Written by: Jorge Varela Márquez Goldman Environmental Prize Translated by: Mira Maude Chouinard October 16th, World Food Day After 6 years of discussion between global organized fishermen networks, civil society from all continents and the 139 Member States that form the FAO, FAO’s “Guidelines” on securing the sustainability of artisanal or small-scale fishing was approved, promoting food sovereignty, poverty eradication ...

Ocean grabbing: a new wave of twenty first century enclosures    Published: in OpenDemocracy   17 October 2014 In their article published in Open Democracy Nick Buxton, Carsten Pedersen and Mads Christian Barbesgaard alert us to the issue of ocean grabbing and call for an end to the privatisation of the oceans. They argue that the rise of market-based fishing policies that ...

Small-scale fishers world wide were on the agenda this week when General Secretary of the World Forum of Fisher Peoples, Naseegh Jaffer  represented the WFFP at the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS).                   The WFFP’s statement read to the plenary session of the UN Committee on World Food Security argues that “the strategically important contribution ...

Statement made by: Naseegh Jaffer For the Global Civil Society Group (incorporating WFFP) President, on behalf of the Civil Society Mechanism, we warmly welcome the initiative of the FAO Committee on Food Security to organize a policy round table on “Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture for food security and nutrition”, and we commend the report of the High Level Panel of Experts on ...

From PP John, President, Kerala Swathanthra Malsyathozhilaly Federation (KSMTF) A ‘Boat March’ from Mangalore to Thiruvananthapuram – with a slogan “Protect  Sea, Coast, Inland water bodies and Fish Resources” Dear friends, While the crisis of fisheries sector is increasing day by day, the sea and the coast are being removed from the traditional fishing community slowly. The coastal areas are being invaded by the ...

Aside from all the enlightening discussions and work towards the protection of small-scale fisheries rights, the 6th WFFP conference also served as the election grounds for the WFFP new Coordination Committee going forward. The new committee was decided upon via a consensus and comments from all members within the WFFP whilst including the aims of having a group that was ...

As the 6th WFFP General Assembly got underway today, delegates from all around the world came together to begin discussions on the challenges and the way forward of the WFFP. With thanks to WFFP member Masifundise, all 120 delegates were treated to local cultural items of entertainment, including a rousing struggle song, delivered by Coastal Links members, to encourage the ...

Coastal Links – South Africa is gearing up for the WFFP General Assembly to be held in Cape Town on 1-5 September. One of the critical issues Coastal Links will add to the agenda is access rights. According to the fisher people from all four Coastal Provinces, the most important challenge remains access to resources, both in the sphere of ...

In the wake of the 2004 tsunami, which also destroyed the coastlines of the Kalpitiya peninsula and its surrounding islands in Sri Lanka, a handful of decision makers and investors took advantage of the ‘state of shock’ to push through market-driven reforms and tourism development plans under the rubric of the Task Force for Rebuilding the Nation (TAFREN). While fishing ...

Honduras’ pristine marine waters are under multiple threats from transnational corporations and investors, as well as powerful politicians. Since the 1970s, 70,000 hectares equivalent to half of Gulf of Fonseca’s mangrove forests have gone from community ownership to private concessions. North and South American or European corporations have taken native populations’ rights to access resources away, mainly for tourism and ...