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Civil Society Marine, Inland Fisheries and Coasts Commission Declaration to the World Summit on Sustainable Development
Dr. Thomas J. Goreau
On behalf of the informal working group of the WSSD Civil
Society
Acknowledging Agenda 21's paragraph 17.72 which recognized that fisheries around the world were facing 'mounting problems' including 'over fishing, unauthorized incursions by foreign fleets, ecosystem degradation, overcapitalization and excessive fleet sizes' Noting that some ten years later, the global fisheries crisis has intensified. Many fish stocks have collapsed as a result of overfishing, and the collective environmental impacts of over capacity, marine pollution, new fishing technologies, harmful catching methods, and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing now threatens marine ecosystems across the world's oceans and inland fisheries. Further recognizing that as global fish stocks have declined, consumer demand for fish products has increased. Noting that this increasing pressure to further exploit fisheries resources could have devastating effects on Southern Hemisphere fisheries stocks which have as yet not been overexploited to the extent of those in the North. Noting that the health of global fish stocks is connected to, and interdependent on the health of coastal ecosystems. Noting that unless immediate collective steps are taken to put measures into place that sustainably manage global marine resources, predicting the collapse of the world's marine and other aquatic resources in the near future will not be an unpredictable uncertainty, but a foregone conclusion. Noting that the sustainable management of marine, inland and coastal resources is not possible without the direct and empowered involvement of coastal communities, traditional and artisanal fishers. Noting that at the same time, coastal communities and artisanal and subsistence fishers have been marginalized socially and economically from their basic livelihoods. Recognizing that cuts in government resources (particularly in developing countries) impact on their ability to deal effectively with these issues and thus their ability to manage resources over vast areas, especially remote and isolated areas. Noting that many of these problems are similar, or worse, in inland fisheries because of inland pollution from sewage and agriculture, deforestation, removal of water and damming. Noting the critical importance of mangrove and intertidal wetlands for protecting the coast from erosion, preventing damage to marine ecosystems from sedimentation, as critical nurseries for fisheries resources and refuges for threatened species, and noting with alarm the rapid destruction of mangrove and intertidal wetlands for unsustainable urban development and shrimp monoculture. Noting that global climate change and human-caused stresses are shifting geographic zones of marine life, altering ocean currents and local climates, affecting fisheries and whole ecosystems, especially coral reefs, and that deterioration of water quality is affecting ecosystem health, preventing or reducing the capacity of these habitats to recover from over fishing and pollution. Noting that coral reef ecosystems are uniquely threatened by extinction from global warming, threatening the biodiversity, coastal fisheries, shore protection and tourism of over 100 countries, especially the small island states, and that some of them could disappear entirely as the result of global increases in temperature and sea levels caused by the use of fossil fuels. We, the International Civil Society Marine, Inland Fisheries and Coastal Commission, call on all government decision-makers and other participants involved in bilateral and multilateral fisheries and oceans negotiations, to: 1. Require mandatory Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA's) and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA's) on any activities likely to have a significant negative impact on coastal, oceanic and inland water ecosystems. 2. Adopt the precautionary approach to ecosystem management as pivotal to fisheries management. 3. Prohibit destructive methods of fishing such as trawling, drift nets, bombs and poisons. 4. Initiate negotiation of a legally binding High Seas Convention under the auspices of the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) to govern fishing vessel conduct on the High Seas. 5. Negotiate a legally binding international convention to prevent illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing. 6. Oppose the Flag of Convenience (FOC) system in shipping ( including fishing) which poses a specific threat to the sustainability of the world's oceans. There is a direct link between FOC's and pollution, illegal fishing as well as the ill-treatment and exploitation of crews. 7. Develop mandatory legislative mechanisms to promote the safety of fishermen and women. 8. Effectively implement the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and related agreements. 9. Reject all forms of commercial and scientific whaling. 10. Provide transparency on government subsidization of the fishing industry. 11. Monitor and regulate fish harvests for unsustainable catch levels. 12. Compel bilateral and multilateral lenders to reevaluate current fisheries policies and implement principles of corporate responsibility and sustainable development in their lending agreements. 13. Call on all governments to strengthen networks to actively campaign against the policies and program of globalization implemented by the multi-lateral agencies like the IMF, World Bank, ADB and the WTO, that are against the interest of fisherfolk and other marginalized groups and their cultural context. 14. Ensure that partnership agreements are based on contracts that secure social and economic rights and adhere to strict minimum international environmental and social law standards, policies, goals and targets. 15. Prevent marine pollution from ships and land activities, through the total implementation of international marine regulations and conventions. Ensure that all coastal countries ratify and enforce the IMO Oil Contingency Plan. 16. Develop an internationally binding agreement to effectively control coastal and off-shore mining and oil extraction, with particular attention to the concerns of Developing states. 17. Ensure that any activity and technology used in or affecting marine, inland and coastal areas, adheres to international standards of best practice, particularly when used by Multinational Corporations in countries lacking regulations. 18. Eliminate coastal over-exploitation and promote the rehabilitation of remaining coastal resources. 19. Prevent the illegal import and export of protected marine, inland fishery and coastal resources. 20. Refrain from using aquaculture as a cure-all for the problem of dwindling fish stocks, and adopt the precautionary approach and polluter-pays principle in the planning and implementation of all aquaculture practices so as to eliminate harmful industrial practices. Harmful industrial practices include, among others, the use of antibiotics, hormones and genetic modification. 21. Call for the protection of all mangrove and intertidal wetland ecosystems and halt their conversion to other uses in order to maintain the ecosystem services they uniquely provide. 22. Strongly support measures that limit and eliminate the degradation of river mouths and estuaries. 23. Protect fish breeding grounds, including inland and lakeshore wetlands. 24. Rehabilitate lakeshore and river buffer zones. 25. Call for funding for large-scale restoration of damaged coastal ecosystems to increase the stocks of fish and other economically valuable marine resources, especially in coral reef habitats and island nations. 26. Agree to combat global climate change through ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and the implementation of aggressive programs to develop renewable sources of energy and phase out the use of fossil fuels. 27. Call for special protection for coral reef ecosystems from extinction from global warming and other human- induced stresses. 28. Agree to Protect biodiversity in the marine environment, including both coastal and high seas ecosystems. 29. Guarantee the Marine and Coastal Public Domain. 30. Transform existing systems of unequal ownership, access to and use of marine and coastal resources into systems based on sustainable and equitable use and access rights. 31. Eradicate poverty and ensure food security for coastal communities through equitable and sustainable community based natural resource use and management. 32. Guarantee the access rights of traditional subsistence and artisanal fishers to marine and inland fisheries resources, and provide local fisheries-dependent communities priority rights to the resources on which they depend for their livelihoods. 33. Recognize the value of indigenous and local knowledge, culture and experience in resource management and facilitate the empowered participation of local communities in the use, management and protection of aquatic resources. 34. Strongly support policies and mechanisms that promote an integrated, sustainable livelihoods approach to coastal and aquatic resources management by developing alternative livelihoods and adding value to certain resources, thereby relieving pressure on other scarce aquatic resources. 35. Improve scientific research and environmental education for all aquatic ecosystems. 36. Facilitate the engagement of local communities in the implementation of integrated coastal zone management procedures, with particular support for Developing States. 37. Grant the communities that depend on fish resources for their livelihood both in the marine and inland sector common property rights over the resources. 38. Provide support to artisanal and small-scale fishworkers, taking into account the social, economic and environmental importance of this sector. 39. Ensure priority rights of the artisanal and subsistence fishers to the coastal and inland areas where they live and the aquatic and inland resources to which they have customarily enjoyed access for their livelihoods. 40. Adopt appropriate legal and policy measures to protect access and use rights of women fishworkers to coastal and marine resources. 41. Seek a rational and equitable balance between social and economic objectives in the exploitation of the living aquatic resources accessible to traditional, artisanal and subsistence fishers by taking particular account of the needs of politically, socially and economically disadvantaged fishers. 42. Evolve, on a priority basis, necessary mechanisms for the release and repatriation of small-scale fisherpeople arrested for transborder movement into waters of neighboring states, taking into account the fact that such movement is often the result of poor fisheries management and depletion of local coastal resources.
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