Law and Governance Toolkit for Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries BEST REGULATORY PRACTICES Environmental Law Institute
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OCEAN PROGRAM DECEMBER 2020 Law and Governance Toolkit for Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries BEST REGULATORY PRACTICES Environmental Law Institute ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document was prepared by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) as part of the Fisheries Law in Action Initiative. The primary drafters were Sofia O´Connor, Stephanie Oehler, Sierra Killian, and Xiao Recio-Blanco, with significant input from Jay Austin, Sandra Thiam, and Jessica Sugarman. For excellent research assistance, the ELI team is thankful to Simonne Valcour, Bridget Eklund, Paige Beyer, Gabriela McMurtry, Ryan Clemens, Jarryd Page, Erin Miller, and Aurore Brunet. The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Oak Foundation, and especially to Imani Fairweather-Morrison and Alexandra Marques. For their time and valuable input, and for their patience answering our many questions, we are thankful to the members of the project Advisory Team: Anastasia Telesetski, Cristina Leria, Francisco Javier Sanz Larruga, German Ponce, Gunilla Greig, Jessica Landman, Kenneth Rosenbaum, Larry Crowder, Miguel Angel Jorge, Robin Kundis Craig, Stephen Roady, and Xavier Vincent. Thank you also to Leyla Nikjou of Parliamentarians for Global Action, Lena Westlund and Ana Suarez-Dussan of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and to participants in expert workshops in Spain, Mexico, South Africa, and Washington D.C. Funding was generously provided by the Oak Foundation. The contents of this report, including any errors or omissions, are solely the responsibility of ELI. The authors invite corrections and additions. The SSF Law Initiative is the result of a strategic partnership between ELI and Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) to support governance reforms for sustainable fisheries management. About the Environmental Law Institute Ocean Program To address threats to the marine environment, the Ocean Program at ELI focuses on strengthening ocean and coastal law and policy domestically and internationally. We support ocean management systems that are based on local priorities, inclusive and effective processes, and best available information. About Parliamentarians for Global Action Parliamentarians for Global Action is a non-profit, non-partisan international network of approximately 1,300 legislators in over 140 elected parliaments around the globe, which aims to promote peace, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, gender equality, and population issues by informing, convening, and mobilizing parliamentarians to realize these goals. ---------------------------------------------- Small-Scale Fisheries Toolkit. A PDF file of this report may be obtained for no cost from the Environmental Law Institute website at www.eli.org. Please contact [email protected] for more information. Cover Image: repaired fishing nets at Curuxeiras port, Ferrol. Inma Gutierrez, for ELI’s SSF Law Initiative. Law and Governance Toolkit for Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries: Best Regulatory Practices. © 2020 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. i | Page Environmental Law Institute Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ i Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 1 Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................ 2 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 3 Background information on the SSF sector ............................................................................ 4 What the SSF Regulatory Toolkit is about............................................................................. 6 Chapter I. Developing a Specific Legal Infrastructure for SSF ............................................... 8 Importance of a regulatory framework specific to SSF ............................................................ 8 Legal definitions of SSF and related concepts ........................................................................ 9 The importance of a legal definition of SSF .......................................................................... 12 Chapter II. The SSF Legal Drafting Cycle ............................................................................ 15 Steps for Effective SSF Regulatory Reform ........................................................................... 15 Example: How to Use the Toolkit ........................................................................................ 16 Step One. Assessing the Reality of the SSF Sector ................................................................. 20 Step Two. Conducting a Detailed Legal Framework Assessment ........................................... 22 Step Three. Using the SSF Regulatory Toolkit ...................................................................... 28 Part 1. Implementing Tenure Rights for Small-scale Fishing ........................................................ 28 Objective and Explanation ............................................................................................. 28 Rationale ....................................................................................................................... 29 Relevant Model Provisions ............................................................................................. 29 Constitutional recognition of exclusive rights ........................................................ 29 Supporting and codifying customary fishing rights ................................................. 30 Codifying traditional/customary fishing rights; and assigning preferential rights to coastal communities .............................................................. 32 Creating a new exclusive fishing rights system ....................................................... 33 Securing the sustainable development nature of exclusive fishing rights management entities ........................................................................ 34 Integrating ownership of coastal and marine areas and resources ............................ 38 Allocating catch shares ......................................................................................... 39 Part 2. Creation/Enforcement of Exclusive Zones for Small-scale Fisheries .................................... 39 Objective and Explanation ............................................................................................. 39 Rationale ....................................................................................................................... 40 Relevant Model Provisions ............................................................................................. 41 Constitutional provision ...................................................................................... 41 Devolution of fisheries management authority to local/coastal/ municipal entities ................................................................................................. 41 Exclusive zones based on the creation of fisheries tenure assigned to local/coastal/municipal entities and/or cooperatives of fishers ............................. 42 ii | Page Environmental Law Institute Exclusive zones using baselines of the territorial sea ............................................. 43 Exclusive zones using baselines of the territorial sea and bans on types of fishing gear ......................................................................................................... 43 Exclusive zones using baselines of the territorial sea and determining categories of fishing by vessel storage capacity and/or size .................................... 44 Exclusive zones for determining [tuna] fishing pole and line zones ........................ 44 Enforcing exclusive zones for SSF by establishing bans on industrial vessel access ........................................................................................ 44 Part 3. Participatory Management Systems and Co-management ................................................. 45 Objective and Explanation ............................................................................................. 45 Rationale ....................................................................................................................... 46 Relevant Model Provisions ............................................................................................. 49 General model legal language on participatory management .................................. 49 Delegation of authority to local/municipal level .................................................... 50 Authority for creating co-management agreements ................................................ 50 General model language for co-management agreements ....................................... 51 Creation of a co-management plan ....................................................................... 54 Shared management zones designated by the Fisheries Authority ........................... 56 General structure of co-management implementation plans/bylaws/ordinances ..... 57 Co-management Director/Executive Committee ................................................... 58 Area zoning ........................................................................................................