’ or ‘Pty’ structures. Their account of the immediate and ongoing lawyer therefore appointed himself as needs of the fishworkers and their Chief Executive Officer, established a dependents: fishermen need access to the holding company which now owns sea, and regular food and income from SACFC, and took control of the business. fishing activities. The system now in place The company has an authorized share can, at best, only meet their immediate capital of 10,000 shares of Rand 1.00 each, and short-term needs, if they sell off their which is distributed amongst the member quota. organizations according to the size of their membership. Despite over five years of democratic government and transformation, the According to Matthys Mocke, Chief pre-1994 status quo prevails in South Executive Officer, in its first year of Africa. Around 70-80 per cent of the operation (1998/99), SACFC was allocated ownership of the access rights remains quotas for hake (800 tonnes), crayfish (130 concentrated in the hands of the five + 59 tonnes), and abalone (20 tonnes). It largest players. Racial apartheid has been was also allocated 40 squid permits. A replaced by economic and social business arrangement has been struck apartheid, with coastal communities and with one of the large fishing companies, local economies still effectively excluded OCEANA. This has “assisted with cash flow from the fishery. problems”, and allowed SACFC to use one of its processing factories.

Yet, shareholders are up in arms. They fear that this is just another ruse to deprive them of their access rights. They have seen quotas hijacked in the past by clever This article is by Brian O’Riordan, a lawyers, school teachers, civil servants Member of ICSF and businessmen. In Hawston, for instance, the quota awarded to the Fishers Co-operative was sold off by the person

12 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 Canada Native rights Flipped on its head?

A recent Canadian Supreme Court ruling on the traditional fishing rights of the M’ikmaq threatens relations with commercial fishermen

he native peoples of Canada Department of Fisheries made no represent approximately five per attempts to restrain the out-of-season Tcent of the country’s population. fishing. They live along the three ocean coasts of the country as well as inland, and have The situation exploded on 3 October when been on the continent for thousands of fishermen in the Miramichi Bay off the years. During the 17th and 18th centuries, coast of New Brunswick sent out 100 boats the then British colonial power entered that proceeded to haul up native lobster into various treaties with them, traps, removed the meshing, returned the sometimes for purposes of peace and lobsters to the water and sank the disabled friendship, and sometimes to guarantee traps. territory and trade. Native persons responded by taking over One such treaty was agreed to in 1760 the government wharf at Burnt Church on between the British Governor Lawrence the Miramichi, burning two fishermen’s and the M’ikmaq peoples who fished and trucks and bringing in what they refer to hunted in the regions of Eastern Canada as their ‘warrior society’. Native and bordering the Atlantic. The treaty itself non-native people were driven into direct generally fell into disuse but was used in and violent conflict with one another, and defence of a M’ikmaq fisherman, Donald similar situations threatened to break out Marshall Jr., who was charged with in other coastal areas. fishing in a closed area, using unregulated gear. The Marshall Case was now preoccupying the media and the political leaders of the The case found its way through Canada’s country. The decision of the Supreme judicial system right up to the Supreme Court judges was questioned widely, and Court. On 17 September 1999, the two of the seven judges also dissented. Supreme Court acquitted Marshall on the The Premier of Newfoundland, Brian basis that the treaty gave him a right to fish Tobin, blasted the judges for not and trade such fish in order to earn a understanding the nature of the fishery moderate livelihood for himself and his and for not providing a period of time for family. The court decision made it explicit the implications of the decision to be that the treaty right could be regulated properly managed and implemented. and subject to catch limits that provided The entire sector in for a moderate livelihood. Eastern Canada was protesting, calling for a moratorium and political intervention. However, some M’ikmaq people believed They felt the fishery as they knew it was they now had a recognized right to fish being undermined. when and where they so chose, and began placing lobster traps into areas where the Restrictive regime lobster season was closed. The reader not familiar with Canada must remember that there are 50,000 fishermen As the M’ikmaq built up their fishing in Atlantic Canada fishing under a very presence in closed lobster areas, restrictive fisheries management regime. commercial fishermen who rely on the The lobster fishery is particularly sensitive same lobster area for their livelihood grew because the species is widely dispersed in increasingly angry as the Government inshore waters along a very large

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 13 14 Canada SAMUDRA DECEMBER1999 Canada coastline. It is a fishery broken down by The Maritime Fishermen’s Union has been zones (lobster is a sedentary species at the centre of the controversy since our seldom moving beyond 25 km of its inshore fishermen are based in all of the habitat), and each of the 44 zones has a areas where there are significant numbers specified season that is rigidly enforced. of coastal M’ikmaq bands.

icences are limited, and their total The MFU recognizes the Supreme Court number frozen. This limited entry decision has been a breakthrough for the Lhas led, over time, to licences M’ikmaq. We believe their new rights can acquiring a value and being considered as be accommodated within the present quasi-property. If you had invested fisheries management system. The $100,000 in a lobster licence, you might get accommodation can be done by means of a little anxious if you saw a few native a voluntary licence retirement fishermen fishing out of season, programme. apparently authorized by the Supreme Court to do so, and catching with each We believe strongly that the trap ten times as many lobsters as the accommodation should not be on the commercial fishermen catch in season. backs of fishermen but should be shouldered by the society as a whole The M’ikmaq people, for their part, have through their government. historically been marginalized into a reserve system (although they also have As we write, it seems the Federal Cabinet full rights as Canadian citizens), where will recognize this principle and allocate rates of unemployment are astronomical, the appropriate monies to make the levels of education low, and standards of adjustments. In the meantime, we want to living below the poverty line. They find ways of making the peace between believe their fishing rights have been commercial fishermen and first-nation denied them under the modern fisheries peoples. management regime.

In total numbers, the M’ikmaq pose no serious threat to commercial fishermen, except in localized areas where there are significant numbers of natives adjacent to the lobster grounds that are fully subscribed to.

However, if their treaty right is a ‘blank cheque’ to fish whenever, wherever and however, then the commercial fishery, as we know it, has been flipped on its head. But the Supreme Court has made it clear that it is not a ‘blank cheque’, but a limited right to a moderate livelihood and, indeed, it is a ‘communal’ right and not an individual right as such.

The obligation is on the M’ikmaq as a people to exercise the right in accordance with regulations. The Government of Canada has appointed a Chief Negotiator who has until 15 April, 2000 to arrive at interim fishing plans that accommodate the new treaty rights. Until such fishing This article is by Michael Belliveau, a plans are tied down, inshore fishermen Member of ICSF and Executive remain extremely anxious and the social Secretary, MFU climate in fishing areas where natives and non-natives live in the same broader communities remains tense.

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 15 Breton fisheries

France No more bounty

The artisanal offshore fishing fleet of Britanny is now in jeopardy, but can still be saved

ne interesting aspect of Breton worked all year round. There were fewer fisheries has been the outlets for the artisans who were also in Odevelopment of an artisanal the process of changing from sailing to offshore fleet based on . Artisanal mecanized operations. The order of the refers to the independent, day was trawling and fresh fish, and the owner-on-board, single-vessel enterprise. extended continental shelf easily This sector expanded after the World War provided new grounds. II to reach a peak in the 1980s. In the early 1990s, a crisis which had been brewing During the war, which lasted five years, since the previous decade, suddenly broke fish stocks were plenty enough to cater for out violently, and deeply undermined new tastes. Demand was high on markets that attractive model. In the face of the where, for a long time, food supplies had new challenges thrown up — mostly been rather modest. This kept prices going dwindling resources and appropriation of up steadily. Later on, fish prices would traditional markets/niches and also again remain bullish, thanks to rising fishing grounds by capitalistic concerns — purchasing power. Indeed, until the end stakeholders must now review its of the 1980s, the price curve stayed above functioning, if the artisanal model is to the rate of inflation. These favorable last. conditions made it easier for the pêcheurs artisans previously engaged in seasonal During the 19th century and the activities to turn to year-round trawling beginning of the 20th century, Breton and fresh-fish production. fisheries were basically seasonal operations, targeting sardines and . A Some would take up several métiers (type host of owner-operated boats was of boat+fishing methods+fish targeted), responsible for the production that went particularly when there was renewed mostly for processing. Plant owners were, interest in albacore tuna fishing with by and large, the people in command. drift-nets in the late 1980s. In spite of During the early part of the 19th century, prevailing inflationary trends, artisanal the dominance of these people was fishermen could not have made it alone to progressively challenged by a number of offshore fishing, had it not been for the factors — resource crisis, relocation of co-operative movement (in management, plants, and new demands by consumers. credit, insurance and marketing) which Before the World War II, some brought extra dynamism among them industrialists had already started and propelled them into the high seas. redeploying their assets and investing in large trawlers to produce fresh fish. Renewed access Lorient fishing harbour, built in 1927, was The industrial sector too was able to move at the forefront of that evolution. When further afield as the establishment of a the war broke out, things came to a common fishery zone within the standstill. European Economic Community (EEC) superseded the EEZs and offered renewed At the end of the conflict, a number of access to British waters. In Britanny, the entrepreneurs started anew with artisanal sector and its institutions had industrial trawlers harvesting fresh fish. some political leverage which could affect Over the years, many canneries closed decisions at the national level. Large down and those which survived now subsidies were made available for young

16 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 France potential patrons (owners-operators) to overinvestment appeared glaringly. step in and start business or for Many boatowners were no longer able to established skippers to modernize the meet their loan instalments or pay the fleet. crew. Le Guilvinec district was the worst off. Out of a total of 338 persons who ith only 10 per cent of the initial applied to the authorities for debt capital to be put up personally, rescheduling/relief, 130 were from that Wa young qualified person could area. And the crisis affected offshore boats thus skipper a state-of-the-art fishing unit. as well as small coastal units. The artisanal offshore fleet reached an apex during the 1980s. Its deep imprint is One should not put the blame for more visible in the fishing harbours of overinvestment on the artisanal fishermen Southern Britanny. Le Guilvinec quartier alone. Some of the policies implemented maritime (administrative district) is the by the EEC were, to a large extent, also showcase of this model, which presents a responsible. Indeed, from 1970 to 1995, well balanced array of métiers and captures by French boats in the Northeast segments of fleet, from the small inshore Atlantic dropped from 505,800 tonnes to boat to the 20-24 m high sea unit. The 297,300 tonnes. pêcheurs artisans were proving their ability to operate right across the During the same period, Irish fisheries, continental shelf. with substantial aid from the EEC, were able to jump from 75, 000 tonnes to 377, But there is a dark side to the rosy story as 000 tonnes. In addition, Spanish, Dutch well. The limits of the model started and Belgian boats would also congregate showing up when prices and landings there. Surely, the Breton pêcheurs artisans took a downward trend. In 1993-1994, were not the only ones around unleashing there were two violent outbursts of their fishing capacities. They paid dearly, protests on the part of fishermen. The first though, for the bountiful days of the hint of things to come appeared as early as 1980s. 1985. Within the artisanal sector, the problem was, for quite some time, less The majority survived the deep crisis and apparent because new fishing practices a good number of the boats with (twin-trawling) and new technologies seemingly intractable problems were (electronics on board) helped keep catches taken over by a co-operative society at former levels — at a cost, though. (Océane).

From 1985 to 1990, prices went up, and Critical times that compensated for the decline of But these critical times had also allowed catches and rising operating costs (despite industrial fishing companies (owning fairly low fuel prices). But when fish prices from 5 to 20 boats) to lay their hands on plummeted, the stark realities of some of the larger (16-24 m) artisanal

Total fish captures (tonnes)

1970 1980 1997 France 78 827 52 025 57 126 Ireland 28 897 20 010 70291

UK (England & Wales) 759 2 708 44 621

UK (Scotland) 0 311 11 208 Total 108 480 74 746 183 246 Total (all countries) 223 325 146 219 331 014

Source : ICES

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 17 France

boats. This trend is accelerating, so much (Framework law on fisheries and so that the artisanal offshore fleet is now ) passed by the French in danger. Parliament in November 1997.

he market for products is The artisanal sector has, in the past, thriving and the traders, demonstrated its ability to operate Tdistributors and industrialists who throughout the continental shelf. The are still in business are increasingly eyeing industrial sector, with a clearly different fresh fish. A young potential patron has to status, has also suffered from the crisis. acquire the necessary fishing capacity The two were undergoing a restructuring from within a limited quota. He must, process along separate lines. They had therefore, find a second-hand boat, whose their own financial/banking systems and owner is about to retire, for instance, their own pool of fishing capacity. Today, before ever thinking of buying a new one. though, the industrial sector has On the second-hand market, prices have massively surged into the artisanal rocketed and only the better-off offshore segment— and this is sending companies can afford such investments shock waves right down to the smallest and corner whatever fishing capacity that coastal unit. Industrialists are now gazing comes for sale. As they acquire boats that at the nephrops (langoustine) and sardine fall within the technical criteria (up to 25 coastal fisheries. m) of artisanal units, they may even qualify for subsidies meant to support that The attractive model that had been sector. painstakingly established by the patrons-pêcheurs is now threatened by the What can a young patron do, even with mighty push of capitalistic concerns. The the help of co-operative structures, when only way out, if indeed there is a will to he is facing competition from retailing salvage what is left of the artisanal sector, giants like Intermarché, whose turnover is to set up a licensing system for is 230 billion FF, or even from Furic, an close-to-shore fisheries, with industrial fishing company with a one-owner/operator-one boat rule. This is turnover of 600 million FF. Since access to a political choice. Politicians, who fishing capacity has become so highly dispense aid and subsidies, could surely competitive, there is a rampant take that course, if only they wish to ! privitization of access to the resource, inspite of proclamations to the contrary in Sound management the Loi d’orientation sur la pêche Preservation of the artisanal sector also maritime et les cultures marines depends on sound management of

18 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 France resource and proper use of gear and technologies. Managing fishing grounds targeted by a variety of boats coming from a variety of member States is no easy task.

he pêcheurs artisans of Britanny could at least demonstrate their Twill and capacity to manage the areas where they are the sole operators, the nephrops stocks of the Bay of Biscay being a case in point. The resource and the grounds are well defined.

Until now, whenever they experienced a drop in the yield, they would intensify the fishing effort. Attempts have been made to limit by-catches and these will have to be carried out more forcefully. Langoustine production has decreased by half, but with responsible management measures it could be back to better levels. Aid and subsidies schemes should now integrate these objectives.

In the past, subsidies towards capital investments have heavily encouraged overinvestment and have gone far beyond the original aim, which was helping young skippers to get into business on their own. Subsidies should also be made conditional on improvement of fishing practices, for instance. This, in the long term, could create favourable conditions for a more stable future.

Companies and investors are keen to bank on artisanal boats. This is ample proof that there is still a future for that scctor, and one must now look for the ways and means to preserve it, to adapt and reform it in order to steer clear of the unsound developments that went with years of prosperity.

The pêcheurs artisans of Britanny have been able to operate right across the width of the continental shelf. Their experience may prove valuable to coastal fishermen worldwide who want to expand their fishing grounds.

Let us hope that a sufficient number of men and women, fishermen and politicians, gather to meet the challenges This article is by Alain Le Sann, a of the day so that the criteria of Member of ICSF, and Secretary of responsable fishery are implemented by the Collectif Pêche et coastal and offshore artisanal units alike. Développement

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 19 Fisheries management The paradoxes of quotas Norway

Norway’s experience with fisheries quotas reveals the problems peculiar to household economies

esigning proper procedures for last decade, Norway and Russia faced regulating the relationship what appeared to be a crisis in the Barents Dbetween fish resources and sea cod stocks. The TAC for 1990 was as fishers is a major problem for sustainable low as 160, 000 tonnes of cod. At that time, management and development. Norway only trawlers had fixed vessel quotas. introduced individual and maximum Individual maximum vessel quotas, as quotas following a crisis in the cod well as public licences to fish, regulated fisheries in 1990. For equity reasons, catch and access of coastal vessels above quotas were distributed on the perceived 13 m in length. Small-scale fishers did not neutral basis of vessel length. However, need licences. The maximum vessel quota the fishing pattern of small-scale fishers was also too high to represent a limitation shows no clear relation between vessel on small-scale catches. They ranged length and annual catches. Small-scale between 250 and 400 tonnes, and this was fisher adaptations to this new regime more than even the most industrious provide an interesting exposure of how fishers caught. In effect, the small-scale quotas work in a household economy. fishery was an open fishery.

For centuries, cod (Gadeus morhua) has Following the fishery crisis, a new and been the mainstay for coastal fishers in more detailed system for distributing the North Norwegian waters. Vast amounts low quota was required. Within the of North Atlantic cod come from the existing system of maximum vessel Barents Sea to the coast of Norway twice quotas as large as 400 tonnes, the larger a year. The spawning cod give rise to a coastal vessels could take the whole quota winter fishery, and the feeding cod give within the first months of the year. Fishing rise to a spring fishery. In addition, coastal authorities decided to share the low quota cod are present all year around. Both as best possible, and criteria for spring and winter fisheries of cod provide distribution were developed. It was small-scale fishers with good income decided that small-scale fishers, given opportunities. The ecological conditions their dependency of cod, should be given are reflected in the structure of the fishing preferential treatment. More restrictions industry. In 1996, a total of 6,800 boats were put on fishers, with opportunities to participated in the cod fishery. Of these, as switch to species other than cod. many as 5,600 vessels, or 82 per cent, were Furthermore, the distribution was based small-scale enterprises, that is less than 13 on merit. A minimum catch for 1987-1989 m in length. Their catches amounted to 20 was set, and fishers who fulfilled the per cent of the total Norwegian take of demands for minimum previous catches cod. for their vessel length-group got fixed vessel quotas. Other fishers were allowed Fishery biologists have regularly maximum vessel quotas. Both quotas measured the size of the cod stock since were made dependent on boat size. the mid-1970s. Each year, a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) is set on the basis Types of rights of their advice. Cod is managed In effect, the new regulations implied the bilaterally, and the TAC is shared between establishment of different formal types of Norway and Russia. The mean annual fishing rights. Fishers who were allocated catch has been around 430, 000 tonnes for individual fixed vessel quotas were the last 15 years, but around the turn of the labeled Group I; the maximum vessel

20 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 Norway quota holders were labeled Group II. Very work on board their vessels. Some caught soon, however, these groups were said to large quantities and some only a few have ‘full’ and ‘reduced’ rights, tonnes of fish during the year. In fact, the respectively. Group I had guaranteed majority of small-scale fishers caught low rights to a fixed quota. Group II, besides quantities. In 1984, for example, about 200 having far lower quotas than Group I, had fishers with vessels in the size of 9-11 m to fish them on a competitive basis; fishing caught more than 50 tonnes of cod, 900 was stopped when the group’s TAC was fishers caught less than 10 tonnes, and caught. Thus, only those who were first on around 800 fishers caught between 10 and the scene could fish their maximum 50 tonnes of fish. quotas. The different catches can be ascribed to he effects of these regulations were different needs. A debt- and profound, particularly for career-dependent fishing pattern Tsmall-scale fishers. Fishers were characterized small-scale fishing in the rewarded for their previous fishing effort. 1980s. As newcomers, fishers worked Had they caught a certain amount of fish, hard to secure their debts, but as debts they were allowed a future ‘full rights’ declined, they reduced their effort. position in the industry. Had they fished Investments over time in better and more too little, they were granted only a efficient technology were not always used ‘reduced’ rights position. Small-scale to increase catches. The fishers could use fishers in the latter category saw their their investments to enjoy the benefits of a contribution to the depletion of cod stocks long career in fishinga better and as minimal, and argued this was unfair. comfortable workplaceinstead of catching On the other hand, fishing authorities saw more and more fish. As such, one can say their small catches as evidence they were that, although being formally open to all not as cod-dependent as the other fishers. in the 1980s, the fishery was restricted by However, fishing small quantities is an informal regulations. The household’s inherent and important trait of the needs was a base for decisions on how small-scale fishing household economy. much to fish. The new regime changed this situation. Looking at small-scale fishers’ practices in the open fishery of the 1980s, one finds Statistics compared that fishers used their vessels differently. If we compare catch statistics for 1994, In one and the same village, fishers when the regulations had worked for four equipped with the same type of boat and years, with the figures of the gear, would spend different amount of non-regulated situation of the 1980s,

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 21 interesting shifts in harvest patterns the vessels an extra day at home is costly; appear. The overall reduction in the using them away from home costs even Norwegian small-scale fleet was 20 per more. cent from 1984 to 1994. Norway Since size of the quota is attached to vessel s the table shows, there were 1,703 length, there is also an incentive to buy fewer fishers in the industry in bigger boats. Bigger boats allow fishers to A1994. It also shows that there were be more mobile and to use more efficient 115 fewer fishers catching more than 50 gear. Thus, investment patterns are in the tonnes of cod and as many as 2,226 fewer process of changing. Formerly, fishers fishers catching less than 10 tonnes. For a tried to keep debts low. Low debts net reduction of ‘only’ 1,703, some fishers allowed for flexibility and security in must have increased their effort. Table I years where natural availability of cod shows that there were 638 more fishers was scarce. Low debts still serve this fishing between 10 and 50 tonnes of fish in function, but it has become more difficult 1994, as compared to 1984. Paradoxically, to keep them low. the new regime, instituted in the context of a severe fish crisis, did not provide The price of entry also includes buying a incentives for reduced fishing effort, and quota. Quotas are legally not transferable safeguarding of cod stocks. Instead, per se, but attached to boats. To attain regulations were rewarding increased rights for the ‘full’ rights positions, one fishing effort and larger catches. must buy a boat with a quota. A finite number of vessels with these rights exists In terms of workload, fishers now spend and the prices of boats have increased to more time on board their vessels. Public reflect an informal market for quotas. fishery statistics show that the effort of full-time fishers has increased from 175 Fishing authorities now have a stronger fishing days a year in 1984 to 217 in 1994, tool for controlling and distributing roughly a 25 per cent increase. Prior to the fishing opportunities than in the 1980s. new regulations, some fished for cod only Formal limits to expansion in the in the winter, others only in the spring. small-scale fleet have been established. With the regulations, most fishers now Controlling expansion is regarded as participate in both seasons, as well as fish crucial for successful fisheries cod out of season, in the autumn. management.

The increased work effort also stems from A sucess? an increased mobility. In most places, As such, the new regime is a success. But local fish resources can not sustain the its success has a flip side. The new formal increased demand for fish. Moving to regulations have penetrated a system of other places to locate fish takes time. production where the needs of the Fishing where one’s knowledge is poorly individual fisher and his or her household developed also increases the workload. were crucial for fishing effort. Fishing throughout the year and in new Furthermore, the formal regulations seem places also increases capital costs. Using to undermine the informal management

Changes in the fishing patterns of Norwegian small-scale fishers (1984-1994)

No. of vessels fishing Change Change 1984 1994 (No) (%)

- less than 10 tons of cod 6 215 3 989 -2 226 -36

- between 10 and 50 tons of 1 659 2 297 +638 +38 cod - more than 50 tons of cod 359 244 -115 -32

Total 8 233 6 530 -1 703 -21

22 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 Norway

among fishers. The new regulations regulations may be introduced for other provide incentives for expansive species. strategies, whereas the former inherent restrictions are discontinued. One can no In conclusion, the effect of the new longer enjoy the benefits of a long career regulations is a transformation of and perhaps enjoy family life while a small-scale fisheries. Small-scale fishing is neighbor fisher is at sea. It could mean an occupation for people in rural becoming disqualified for fishing the communities, where alternative job following year. opportunities are scarce. The stated goals of Norwegian fishery policy are ishers’ increased endeavors to fish occupation and settlement in remote their quota represent an increased regions, as well as economic efficiency Fpressure on the cod resource. This and sustainability of resources. From the increased pressure is to be controlled by viewpoints of these goals, the results of the new regulations. But there are the new regulations are highly debatable. loopholes in the formal control system, and clear incentives to use them. Changed Postscript: Shortly after 1990, cod stocks harvest patterns may also have were seen as recovering, allowing for ramifications for stock composition. quotas corresponding to those before 1990. The last years’ positive prognoses From fishing heavily in the winter, fishing are now being reversed, however. pressure is now shifting toward other Fishery biologists have again found the times of the year. The impacts on stock spawning stock to be below critical levels, composition might be positive or negative and a large quota cut is expected to follow the point is that we do not know how for the year 2000. Apparently, controlling changed fishing patterns are affecting the the small-scale fishers has not been cod stock. Neither do we know how they effective in controlling the cod stocks are affecting species other than cod.

Restrictions in the cod fishery led to a shift towards fishing other species. With low This article is by Anita Maurstad, cod quotas, many of those who Associate Professor at the experienced cuts turned to other resources Norwegian College of Fishery to obtain sufficient incomes. Fishers also Science, Troms, Norway came to see this as a warranty for eventual future rights potentials. Fishers had learned a lesson and fear the same

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 23 Oil exploration For a few oil dollars more Cameroon Cameroon The current plans of oil multinationals could drastically alter the livelihoods of the artisanal fishers of Cameroon

il exploration, production and fishing villages, all of which are highly transport are major activities in susceptible to the dangers from oil spills. OCameroon and its neighbouring coastal West African States (Nigeria, Cameroon derives its name from the Gabon and Equatorial Guinea). For over abundance of shrimp in its coastal waters two years, a consortium, comprising the (camaron and camarao are, respectively, oil multinationals Elf, Shell and Exxon, the Spanish and Portuguese names for has been developing the largest shrimp). The rich resources of fish and construction project in sub-Saharan crustaceans have always played an Africa. It not only involves developing important role, particularly in providing oilfields in Chad, but also constructing a the basis of coastal livelihoods and 600-mile pipeline from these oilfields to meeting local consumption needs. Cameroon’s Atlantic Coast. The project Available data shows that for the last ten also intends to establish an export years, fish has provided more than 40 per terminal in Kribi, a village situated in one cent of the Cameroonians’ protein of the most productive and dynamic requirements. As a result of the rising areas in Cameroon (the population and declining local Campo-Kribi area). The US$ 2.5 billion production, the increasing demands for project is seeking a World Bank loan of US$ fish have to be met mainly by increased 115 million. imports (60,000 tonnes in 1986).

The transport of oil from the offshore In 1996, marine fish caught locally terminal at Kribi will be done by tankers amounted to 64,000 tonnes, half of which of 80, 000 to 300, 000 tonnes. Such tankers was caught by small-scale fishermen. have been responsible for the many oil Despite the lack of reliable data on the spills recorded in the Gulf of Guinea. In artisanal fisheries sector, it is estimated particular, in 1979, the tanker Petro that there could be around 20,000 Bousca grounded near Kribi, spilled 800 small-scale fishermen, using some 5,000 cu m of oil. The present project, therefore, pirogues. poses a serious risk of oil spillage. Such oil spills directly threaten the livelihoods of The main species caught are the bonga the 3000 fishermen and their families (ethmalosas), sardinellas and croakers. living in the Campo-Kribi area. Shrimp is also caught by small-scale fishermen, mainly for local consumption. The Cameroon coast is situated in the Gulf Artisanal fishing is mainly performed in of Guinea, and is located at a point of the 2-mile coastal zone, as well as in convergence of two major currents from mangrove areas and estuaries. There are the West and the Benguela current from some 50 to 60 shrimp trawlers. the South. These currents are capable of both bringing in and spreading pollutants Anecdotal evidence far and wide along the coastline. The As in other West African coastal States, Cameroon coastline is positioned in the there is anecdotal evidence to show that Gulf of Guinea as a cul-de-sac, which conflicts exist between the shrimp represents special problems for dispersing trawlers and artisanal fishermen, but no and getting rid of oil spills. The 350-km official information is available on the coastline has important concentrations of subject. Neither is there any information mangrove forests, fish nurseries and on the activities of foreign fleets fishing in

24 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 Cameroon Cameroon Cameroonian waters. This would seem to income from the fish goes to the imply a lack of consideration by the boatowner, the rest being shared among Cameroonian government for its fishing the fishermen. The fish is landed in one of sector, particularly the artisanal sector. the 38 landing points of the Campo-Kribi area, where women take the leading role n the fishing area of Campo- Kribi, in the post-harvest processes. Grouped in designated for the location of the GIC (Groupe d’Initiative Commune), Ioffshore oil terminal, there are about women engage in fish processing (salting, 3,000 small-scale fishermen, operating 500 drying, smoking) of species like bongas pirogues. The different fishing (ethmalose) and sardinellas, locally called community groups include the Mvae, the bilolo. Batanga, Mabi and Yassa people. All these groups critically depend on fishing for Fish smoking has an important impact on their livelihood. Other coastal mangrove wood. In Cameroon, it is communities from Benin to Nigeria are estimated that the open fires from burning also heavily dependent on both mangrove wood for fish smoking is subsistence and commercial fishing. responsible for over 75 per cent of the total mangrove loss. Some attempts have been include the use of nets, made to introduce more wood-efficient traps (nasses), and beach seines (locally burning techniques (new designs of fish called tirez-tirez or ‘pull pull’). Most of the smokehouses, Chorkor ovens, etc), but pirogues belong to only one group of women has taken up non-fishermen—people from the these techniques. administration or from the private sector—who see this as an opportunity for Several campaigns good business. Also, most of the fishing Several groups have been campaigning in gear is imported, and to be fully equipped, Cameroon against the Chad-Cameroon a boatowner must invest the equivalent of oil pipeline. Their efforts have been around 40, 000 French Francs (around US$ supported by hundreds of development 6,000) for a pirogue with outboard engine, and environmental organizations from all fishing gear, etc. This is a considerable over the world. In their campaign against constraint to fishermen becoming the pipeline, these groups, like DEC boatowners. (Défense de l’Environnement Camerounais) have been in contact with For fishing operations, pirogues generally the fishermen from the Campo-Kribi area. go to sea for two nights and one day, with The main concerns of the fishermen three fishermen on board. Half of the interviewed are the diminishing

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 25 Cameroon Cameroon

resources, the lack of information on fisheries regulations, pollution and the destruction of the coastal zones through the oil industry and exploitation of iron mines.

n November 1999, following continual pressures from these ICameroonian groups and the support given internationally, Shell and Elf (Exxon is the third partner) officially pulled out of the project. But, in view of the past tactics of these oil multinationals in the area (Nigeria in particular), there is little doubt about the dangers to be faced in the future. Given the pressures on indebted countries’ governments to earn foreign exchange, there are bound to be other attempts to trade the livelihoods of small producers and small fishing communities for a few oil dollars more.

This article has been compiled from several sources, based on information received from Bela Nga Joseph of DEC (Défense de l’Environnement Camerounais), a Camaroonian NGO working on sustainable development issues

26 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 First First person Fish processing The smoke lingers on

A grateful grandson recollects the special skills of a grand old fish processor in

he mid-1960s and early 1970s seem normally sent back for processing. to be fading away fast, especially if Logoshie, my grandma, as her peers Tone recollects experiences and the called her, rose up as a vendor of her oral history of that period. It is against this mother’s fish products to become a background that this article is being processor/wholesaler. A mother of seven, written to highlight memories of fish she managed to combine her household processing in my childhood. Much and social obligations to run this business reference will be made to my until she died at the age of 78. grandmother as she was the one l stayed with and from whom I learnt much of the Fish smoking and fermentation were her processing techniques. specialty. These two traditional processing technologies were very The period under consideration important as involve only minor (1963-1973 ) saw the beginning of the economic losses and maximizes the use of destruction of the Keta township in the resource. Very fresh fish was smoked Ghana, as a result of the construction of and those that could not be smoked the Tema harbour. Keta used to be the quickly were either dried or fermented. hub of all fishing and fishing-related Smoked-fish buyers will first taste the activities in the south-eastern part of product before purchasing, so it was in the Ghana. Its market was so popular that interest of processors to use quality fresh traders from Togo, Benin and Nigeria fish. patronized it constantly until the sea flooded the road leading to it. One can not Grandma had several fish-smoking points talk about fishing in Ghana without in almost all the fish-landing villages in mentioning this town. the Keta district. She hired people to help when there was a bumper harvest; What is left of it today is a thin stretch of otherwise, the main tasks were performed land between the sea and the lagoon, by my mother and her sister. The fresh fish believed to be the largest in West Africa. was purchased from fishermen who had Behind this lagoon is situated Agbozume, family links with her. This relationship where my grandmother was born and had was important, as sometimes their fishing practiced her vocation. It will be trips were sponsored by her. She also misleading to say that Agbozume was a collected the fish and made payment after fishing village. The lagoon, the sea, the sales, especially during major seasons. coconut plantations and nature’s The main species she processed were woodlands provided a rich economic sardinella and anchovy. diversity to this village. Great skills Fish processing was a major economic The fish was first washed in fresh water activity of the women of the village at the and laid out on coconut palms to remove time. During lean seasons, oil and cake some of its liquid content, after which it processed from coconut (for animal feed), was smoked. Great skill was needed in and mat weaving were the vocations of smoking, since the liquid level in the fish the women. Most of the fishmongers of before smoking, could determine the this village carried fuel wood to the taste, while the different types of wood beaches to smoke the fish. Others with low used for smoking imparted different capitals exchanged wood for fish that they tastes. For instance, the use of sugar cane

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 27 First person

for smoking led to a very well finished end Grandma also sold some of the products product. to customers who came directly to the village to buy. he round traditional oven was the order of the day. Grandma smoked I found myself in this village at the early Tbetween 100 and 400 basins a week, age of eight, as a result of the loss of my depending on the season. Unless there father. My mother could not cope with the was a glut, Grandma never sold her economic consequences, as she was then products on the beach, but would send weaning her third boy. So l was posted to them home for a second smoking. If the join two other cousins living with product could not be sold, periodic Grandma at the village. smoking was done to keep insects away. Social and economic responsibilities were Fermentation was done with bigger organized along gender and age lines in fishes, vava being the first choice, as it was all households. By the rules, as a growing an important flavouring ingredient for the boy, l was not expected to take part in Ewes in Ghana, Togo and Benin. Grandma many home chores, including fish had a unique way of fermenting her smoking. Fortunately or unfortunately, product. The fish was kept in a salt my two cousins were much younger than solution for three days and then sun-dried l, so l virtually became solely responsible for two or three days. She then wrapped for all chores. One of them was to take care the fish in brown paper and buried it in the of the processed fish in Grandma’s storage sand. The top of the sand was covered room. This involved stacking the fish into with thatch to prevent rain water from the smokers and heating them up from seeping down. This product was kept this time to time. It was a painful task at the way until the market recovered . time, as l had little time to play with my peers. The chunk of Gandma’s products were sold by her daughters—my mum sold the Displeasure smoked fish, while my aunt handled the Additionally, l had to vend some of the fermented product. My mum traveled fish, if grandma needed money or realized from Dakpa, a village close to the that a portion was going bad. The sale was Ghana-Togo border, where she lived and done in the village, to my displeasure, as sold the wares. Denu and Dzodze markets my peers gave me all kinds of names and were important for my aunt, as these laughed at me — vending was, and places were patronized by traders from remains, a female’s job, irrespective of age. Togo and Benin. During lean seasons, However, l got a satisfying thrill by

28 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 First First person stealing some fish and sharing it with friends at school. This was done to spite those who called me to order during vending.

lthough Grandma was illiterate and therefore organized her Abusiness empirically, she was very successful in making the venture grow. She had plenty of financial management skills and generally earned a lot to cover her fixed and variable costs. I never saw her broke. The walls of her storage room were the basis of her bookkeeping. A particular symbol stood for a customer and she could tell how much each one owed her by counting the strokes on the wall.

Before her death, Grandma managed to change her traditional mud house into a structure of sandcrete blocks. With that, the seasonal renovation of our thatch roof became a thing of the past. Unfortunately, it was a piece of the iron sheet used in the roofing that saw her untimely death. The piece was left in the sand by the artisans and she got pricked by it. The village fetish priest tried out certain sacrifices to save her, but the tetanus got her in the end.

Today, l have realized that Grandma’s success story was a result of the fish species she utilized, the quality of processing, her perfect control of fresh-fish supplies, her access to markets and the technologies she applied.

In those days, entertainment was a family affair, with the impartation of knowledge through oral history topping the list. After the evening meals, we, the grandchildren, would gather around Grandma for her stories. That was how l learnt a lot about the fishery. Unfortunately, she is not alive or I would have loved to pose her some questions now. Among them would have been how she got her capital and the seasonal variations of her activities.

Although Grandma is gone, the ‘smoke’ lingers on as, in my work with TESCOD, l try to improve the oven she used and introduced me to. This piece is by David Eli, who works with Technical Services for Community Development (TESCOD), Accra, Ghana

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 29 Tuna fishing A flag-waving squabble Viewpoint Some quarters believe that action is needed to eliminate ‘Flag of Convenience’ tuna fishing vessels

epresentatives of 128 Japanese from fishery to fishery; e.g. a 20-30 per cent tuna fishing boat companies have reduction was mentioned for large-scale Rlaunched a campaign to end tuna longline fleets. Taiwan and the unregulated fishing for tuna in the oceans Republic of Korea also pledged to reduce of the world. Under the acronym ATTACK their tuna fishing capacity over the next (All Japan Tuna Boatowners Tactical few years. Unit), the group is demanding that its government and trading companies ban But some tuna fishing boatowners, imports of tuna from unregulated pirate unwilling to submit to regulations, fled tuna vessels. their national jurisdictions and re-registered their vessels in countries that Tuna, one of the world’s most prized food allowed them to operate like pirates, fish, is currently being fished at, or over, preying freely on tuna stocks, without the limits of sustainable use in most of the regard to catch quotas or conservation world’s waters. To prevent , measures agreed upon by members of most tuna fishing nations have regional or international conservation established regional tuna conservation organizations. These pirate vessels, organizations such as the International operating under ‘flag of convenience’ Commission for the Conservation of (FOC), now number around 240, and 80 per Atlantic (ICCAT) and the cent are Taiwanese-owned. Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), and have adopted As Japan is the major market for regulations to prevent overfishing. At a high-quality sashimi grade tuna, ATTACK global level, rules for sustainable tuna urged the Japanese government to deny fishing practices were adopted through Japanese markets to tuna caught by pirate the UN Food and Agriculture vessels. In fact, almost all of tuna caught Organization(FAO) and the UN Agreement by FOC tuna fishing vessels are exported to on Straddling Stocks and Highly Japan, currently around 47,000 tonnes a Migratory Fish Stocks. year, and almost 25 per cent of frozen tuna requirements are imported. Almost twice Early this year, Japan took the lead in as many FOC tuna fishing vessels as the reducing tuna fishing effort by scrapping number of scrapped Japanese tuna fishing 20 per cent of its tuna fishing fleet, in vessels are continuing their fishing even response to the adoption by the 23rd FAO today. Committee on Fisheries (COFI) held in Rome in February 1999, of a Plan of Action Initiative needed for the management of fishing capacity. ATTACK insists that the pain and sacrifice (Article 39 of the Plan states that States that our fishermen and families as well as should take immediate steps to address those related to the tuna fishing business the management of fishing capacity for have suffered from scrapping 132 tuna international fisheries requiring urgent longline fishing vessels would be nullified attention, with priority being given to if FOC vessels continue their pirate fishing. those harvesting transboundary, The group believes that Japan should take straddling, highly migratory and the initiative to eliminate FOC tuna vessels, high-seas stocks which are significantly and ban the trade of any tuna caught by overfished. Article 40 (3) further states FOC vessels. That would be the most that the required reduction would vary effective measure to ensure sustainability

30 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 Viewpoint

of tuna resources and tuna fisheries in the vessels should also be refrained. Other world. It has also demanded that Japanese measures were also included in the trading companies stop buying tuna from resolution. The important point is that the pirate ships. list of FOC tuna fishing vessels submitted by the US and Japan was formally he problem of FOC fishing vessels is acknowledged by ICCAT. The list is useful now a growing concern in the for every government to take appropriate Tinternational community. The measures. International Coalition of Fisheries Association (ICFA) discussed the problem Every effort should be continuously made at its annual meeting in Fremantle, until FOC tuna fishing vessels are Australia, during 9-11 November 1999. completely eliminated from the ocean to Members who participated came from ensure sustainability of the important Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, marine resources for people throughout Russia, Taiwan, the US and the ASEAN the world, both for present and future region. ICFA adopted a resolution generations. requesting nations to refrain from dealing with FOC vessels and products, including denying port access, product transport, and trade and distribution. Further, ICFA urged the Government of Japan to take effective measures to prohibit the import of any tuna caught by FOC tuna fishing vessels. The resolution was delivered to the Government of Japan by an ICFA representative.

ICCAT also adopted the resolution to eliminate FOC fishing vessels at its 16th regular meeting held in Rio de Janeiro, This appeal has been written by Brazil, during 15-22 November 1999, Yuichiro Harada, Staff Officer, where 27 governments and EU International Division, Federation of participated. Each government is required Japan Tuna Fisheries Co-operative to ensure that its fishing vessels do not Associations, with the assistance of engage in Illegal, Unregulated and Alan Macnow, Telepress Associates, Unreported (IUU) tuna longline fishing Inc activities. Trade of fish caught by IUU

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 31 Fishworker Organizations’ sites Weaving the Net Websites Websites

Fishworker organizations need to show that they need to better utilize the power and reach of the Internet through well-designed pages

ishworker Organizations (FOs) are documents are rarely retrieved. There are increasingly realizing the potential some specialized search engines which Fand power of the Internet as a tool can get you the documents in languages for communication. Compared to other other than English. Examples are Excite means of communication, the Internet has France and Yahoo France. Searches using greater reach and is comparatively a search engine which supports keywords cheaper. The majority of the FOs with a in the local language may retrieve national presence on the Internet are based in the and regional FO Websites. Some Websites developed countries, mostly in the US. In provide icons to different language fact, in all of the North and the South, there versions on the home page. are only a handful of small-scale FOs who have put up Websites, though more and The importance given to safety at sea by more FOs in the North have started using the community FOs and commercial FOs in the medium. the developed countries is something remarkable. In the developing nations, Though there are many powerful FOs and especially in countries like India, the movements in developing countries, they number of fishermen who go ‘missing at have only a minimal presence on the sea’ or die at sea is staggeringly high, Internet. There are some Latin American though the exact figures are not available. organizations who are now putting up The personnel and vessel safety their Websites. The high cost of computers regulations are, in general, better and modems and the high tariffs are organized and monitored in the restricting factors that prevent FOs in the developed nations. In comparison, one developing countries from adopting the can not but help feeling that human life technology. If the organizations do not has not much value in the South. have the technical skills in-house, there is the added costs involved in designing the There are very few FO Websites that are Web pages, developing and updating actively updated and kept alive. For the their contents, and maintaining the sites. majority of the sites, once they are created, nothing is done to update the information A compiled list of resources related to or the links they provide. fisheries and FOs on the Web is available at the Website of Gadus Associates Better sites http://www.home.istar.ca/~gadus/lin In comparison, the Websites of ks.html#index commercial fishing and seafood industries are much better organized and There must be many FOs on the Internet updated. The Website of the Coastal who are not ‘visible’ enough. This is Communities Network of Nova Scotia in especially likely of FOs whose sites are not Canada — http://www.gdlewis. ednet. in the English language. The popular ns.ca/~coastal/ — is a fishworker search engines retrieve Web pages that are community Website which gives in English. At the most, they may retrieve information on the local fishworkers, their French and Spanish documents too. social status and role in the local economy, changes in the pattern of fish landings, With popular search engines like Yahoo, specieswise data on yearly fish landings AltaVista, Netscape, Excite, Infoseek and and quantities, and their value. There is Lycos, even French and Spanish also a small section on the role of women

32 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 Websites in the local economy. Two reports on Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) and community-based fisheries privatization of fisheries in Chile. co-management from 1995 and 1997 are available from the link to publications on A write-up on the National Fishworkers the home page. The section, Community Federation, India (NFF) is available on the Updates, has current updates on various URL http://www.corpwatch.org /feature aspects related to local and regional /india /interviews. The Gloucester fisheries, job opportunities in fisheries and Fishermen’s Wives Association is a news releases. unique organization. Unfortunately, its Website — http://www.gfwa.org/ conference report from June 1998 %7egfwa/index.html — says it was last on coastal and rural communities updated in February 1999. Ais available on the Community Updates page. The Website also shares The Pacific Coast Federation of two traditional Nova Scotia recipes, Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) — M’ikmaq Eel soup and Solomon Gundy, http://www.pond.net/~pcffa — (“PCFFA complete with warnings on the is by far the largest and most politically after-effects! active trade association of commercial fishermen on the west coast of the USA ...”) The Website of CONAPACH maintains a monthly column in the (Confederacion Nacional De Pescadores http://www.fishermensnews.com, a Artesanales De Chile) — widely read, as well as the oldest, http://www.conapach.cl/ — is in publication in West Coast Commercial Spanish. It is an active Website, with links fishing industry. to its accessory bodies/programmes CEDIPAC (Corporación Para La Educación, The World Forum of Fishworkers and Desarrollo E Investigación De La Pesca Fish Harvesters (WFF) — http://www. Artesanal De Chile) — http://www south-asian-initiative.org/wff/intro.htm .conapach.cl/asesoras/cedipac.htm — — gives information on its objectives, its CFP (Centro De Formación Polifuncional) structure, a list of members, addresses of http://www.conapach.cl/ asesoras/ some FOs, and links to a few other sites. cfp.htm, Unidad de Apoyo y Servicios Empresariales para la Pesca Artesanal, Downloadable http://www.conapach.cl /asesoras/ In the documents section, the report of the unidadapoyo.htm. On the site, there are WFF meet in New Delhi (17-21 November documents on the campaigns against 1997) is provided. The English version is available for downloading in

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 33 Websites Websites

WordPerfect, MS Word zip and HTML zip important national laws like Magnuson formats. The Spanish and French versions Stevens Act and Commercial Fishing are available in MS Word zip. The Website Vessel Safety Act. looks like it has not been updated since the November 1997 event in Delhi. New Jersey Fishing (http://www. fishingnj.org) is a site maintained by the he Maritime Fishermen’s Union Garden State Seafood Association and site FishNet US. It covers the New Jersey fish Thttp://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/mfu and seafood industry, harvesting upm/ UPM is in English, but has French techniques used by the local fishermen, and Spanish links. It has a section which the fish and they catch, along explains what MFU has done for the with recipes. It also discusses various fishworkers. The MFU site discusses local coastal and ocean issues. Under Gear fisheries management, policies, fishing Effects, there is a list of links to resources quotas and catches. discussing the effects of trawl and dredge fisheries. This section also features Online is gaining diagrams of some of these gears. popularity in the developed countries. Fishmart at http://www.fishmart.com Many Websites give importance to provides various commercial fishermen’s detailed weather forecasts, which are marketing services in the US in various updated twice a day or more. The Weather categories like fresh fish, frozen fish, section of National Fisherman online shellfish as well as the commercially —http://www.nationalfisherman.com— important species. Some FO Websites have gives prevalent weather conditions in all provided links to online fishery market the major fishing areas off the US and news and auction prices. The link Current Canadian coasts. The area for which Market Prices on the Maine Fishermen’s information is needed can be chosen from Cooperative Association site a map on the page. The information http://www.mefishcoop.com/ is an provided includes air pressure, wind example. speed, direction and wave height, all of which are crucial information for National Fisherman online fishermen. (http://www.nationalfisherman.com) has, besides other information, a link to Weather info the US Federal laws related to fisheries. The weather information provided by the This links up to the National Marine Maine Fishermen’s Co-operative Fisheries Service (NMFS) to access Association — http://www

34 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 Websites .mefishcoop.com — includes data from organization. To join, send the one-line weather buoys in the sea as well. message “subscribe fishroute” to [email protected]. LOST (Loved Ones of Sea Tragedy) —http://www.irishmarine.com/lost.h The Website of CRISLA ( tml — is an Irish organization set up to http://assoc.wanadoo.fr/peche.dev/ )is help those who have lost family members in French. It provides information on at sea. industrial fisheries and the damages to artisanal, small-scale sector, fisheries omen’s Fisheries Network — agreements, women in fisheries, http://web.mit.edu/seagran damaging effects of aquaculture, Wt/www/wfn.html — is a ecolabelling in fisheries, and the World national nonprofit network of women and Fisheries Day (21 November). The men dedicated to educating members and implications of ecolabelling is an issue non-members alike about issues which has not been adequately discussed confronting the commercial fishing and by most FOs. seafood industry. Overall, FOs have to go a long way to North Pacific Owners’ make their voices heard on the Internet. Association (NPFVOA) Vessel Safety The technology is definitely cheaper than Program —http://www.halcyon.com other conventional means of reaching out, /npfvoa/ — is a non-profit organization like the print media. And the Internet dedicated to safety education and training provides the reach which no other for fishermen and mariners. It was technology has so far offered. So, it is developed in 1985 in co-operation with desirable that we make good use of it. the US Coast Guard.

FishFolk is a very interesting discussion group on the Internet for anyone with a serious interest in discussing fisheries management. There are sporadic discussions on the social aspects of fisheries and the status of small-scale fishworkers. The list has its own web site (http://web.mit.edu/seagrant/ www/ fishfolk.html)with information on how to subscribe, and biographical information on some list members. There is a searchable archive at http://safmc.noaa.gov/safmcweb/ library/Databases/Fishflksearch.html, of many of the messages previously posted to FishFolk. To join, send the one-line message “subscribe fishfolk to [email protected]. Before you join the list, you may want to have a look at the list of frequently asked questions and their answers at http://web.mit.edu/seagrant /advisory/fishfolkfaq.html.

FishList is intended to cover similar ground to FishFolk, but with more emphasis on the seafood trade. It is also This article has been written by specifically intended for the commercially Omkar G. Krishnan of ICSF’s oriented messages that are often Documentation Centre, Chennai, unwelcome on more academic lists, or at India least inappropriate for them. FishList is run by The Fish Highway ( http://www. fishroute.com/) or “FishRoute”

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 35 Fishery co-operatives-4

Japan Japan Beyond the sneers

The fourth instalment in the series on the pioneer of Japan’s fishery co-operative movement

fter training the members of the called a meeting of the two sides to resolve regional federations for two years, some of the difficulties. About 100 Awe dissolved those federations representatives met in the Sapporo Grand and established branches of Dogyoren in Hotel. their place in those central cities which the merchants were located, such as Nemuro, Shortly after the meeting was opened, Hakodate, Hiyama, Kitami, Soya and several merchants delegates arose in Kushiro. succession to criticise our activities. They accused us of having no knowledge of We had originally succeeded in having the marine goods or trading practices, and of FCAs jointly market scallop, squid and forgetting how much they had helped us. kelp. With this next step, however, we They questioned whether we would be targeted the strong base of the merchants able to repay our accumulated debts, and and attempted to set up our own base. For stated that our joint marketing practices instance, we opened a Dogyoren branch should be halted and that we should leave office in Hakodate on the second floor of the professional details to them. a bank building and made our presence known by painting ’DOGYOREN’ on the At first, not one person from the FCAs windows in gilded letters. stood up to argue with them. Okuno informed me that, since it was a The marine product merchants sneered at government-sponsored meeting, he our venture, saying that if such laymen as would not be able to close the meeting the FCA members opened shop and tried without hearing from the fishermen, so I to market their products without the encouraged some of the participants from assistance of the merchants, they would the FCAs to stand up and speak. Finally, fail within half a year. I placed special Tsutomo Takagi, who had once served as emphasis on the Hakodate branch, and managing director of the Kitami Regional thus I sent two of the most competent and Federation, arose and spoke eloquently experienced men there — Shuzo Ito as the about the greed of the merchants. “We are branch manager and Eio Monai as his only trying to sell the goods we produce assistant. They performed excellently in with our own hands,” he said. “That isn’t these positions, and the amount of so unreasonable, is it? We will definitely transactions involving squid increased repay our debts, but how dare you use our rapidly within a very short time period. debts as a pretext to protect your own commercial interests.” The chairman of With the success of our venture, an the Mitsuishi FCA stood up next and stated anti-cooperative movement arose among that the merchants had no right to meddle the merchants. The Hakodate Association in the affairs of the new cooperative of Marine Products Traders submitted a movement, and he accused them of petition to the Hokkaido government in appealing to the rules of an outdated the hope of protecting their vested commercial system. interests in the trade. They contended that Dogyoren and the FCAs had an unfair New system advantage. They were strongly opposed “If you want to work with us within the to our activities, and this created various new system, we will welcome you,” he problems, so Mr Okuno, the Director of said, “but we will not work with you if you the Hokkaido Department of Industry, cannot agree to change with the times”.

36 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 Japan

The merchants could not respond to these merchants, we will look for other buyers. well-reasoned arguments. We are simply using the cooperative to escape poverty. kuno determined that the government must act, and he “You must understand that the times are Otherefore nominated a certain Mr changing, and the cooperatives will be Suzuki to be the superintendent of the established not only in Hokkaido, but Department of Industry and Commerce. throughout the nation. We will soon Suzuki said that the merchants had to establish a national federation. You are adapt to the new age so that the businesses free to limit the commercial areas of could develop. He pointed out that the Hakodate or Otaru or other cities as far as government always encouraged the use of they are related to your personal business, joint capital. He said, that since the but that does not concern us. We respect fishermen were finally doing just that, it you for your contributions to the was shocking to see that the merchants development of Hokkaido, but you must continued to act selfishly and keep in step with the times. We have made single-mindedly. Again, there was no up our minds, and we intend to succeed, response from the merchants. so please don’t worry about us”.

I arose to speak at the end of the meeting. After this meeting, we were able to I thanked the merchants for stating their promote joint marketing smoothly. When opinions, which we found to be speaking about this process, I have often reasonable in certain ways, as well as described it with the term “cooperative informative and helpful. However, I told revolution”. If we had not severed the them, it was wrong for them to insist on relationships between the merchants and the commercial rights. Since squid was the fishermen, we could not have caught in all the seas around Hokkaido, developed the cooperatives. That meeting we could see no reason to sell dried squid was therefore a truly significant event. to the merchants in Hakodate. “I believe it The FCAs of other prefectures did not is your responsibility as merchants to undergo cooperative revolutions as we supply Hakodate with goods. It is not that did, so the merchants in those prefectures we want to sell to merchants in other were still able to appeal to the feudalistic regions; we would appreciate it if you concepts of ‘favours’ and ‘obligations’. would agree to buy our prices. However, you must remember that fishermen must Joint marketing struggle to make a living, and if we cannot The first step in joint marketing is for the get a satisfactory price from you FCA to collect the fishermen’s products. In

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 37 order to do this, we have to instruct the Trading Company, a venture which fishermen regarding the cooperative consisted of three major companies, along ideals and have them unite. Then we have with the National Federation of FCAs

Japan Japan to negotiate with the buyers to determine (Zengyoren), and Dogyoren. the prices. To do this, we have to collect at least 50% of the total Hokkaido catch so as Miyozo Takakusa, the chairman of to gain some control over the market. Zengyoren, was appointed president of From my experience, I knew that we this company, and I was appointed the would thus change the conditions from Sapporo branch manager, while retaining those of a buyer’s market to those of a my position as managing director of seller’s market. Dogyoren. We recruited Mr Kagato Matsuo, of one of the participating hen negotiating the prices, we companies, to be managing director. He have to determine in advance was not only well-versed in marketing, Wthe estimated cost and the but he was also very knowledgeable about potential supply and demand. At certain the role of cooperatives. times, we must keep the prices down, such as when the buyers have retained stock or All marine products which were to be if the current year’s harvest is good. exported were collected by this company, and the government’s control of trade The FCAs and the Dogyoren can succeed in therefore became stronger. Not long after joint marketing only if they negotiate the company was established, I went to properly. If this is done by tender, the Tokyo, and while there, I was surprised to merchants will engage in speculation and see in the newspapers that the we will fail, as was evident from so many government had applied an ’Official Price cases. In 1965, for example, the price of Control System’ to marine products. salmon was 40% higher than in average years, since large canning companies were I was shocked by the news. I had never buying up all the salmon. We warned the thought that our joint marketing would FCAs that they had to keep the prices low, have to deal with a system of price since selling at such an extraordinarily controls, and I did not know how we high price was too risky. could operate under such a system. It was unthinkable that the government would The cooperative must not sell at such high set a price for the various marine products, prices simply to satisfy the producers; it since the production level fluctuated must take into consideration the demands yearly due to natural conditions. The of the consumers. The entire society government seemed to be preparing for would benefit if prices were kept stable the coming war by controlling the and reasonable. Furthermore, we had to economy as well as repressing freedom of remember that the cooperative was an speech and the media. ongoing venture, not simply a one-time effort, and that we had to rely on continual dealing with our customers.

At the time we were developing the FCAs, the military came to have more and more influence on the central government, particularly after the colonization of Manchuria.

It therefore became difficult for us to export marine products to China, which had been the largest market for such products as dried squid, kelp, scallop, and This instalment is excerpted from abalone. Therefore, the Ministry of The Autobiography of Takatoshi Agriculture and Forestry was forced to Ando, translated by Naoyuki Tao find a way to export marine products and James Colyn through one channel to China. It established the Japan Marine Products

38 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 China Marine fisheries Chinese puzzle

Despite devolution of power, only better co-ordination between the central and provincial/local governments will save Chinese fisheries

ith a seaboard of 320,000 km licensed. Worse, the price liberalization and a continental shelf of policy of 1985 allowed fishers to sell their W374,000 sq km, China is the catch anywhere, even at sea. largest producer of fish in the world. In 1997, its marine fish production amounted There are basically three kinds of to over 20 million tonnes. Most of the ownership structure in Chinese fisheries: marine production is taken from the Bohai ownership under the State; under the Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea private sector; and under collective units. and the South China Sea. The most ‘Collective’ is the generic name for commercially significant species are communes. Since the introduction of the hairtail, small yellow croaker, large open-door economic policy, the yellow croaker, filefish, round scad, collectives have, in fact, become Japanese anchovy, chub mackerel, small-scale private fishing companies. So, Japanese Spanish mackerel, golden thread essentially, fishing vessels operate under fin, pomfret, blue crab, conger pike, either State or private ownership. Chinese herring and various species of shrimp. The State-owned enterprises are operating at a tremendous loss because of According to Chinese sources, the notion decline in production and high of fisheries management in China can be operational costs of large fishing vessels. traced back to the Xiayu Dynasty (2100 to More and more fishers are becoming 1600 BC), which prohibited fishing during owners of fishing vessels, and, the summer spawning season. There is increasingly, smaller and smaller vessels reference to the finite nature of resources are replacing large vessels in Chinese of the lake and the sea in a book titled fishing grounds. This puts tremendous Guanzi, baguanpian, written during the pressure on the enforcement machinery, time of the Chun Qui Dynasty (770 to 476 which is basically designed to cater to BC). This is interesting because, until fisheries with large vessels. The recently, the world at large believed in the authorities also have problems in inexhaustible nature of the sea. During the controlling indiscriminate fleet Ming and Qing Dynasties (1369-1911 AD), expansion. There is, for example, a fisheries management-related activities marked increase in vessels under 20 m were specified — perhaps the earliest length. There is a tremendous growth in attempt in the world to manage the the sales of outboard motors, which are fisheries. numerous — there are no reliable statistics on how many are, in fact, operating. In spite of this hoary past, the marine fishing industry developed in China Unreliable statistics mainly after the 1940s. Bottom trawling, Chinese fisheries statistics, which were introduced from the US and Japan, has fairly reliable about 15 years ago, are no been the principal fishing method, longer so accurate because of the difficulty accounting for over half the current fish in keeping track of the fishing effort of production. The open-door policy of the smaller vessels. There are reportedly Chinese Government led to privatization about 300,000 fishing vessels in China of fisheries since the 1980s, which led today, most of which would be less than thousands of new entrants into the marine 24 m in length. The vessels, however, are fisheries, many of whom are not even classified according to horsepower (HP).

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 39 40 China SAMUDRA DECEMBER1999 China Most of the boats in operation are the management tool, it does not really take small ones (below 20HP) and they have care of the overcapacity problem: fishing been growing at an annual rate of about 15 power continues to exist; it is not reduced per cent. as a result of the annual closed season. According to official sources, Chinese isheries managers are acutely aware fisheries managers would actually like to of the need to reduce capacity, but see a combination of input and output Fthey do not know what to do with control as well as technical measures to the large fishers population, about five resolve the problem, but the political will million in the marine fisheries sector. at, and below, the provincial level is still There is a smattering of labour migrants to not strong enough. Taiwan and countries like Korea and Japan but there are certainly more people One of the political means to reduce moving into the marine fisheries than fishing pressure in Chinese waters has moving out. been to encourage distant-water fishing (DWF) operations. The Chinese have been The Chinese fisheries management in DWF since 1985 and about 1,200 Chinese currently relies mainly on input control trawlers are currently operating in DWF. measures, which are perceived to be About 15,000 Chinese work on board inadequate by the fisheries authorities these vessels, which operate in the EEZs of themselves. The most significant Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau (for octopus management measure currently in use is and fin fish), Morocco (squid and the closed season. Since 1978, there was a octopus), Senegal (fin fish and octopus), two-month closed season, which in 1998 Sierra Leone (shrimp and squid), Yemen, was extended to three months. During the Argentina (squid) and some South Pacific closed season, it is illegal to even have countries (tuna). your fishing gear either in the water or on board a vessel, irrespective of whether Capacity limits you are fishing or not. Although this is the Capping capacity is an important policy most effective Chinese fisheries consideration and there is a moratorium Inside view

A small-scale fishing unit that I visited in San The investment in fisheries is made, in most Yan town, Jinsan District, Shanghai, mainly instances, from own or family savings. There operated 10-m set-net units. Crews of three, at are, however, instances when bank loans are a depth 10-20 m, operate these units. The taken. There is no auction of fish. The fish is catch composed mainly of trash fish. Another sold according to prevailing market prices. The collective fishing unit operated larger fishing captain of the boat receives a payment about vessels. 20 to 30 per cent above the crew.

My visit was at a time when the fishery was Stock declines due to increased fishing effort is closed. Most of the boats that I saw were over a major problem. In the past, women were 20 years of age. They looked really dilapidated involved in making fishing nets. None of the and old. Some of them had heavy stone women who belong to the commune is involved weights; none was painted and those that in fishery-related activities now; they all work in were, had the paint all peeled off. It was said industries owned by the commune that produce that some of the boats were, in fact, over 60 textiles, shoes or car safety belts. years old. The fishers above 50 years of age are often An average fishing trip reportedly lasts 10 days. illiterate; however, those younger than that There are about 180 fishing days in a year. have mostly completed secondary education. During the closed season, no financial To join fisheries, you should be at least 17 assistance is made to the fishers by the State. years old and should have completed On an average, a fisher earns about US$100 a secondary school. The fishers have to be month. For State-owned companies, however, licensed but there is no licence fee. Fishing the Government pays the minimum wage without a licence can lead to the confiscation of during the closed season. the craft and gear as well as the imposition of a fine.

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 41 A company in trouble

China China The Shanghai Marine Fisheries Co. Ltd. used was too much capacity built into the fishing to be one of the biggest in China and is owned companies under State control; second, the by the municipal government. Once it operated emergence of smaller fishing vessels under the 238 fishing boats, mainly trawlers and collective ownership; and third, marine pollution purse-seiners. Now only 23 fishing boats are from industrial activities. It was observed that operating in the Chinese waters. the stocks will not recover in the short run and that controlling fishing effort is very important The largest vessels owned by the company are for stocks to recover, which means many factory trawlers fishing in the northwest Pacific, fishing units should withdraw from fishing. which have a capacity ranging from 2000-3000GRT. These vessels were imported About 1,900 workers were laid off as a result of second-hand from Germany. Large squid fleet restructuring. Those above 50 years of jiggers, about 63 m long, are also operated. age were given compulsory retirement although some were absorbed into non-fishery jobs. Due to the decline in fish production, 10 big Some went back to their villages. And some trawlers that belong to the company have been were retrained to participate in the tied up in the wharf. The resources are distant-water fisheries. declining very fast. Collective fishing operations, which are small-scale, make it The workers on Chinese vessels are paid difficult for the vessels to effectively compete. salaries linked to production. Although a basic The company has ceased its trawling minimum is guaranteed, the ceiling is not fixed. operations in, for example, the East China Sea, There are labour unions in fisheries, and their because of competition from collective fishing representatives participate in management operations, which operate much smaller fishing decisions. All policies of the company have to vessels with lower capacities. be discussed and approved by the labour union. The company provides housing, health As a result, since1985, the company has been and schooling facilities to its workers. diversifying into distant-water fishing operations and factory trawling. Distant-water fishing Faced with overfishing and overcapacity, the operations take place in Yemen, Argentina, company wants to decrease its participation in Mauritania, Morocco and the South Pacific. The fisheries. The main problem they face is with company operates 69 vessels under 17 joint the big vessels, which are less amenable to ventures with local companies. Thirty-three of diversification. The alternative options they are these vessels are in squid jigging. considering are marine transportation, starting mariculture/aquaculture operations and Three reasons were attributed to overfishing of concentrating on shore-based fisheries-related Chinese marine fisheries resources: first, there business.

on building new vessels, except to replace Central Government is interested in existing ones. There was a ceiling, for effective fisheries management, the example, in 1981 on the total number of provincial and municipal governments vessels, but the provincial and local are still concerned with recovering their governments would not comply with it. investments in fisheries. The local The ceiling is periodically revised and governments apparently have an observed mainly in its violation. There is investment protection policy. They are even a thriving market for old vessels primarily interested in protecting the between the provincial government and short-term interests of their fishing the collective fishing units. Now, with the industry. The management measures collapse of several stocks, the market for proposed by the Central Government are second-hand vessels is poor. often not implemented.

Any planning for better fisheries Devolution of power in the case of China management in China has to overcome seems, sadly, to have led to a situation of the most pressing problem of the lack of overfishing and overcapacity. The Centre co-ordination between the Central and is concerned about these problems but it provincial/local governments. While the has yet to find a positive response from the

42 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 China provincial and local governments. Several of the controls introduced by the Central Lobsters and King Cobras Government are apparently violated. The Shanghai Chaoan Siping Aquatic Market is the total quantum of fish production has a biggest in China. Its frozen fish significant proportion of lower market is more than 30 years old. In addition to trophic-level species and juveniles. fishmeal, which goes entirely to the aquaculture industry, it imports an amazing variety of fish, lthough, for instance, a potential ranging from hairtail to Patagonian tooth fish, collapse of green filefish stocks which is sold at US$150 a kg in some fancy Awas predicted as early as 1988, no restaurants. The high-value fish are all action was taken to prevent their collapse, consumed in restaurants. The most expensive which finally happened in 1991. The fish caught in Chinese waters is the output of hairtail is now high, but the size golden-coloured large yellow croaker, which of fish caught is getting progressively fetches about US$100 a kg. The main market smaller, which makes scientists fear a for high-value species is big businesses that repetition of the green filefish collapse. buy expensive fish on entertainment expense accounts. The Chinese love to take their guests In the national waters, the Bureau of out to restaurants, as part of their tradition. In Fisheries is responsible for implementing the restaurant where I was taken out for dinner, both the central and provisional fisheries there were live lobsters from Australia, New legislation. The enforcement capacity of Zealand and Norway, and stone crabs from the the Bureau is, however, rather weak. It is US. Of course, there were also live King Cobras beleaguered by lack of financial resources, in cages! a dearth of trained staff and a shortage of patrol boats. Retired army hands often One of the marketplaces that I visited was man the enforcement activities. recently set up and managed by a woman. It is now in the process of developing facilities to To make matters worse, there is a large handle imported live fish. The market is owned influx of peasants into marine fishing by a co-operative that has a variety of operations. About 10 to 20 per cent of businesses, including tea. The market not only fishers are believed to be formerly handles fish, cephalopods and crustaceans but agricultural peasants. There is migration also farmed snakes and turtles. of peasants into fisheries in Sichuan, He Nan, An Hui and Guanzhou Provinces. future prospects in these fishing grounds Most of these farmer-turned fishermen are look rather bleak, since they are also in the small-scale sector and work as crew increasingly overfished. Unless the for fishermen who own boats. Since the problems of overfishing, overcapacity and labour is cheap, owner-operator underemployment in fisheries are fishermen hire workers from the effectively managed, the Chinese fisheries hinterland. will face a major crisis in the near future.

On the whole, it is reported that the quality of life of a fisher is better than that of a farmer, even in the prosperous coastal belt.

The Chinese capture fisheries are increasingly beleaguered by overfishing and overcapacity. How long China will be able to maintain its high production levels in relation to capture fisheries is open to question. This article by Sebastian Mathew, Unless quick measures are implemented, executive Secretary of ICSF, is based China will lose it primacy in marine on a recent visit to Beijing and capture fisheries to other countries. Shanghai Although attempts are being made to diversify into distant-water fisheries, the

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 43 hamlets close to the sea near Paradip were swept away by waves and the toll News Round-up was officially recorded at more than 10,000. Baywatch A survey by the Thailand and India — Fisheries Resources which are in various Citing these Institute of the ways heavily instances, ecologists Massive pollution in Department of involved in the claim that the the Bay of Bengal is Fisheries, Chittagong problems associated threatening the stock University, revealed with the demand for of marine fisheries, that the use of giant shrimps. The and the volume of pesticides has problems concern fishing in increased by 400 per both farmed supplies Bangladesh has cent since 1977. and natural shrimps declined alarmingly caught in the open in the last few years, Giant needs sea. The SSNC is part the official BSS news of an international agency has recently In Sweden, giant network that consists reported. frequency of cyclones shrimps are a of members from has registered an relatively new producing countries Experts fear that alarming trend since product, not a as well as consumer fisheries resources the 1970s and traditional fare for countries. might dwindle attribute it to the which further, and fin fish large-scale well-established Mangroves forever and shellfish could exploitation of the eating habits have become extinct if mangrove vegetation. evolved. This fact is The rapid depletion pollution in the Bay Remote sensing working to the of the mangrove of Bengal’s water pictures taken by forest area that once continues. The Bay is Salyut-7 during the covered the entire enriched with 1970s revealed that coastline of Orissa in nutrients, supplied every year, nearly 2.5 India is being cited as by a network of rivers sq km of mangrove one important reason and their tributaries vegetation has been for the recent cyclone depleted or cleared in lashings that have The present problems the Orissa coast. spring from been plaguing the industrial toxic waste, coastline area. Virus at large oil spills, dumping of trash fish, illegal and advantage of the Several times in the Swedish Society for past, ecologists have A strange new virus overfishing, siltation is attacking the larvae and flood water Nature Conservation warned that the (SSNC), which, since Orissa coast was of shrimp 1995, has been trying headed for major aquaculturists in the to draw attention to disaster. The first State of Sinaloa, the problem of the warning was issued Mexico, raising the production of giant in 1971, when a mortality of Sinaloa’s shrimps. The SSNC severe cyclonic storm farmed shrimp. believes that it will be battered the shores, Mexican officials possible to persuade claiming more than believe that the consumers and the 10,000 lives, a appearance of this trade to manage number far new shrimp disease without giant surpassing previous could give stagnation, increase shrimps. records. Although the international in inland wastes, Orissa coast was environmental artificial hatcheries, The SSNC is working subject to two groups that are fishermen’s with several devastating cyclones opposed to the ignorance of the environmental in 1885 and 1892, the industry a pretext to bay’s fish stock and organizations in the 1971 cyclone was far call for a boycott of mismanagement of South — in Ecuador, more damaging. Mexican seafood. the marine sector. Honduras, Malaysia, Several villages and

54 SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 This new affliction, swamps and affirmationthanksgivin on a revised working which some are intertidal mudflats, g to our mother sea contract as well as and also the sandy who is the protector new wages for beach of the adjacent and sustainer of our Kiribati seamen Gulf of Oman coast in lives, and affirmation employed on German the extreme southeast to protect her from all ships. The seamen of Iran (Persian kinds of exploitation. will now enjoy the Baluchistan) right up same ratings as their to the border with Customary owners German counterparts. Pakistan. The site is important for Indigenous fishermen The agreement also Crocodylus palustris of Fiji will soon be and wintering able to claim calling ENH virus, is waterfowl, notably ownership rights to said to be under Pelecanus crispus, their customary control now, shorebirds, gulls and fishing grounds or according to official terns. qoliqoli. Fiji’s Cabinet Mexican sources, but has recently the final diagnostic World Fisheries approved the would not be known Day drafting of new for another couple of legislation to bring weeks. Nevertheless, Fishworkers all over this into effect. The the president of the the world celebrated Cabinet says that the has a financial Aquaculture the World Fisheries decision honours a benefits component Chamber, admitted Day on 21 November long-standing request that will provide aid that in Nayarit and in under the banner of from the Great in the event of the central zones and the World Forum of Council of Chiefs and accidents and deaths. south of Sinaloa, Fish Harvesters and on the Those seamen who there has been a high Fish Workers (WFF), recommendation of work on board ships incidence of this new which has a member the Prime Minister plying in a war zone virus strain. representation of 23 and Minister for will now get 100 per organizations from 21 Fijian Affairs. cent of their salaries Reserved for countries from all the as bonus. good continents of the Until now, the world. Although Fijians’ customary Meanwhile, Kiribati The Islamic Republic many countries have rights of usage of seamen employed on of Iran has officially declared 21 their qoliqoli have Korean fishing designated Govater November as World been provided for in vessels are sore that Bay and Hur-e-Bahu Fisheries Day, the the Fisheries Act. The they have not been as its 19th Wetland of day still remains an ownership rights to paid salaries since International occasion for these areas are vested June. Following the Importance. This celebration by the in the State under the Kiribati government’s 75,000-ha area workers. Crown Lands Act. takeover of the comprises the management of the The main idea behind The Cabinet has been seamen’s the celebration, quick to reassure employment according Thomas other communities in conditions aboard the Kocherry, Fiji that their rights of Korean ships, the Co-ordinator of the access to the waters families of the WFF, is to build and fisheries will seamen were transnational continue to be expecting the solidarity among the respected. remittances to be fishworkers of the Commercial fishing paid regularly. The world. Just as their activities will still Kiribati government seas do not have any need to have a licence is said to be riverine and estuarine boundaries, so too to continue. investigating the wetlands of the lower their love and matter. Sarbaz River, solidarity find no Pay, no pay including permanent boundaries. Apart freshwater pools and from the celebratory The Government of marshes, mangrove aspect, it is also a day Kiribati has agreed of thanksgiving and

SAMUDRA DECEMBER 1999 55 '11ie strong, unstO!J!Jering 6reeze a60untfetfso, tliat sf;:y antf air seemetfVast out6e{(ying sails; tIie whofe worUf600metf 6ef0re tIie wind. Mujffetf in the fu((morning figrit, tIie inviswfe sun was on6; f::!wwn 6g the sprwtfintensity ofIUs proa; where IUs 6agonet rags movetfon in stad;{. 'Ern6fazonings, as ofcrownetf '1!a6gfoniJJn K:Jngs antfqueens, reignetf oVer even;triing. '11ie sea was as acnu;wfe ofmo(tengoUl, thot 6u66fing6; feaps with. (;grit antf fiwt.

-from Mo6y 'Di£{by Herman Melville Published by Sebastian Mathew lor Inlernational CoIectiYe In Support of FlShworkers lesF Is an Inlernatlonal HGO 27 Co/Iege Road, Chenoa) 600 006, India wor1dng on issues 1hal concem TIt!ephone (91) 44·827 5303 Facsimile (91) 44-825 4457 flshworkers the WOf1d over. II is E·mail: [email protected] in status with the ElXlnOmic and Social Council of the UN and Is ICSF Brussels Office: on LO'S Special Ust of Non­ 65 Rut du Mkfii, B-HXIO 8russ&Is, Belgium GovemmentallntemaOOnal Or­ Telephone (32) 2- 5131565 Facsimile (32) 2-513 7343 ganizations. II also has I..Jaison E·maH; gilietpOskypro.be StalUs I'r'ith F.t.O. R~efed In Geneva, lCSf has offices In Chemal, India and Brussels, ~. AJ aglobal ne\'worll; 0/ community organl18rs, Edited by teachtrs, technicians, rlt­ SNI..O'LI. Editorial searchers and scientists, lCSFS tclivities encnmpass rnormr­ DesIgned by il'lg and /asla/eIl, exdlangll and tralnng, ca~ an:l salish Babu IICIlon, as wei as lXlmrmlica· bons..$AloIlJ(lAA REPORT lnvlllIS eo.M lXltICti:1Ulion ¥Ill responses. I\-ogtJes 00 /he Besch by Kwame MotI CorTespolldEll'll:::fl sI'loUd be act­ lhssed to" 0Iennai otIce. Photographs courtesy of Swapan NayaItfo.m.oa(, NO, SebastiorI Mathew Brian O'Rion:lan, Jotvl KLrien The opn:InS and positions axpmsed i'I .. artides are Additional news courtesy of tI105e fA lhe aufxn CUIOIln'ltd UN', RelAeB. ffA, FishFc6 and do no! necessIItt .. sen! Ihe oIIbII views fA lCSF Printed at ~ and Corrl*l'f Pvt lid" Chemai SIoIoI.ov. REPORT can now be ac­ cessed UI anhome Pl9l on the WOIkl Wille Web at SAIUIfIA IIQ'QIIT No. 24 Deoerrtler 1999 hlIp:IIwww.i:sl'JIllt RlR l.MTEII CR:UATUl ON.Y