Fisheries delegation returns

The Pakistani delegation have returned home on Monday after taking part in the Global Conference on Securing Sustainable Small Scale Fisheries (4SSF) held from October 13 to 17,2008 in Bangkok, Thailand organized by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in collaboration with Department of Fisheries Thailand, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and World Fish Center (WFC).

As per detail, Pakistan Fisher folk Forum (PFF) as a member of World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP) took part in the conference attended by delegates from 70 countries including fishers, members of civil society, academics, activists and researchers.

The Pakistani delegation headed by Abdullah Khoso Communication Officer PFF reached in the metropolitan after taking part in the event.

Upon his return, Abdullah shared with his team at PFF that 4SSF began with an aim of a process of developing an approach to small scale fisheries management that bring together perspectives on responsible fisheries with the social development need and rights of fishing communities. While having deliberations on this aim, it was ensured that the approach to fisheries management is gender just is extremely challenging, as the rights of women.

He said that small scale fishing communities and indigenous communities depended on fisheries for life and livelihoods and declared that the human rights of fishing communities were indivisible and that the development of responsible sustainable small scale and indigenous fisheries was possible only if their political, civil, social, economic and cultural rights were addressed in an integrated manner. He advocated that three themes were discussed during the 4SSF, which were Securing Sustainable resources use, and access rights; securing post harvest benefits; securing; securing social, economic and human right.

Giving the further details of the event, the PFF official said that, Dr Plodprasop Suraswadi, Deputy Director General to the Prime Minister of Thailand in his keynote address recognized that fisheries development over the last 100 years had been flawed because the focus had been on fish resources and not on the resources users.

The widespread degradation of marine and physical and living resources and the worsening conflicts among the resources have served as a testimony of a management failure.

Dr Suraswadi stressed on the importance of moving towards a ‘people focused strategy involving the grass roots as partner in the development’ to build upon the strengths of fishers, their commitment to the sustenance of fishery resources, and their familiarity with the fishing ground and the ecosystem, and the governments should not act as their patron.

While, Simon Funge-Smith of the Asia Pacific Fisheries Commission (APFIC) said in his address that the problems arising from interactions between small scale and industrial fisheries were very pressing in the region.

Muhammad Ali Shah, Chairperson PFF, shared that PFF would be part of global surge of fishers for their rights and would stick to the rights based fisheries that encompasses every aspect and every process.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Regional/Karachi/21-Oct-2008/Fisheries-delegation-returns